Day: 23 March 2022

Are you looking for dividend shares to buy? If you are, the two listed below could be worth considering.

Both are rated as buys and tipped to offer investors with attractive yields. Here’s what you need to know:

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT.

This real estate investment trust invests in social infrastructure properties such as bus depots, police and justice services facilities, and childcare centres.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs are very positive on the company and currently have a conviction buy rating and $4.20 price target on its shares. Goldman highlights that Charter Hall Social Infrastructure performed positively during the first half, delivering solid like for like rental growth and reporting 100% occupancy and a weighted average lease expiry of 14.6 years.

Looking ahead, the broker expects more of the same in the future. This is expected to underpin dividends per share of 17.2 cents in FY 2022 and 18.3 cents in FY 2023. Based on its current share price of $3.99, this implies yields of 4.3% and 4.6%, respectively.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Another dividend share that is highly rated is Australia’s oldest bank, Westpac.

The team at Morgans currently has an add rating and $29.50 price target on its shares. The broker believes Westpac can achieve its cost cutting targets and is optimistic that its margin outlook isn’t as bad as the market thinks.

Morgans also notes that it “offers the most compelling valuation of the major banks” and “is positioned relatively defensively due to its loan book being more skewed to Australian home lending.”

In respect to dividends, Morgans has pencilled in fully franked dividends per share of $1.19 in FY 2022 and $1.60 in FY 2023. Based on the latest Westpac share price of $23.62, this will mean yields of 5% and 6.75%, respectively.

The post Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 25% upside and healthy yield: Why this broker is bullish on the Westpac share price
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Fundie tells why two-thirds of all dividends come from just 7 ASX shares. Guess which ones?
• Analysts name the best ASX 200 dividend shares to buy now
• What are the real benefits of ESG investing? Here’s what Westpac says

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Westpac Banking Corporation. 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 recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. 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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On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form again and stormed higher. The benchmark index jumped 0.8% to 7,341.1 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rise again

It looks set to be another strong day for the Australian share market on Wednesday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 25 points or 0.35% higher this morning. In late trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones is up 0.7%, the S&P 500 is up 1.1%, and the Nasdaq is up a sizeable 2%. The latter bodes well for Aussie tech shares.

Oil prices ease

Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a subdued day after oil prices eased. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 0.7 % to US$111.30 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 0.3% to US$115.33 a barrel. Traders appear to have been taking a bit of profit off the table following a recent surge.

Nickel Mines shares rated as a buy

The Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC) share price could be in the buy zone according to analysts at Bell Potter. This morning the broker retained its buy rating and lifted its price target on the nickel producer’s shares to $1.88. This follows news that PT Oracle Nickel Industry (ONI), the operating entity housing the Oracle Nickel RKEF project, has been granted material corporate tax relief. It notes that this removes an expense of ~US$50 million per annum from its estimates for ten years.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could have a poor day after the gold price weakened. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.4% to US$1,922 an ounce. This was driven by the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish comments about rate hikes.

Dividends being paid

A number of ASX 200 shares will be paying shareholders their latest dividends today. Among the companies paying dividends are stock exchange operator ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX), healthcare company Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL), and energy giant Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL). Elsewhere, the Seek Limited (ASX: SEK) share price could fall today when it trades ex-dividend.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) share price leapt 6% in a week?
• Broker: The Coles (ASX:COL) dividend will keep rising
• Woodside (ASX:WPL) shares spike as oil rises back above $100/barrel
• What is a ‘dead cat bounce’ and is the ASX 200 in one right now?
• Lucky 13? The QBE Insurance share price is now up 13% in 2 weeks

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns SEEK Limited. 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 recommended SEEK Limited and Sonic Healthcare 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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Small-cap investors have been going grey over the first 80 days of the year, with the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (ASX: XSO) index down 8% so far in 2022.

Resources stocks held up that index, so most non-mining small-cap ASX shares have, in fact, been far more devastated than 8%.

But some experts argue the sell-off has been excessive for certain companies.

After all, the businesses themselves are no different to the end of last year. Much of the downturn in share price has been due to external factors, such as rising interest rates and war in Europe.

As such, Firetrail small companies portfolio manager Matthew Fist recently picked out 2 ASX shares — one growth and one value — that he would buy right now.

Aussie company going gangbusters in the US

Ardent Leisure Group Ltd (ASX: ALG) has been a favourite among small-cap fund managers in the past year, and it remains so for Fist.

While the company is best known to Australians for operating big theme parks like Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, its big money spinner is actually in the US.

“Over 90% of the value of Ardent Leisure is now contained within its US chain of family entertainment centres, called Main Event,” he told a Pinnacle webinar.

Main Event centres are huge warehouse-style indoor entertainment venues, with facilities like arcade games, ten-pin bowling and family restaurants all sitting under the same roof.

“They’re far higher-returning and far better investments than traditional theme park assets.”

Fist explained that when his team researched Main Event’s biggest rival Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ: PLAY), they were shocked to find, for an equivalent site, the latter was reaping 40% more profit. 

Fortunately for Ardent, prominent executive Gary Weiss realised this disparity three years before Firetrail and had bought a major stake in the company. He subsequently became chair and proceeded to restructure the Main Event business.

“Today these Main Event sites are actually outperforming Dave & Buster’s.”

Ardent shares closed down 1.51% on Tuesday at $1.305. They have lost about 3% since the start of the year.

ASX tech share its customers are addicted to

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) shares have painfully lost 40% of their value since November.

As a virtual network provider, the company has been caught up in the general sell-off of growth and technology shares.

But it’s gone too far, reckons Fist.

“There are some growth stocks that are high quality, and they’ve been unfairly sold off… Megaport is one such opportunity.”

Fist explained how so much of computing in recent years has moved to the cloud, but the pipes between homes, businesses and data centres have not kept pace with the massive growth in traffic.

This is where Megaport comes in, enabling business clients to dial up or down their network capacity.

“Megaport is a global leader in what it does, and is a future-focused business,” he said.

“If you become a Megaport customer, in the first year you’re going to spend $1. Every single year after that, you increase the amount you spend with Megaport by 45%.”

This metric told Fist’s team that Megaport’s services are invaluable to its customers.

“This makes Megaport, in our view, one of the highest quality companies on the ASX.”

Megaport shares finished Tuesday 0.08% lower at $13.05.

The post 2 small-cap ASX shares ready to take you on a ride appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are 3 ASX growth shares analysts are tipping as buys
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Energy shares rise on oil price jump, Megaport sinks
• Megaport (ASX:MP1) share price sinks 7% after $39m founder share sale
• Top fund manager reveals 2 smart ASX shares to buy
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. 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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