Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) regained its footing to finish the week higher. At the end of the session, the benchmark index climbed 1.29% to 7,453.3 points.

Investors returned to the market with a more optimistic perspective today compared to yesterday’s brutal session. As a consequence, all sectors were showing up green at the final bell. Leading the index higher were energy and financial shares. Another positive move in oil prices overnight provided a positive injection for oil and gas companies.

However, the question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the top ten stocks that came through for investors:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the private health insurer rallied 5.88% to a new 52-week high despite there being no announcements out on Friday. Find out more about Medibank Private here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS). The financial services company gained another 4.00% today after a solid session yesterday amid its plans to acquire the consumer services business of Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM). Uncover the latest Latitude Group details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL)	$3.60	5.88%
Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS)	$2.08	4.00%
NIB Holdings Ltd (ASX: NHF)	$7.23	3.73%
New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC)	$2.30	3.60%
Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL)	$2.90	3.57%
Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)	$55.95	3.44%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	$2.75	3.38%
Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX: VUK)	$3.44	3.30%
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG)	$20.37	3.14%
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)	$74.00	2.99%

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check-in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns Afterpay Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Afterpay Limited and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Afterpay Limited and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Humm Group Limited and NIB Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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A more environmentally conscious society has offered ASX renewable shares a prevalent tailwind in recent years. While some companies received a boost in 2021, the year was dominated by deals.

In other words, investors were competing with private equity when it came to renewable energy shares last year. Many of the companies that delivered shareholders with positive returns ended up being acquired in 2021. To provide a clear picture of the sector we’ve included acquired companies in this list.

Here are the ASX renewable shares that powered investor portfolios throughout 2021.

Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)

Although it’s hard to argue Origin Energy is a renewable energy company, it does hold a significant renewable footprint.

During FY21, Origin installed 74 megawatts of solar on Australian homes and businesses. Additionally, the energy company progressed its assessment of renewable hydrogen and renewable ammonia opportunities in Bell Bay, Tasmania.

Alongside this, Origin holds a 20% equity interest in UK-based renewable energy provider Octopus Energy.

Shares in Origin climbed 10% higher by the end of 2021. Accompanying this gain was a respectable 20 cents per share in dividends for shareholders.

Infratil Ltd (ASX: IFT)

The next company making the top 5 best performing ASX renewables shares is Infratil. This infrastructure company used to own a substantial chunk of Tilt Renewables before it was acquired during the year. However, Infratil’s portfolio of investments still maintains a 21% allocation across renewables.

At the end of September 2021, renewable investments in the Infratil portfolio included Trust Power, Longroad Energy, Gurin Energy, and Galileo Green Energy.

The Infratil share price was pushed higher, boosted by achieving a record net surplus for its shareholders in 2021. Investors who stuck with this ASX renewable share enjoyed a 12.2% gain by the end of the year.

Tilt Renewables Ltd (ASX: TLT)

As I alluded to earlier, Tilt Renewables was one ASX renewables share that was gobbled up before the year was over.

The New Zealand-based electricity producer was essentially as much of a pure-play renewables company as one could get — with a number of wind and solar assets across Australia. This attracted interest from Mercury NZ Ltd (ASX: MCY) and Powering Australian Renewables (PowAR), which ended up acquirer the company’s assets.

When the final deal was done, Tilt shareholders walked away with NZ$8.10 per share, reflecting a gain of ~27% in 2021.

Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI)

Spark Infrastructure is another ASX renewable share that wasn’t able to see in 2022 as a public company. Unlike some of the other companies, Spark operates in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity — operating throughout New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

Unfortunately for would-be renewable investors, Spark is now off the table after being acquired by a consortium of investors late last year. For a total consideration of $2.95 per security, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and Public Sector Pension Investors acquired the previously listed energy company.

In turn, shareholders bagged an astounding return of 39.8% during the year. That reflects a ~27% outperformance of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

Redflow Ltd (ASX:RFX)

Finally, the last ASX renewable share on the list is more on the speculative end of the scale. Redflow is a small-cap battery storage company.

As renewable energy sources rise to prominence methods for adding security and storing the energy produced are becoming more important. While some renewable methods, such as hydropower, naturally incorporate energy storage, other options, such as wind and solar, require another way of managing the supply and demand of the network. As such, grid-tier batteries provide a way for renewable electricity generation to be managed.

The Redflow share price travelled from 2 cents per share to 5 cents per share by the end of the year — representing an increase of 150%.

The post In the green: the 5 best ASX renewable shares of 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) share price had a shocker of a year in 2021.

Shares in the payment solutions company fell from $4.18 to $3.23 during the course of the year, a fall of nearly 23%.

Let’s take a look at how the year played out.

How did EML Payments perform?

The EML Payments share price blasted ahead in the first few months of the year before a dramatic fall in May. Shares in the company then slightly recovered but failed to return to their April glory.

EML’s share price rocketed nearly 37% between market close on 31 December 2020 and 30 April 2021.

The biggest spike in this time followed the release of EML’s half-year results. Shares in the company soared nearly 17% on February 17. EML Payments reported a 54% spike in group gross debit volume to $10.2 billion. This led to a 61% boost in revenue to $95.3 million. The company’s General Purpose Reloadable sector was the key driver of this growth, while its Virtual Account Numbers segment also performed well.

April saw the share price surge again to a yearly high of $5.75 amid acquisition news. EML announced it would acquire Sentenial Limited and its subsidiaries for 110 million euros. Between 1 April and 9 April, the EML share price soared by 17%.

Then came the devastating fall. Between market close on 14 May and 19 May, the EML share price fell from $5.15 to $2.80, a 46% decrease.

Impacting this fall was news the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) had raised “significant regulatory concerns” with its Irish subsidiary PFS Card Services limited. The company entered a trading halt pending a response to these concerns. The concerns related to the Prepaid Financial Services business it acquired in March 2020. Management informed the market 27% of EML Payments revenue came from this business.

However, between 19 May and 23 September, EML recovered some of this loss. The EML Payments share price rocketed from $2.80 to $4.123 on 6 September, a 47% gain. Outperform broker notes from Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) and RBC Capital may have improved investor confidence.

Other positive developments included an update on its acquisition of Prepaid Financial Services and the release of its FY21 results. EML reported record growth including a 60% increase in revenue.

October saw another dramatic fall for the company driven by another update from the CBI. The warning included news of potential action against EML’s PFS Card Services. Shares dropped nearly 15% on 8 October on the back of this news.

November saw another major explosion, with shares gaining 31% in one day on 25 November. The share price rocketed higher following yet another update on its dialogue with the CBI. This time, investors were informed the action to be taken would be far less serious than the market expected. EML was given the green light to establish a base and start gaining customers in Ireland.

In December, shares pulled back slightly again. My Foolish colleague James observed this may have been driven by profit-taking from some investors following a strong gain in late November.

EML Payments share price snapshot

On the bright side, as my Foolish colleague Tristan reported this week, broker UBS rates EML Payments as a buy with a price target of $4.40.

The EML Payments share price finished up 3.56% today at $3.20.

This ASX share commands a market capitalisation of nearly $1.2 billion based on its current share price.

The post 2021 was a year to forget for the EML (ASX:EML) share price. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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ASX 200 coal shares are positioned to benefit from a ban on Indonesian coal exports and talks of China resuming imports from Australia on the black rock, according to analysis from Fitch Ratings.

Players such as Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC), Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) all traded higher this week as the market looks to price in the effects of the export ban.

What’s the situation with ASX 200 coal shares?

Indonesia – the world’s largest thermal coal export – announced a ban on all coal exports from January 1 amid critically low domestic coal stocks.

Much of the controversy stems from the fact that domestic Indonesian coal producers are failing to meet their duties in supplying a 25% minimum quota to the local market.

As such, President Joko Widodo has threatened to come down hard on any producers who fail to meet domestic market requirements via a “revocation of business permits”.

Coal traders immediately recognised the headwind on Sunday and sought to price in the risk of global shortages resultant from the export ban.

Since the announcement, spot prices have jumped more than 22.5% to now trade at US$193/tonne whereas the market is pricing a February 2022 coal price US$196.50 to start off trading in 2022.

Hence coal prices have reversed course after falling sharply from all time highs of US$269.60/tonne back in October.

It has since been revealed that Indonesia has secured an additional 7.5 million tonnes of coal inventory which could increase the chances of the ban being lifted soon.

Fitch also reckons that China might have its hand forced to reinstate Australian coal imports if Indonesia extends its ban for much longer.

This would bode in well for Australian coal produces says Fitch, particularly as demand from other South East Asian countries would pick up also.

Most ASX coal producers are considered price takers on the commodity, meaning their share price will fluctuate with volatility in the commodity markets.

Not to mention the positive impacts to margins and free cash flow conversion from the buoyant prices each producer will realise on each sale.

As such, it is likely that any gain in the price of coal will be reflected in the ASX coal basket for these reasons.

What’s next?

According to Fitch, the export ban is set to have an impact on many adjacent industries as well, such as shipping and logistics.

The ban will also affect shipping companies, as “they could incur $US20,000-$US40,000 per day in demurrage costs, while the government could face about $US3 billion per month in foreign exchange losses on top of losses in royalty and other revenues”, Fitch says.

Regarding the longer-term impact on coal prices, Fitch reckons that Indonesia’s export ban would “send coal prices rallying for longer and a shift in global trade flows, with smaller and inefficient mines globally likely resuming operations following attractive prices”.

China is also likely to face a short-term coal crisis as it approaches peak winter heating demand Fitch reckons, which would prop coal prices up further.

Each of Whitehaven, Yancoal and New Hope finished trading on Friday, up more than 3%.

The post Could ASX 200 coal shares be in for another boost? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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