Day: 7 April 2022

The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is in the red again today, bringing its losses this week so far to almost 14%.

While the stock surged higher on Monday and in early trade on Tuesday – reaching a new all-time high of $1.68 – it has been plunging lower since.

The lithium developer’s stock closed 8% lower on Tuesday before sliding another 6% on Wednesday.

At the time of writing, the Core Lithium share price is $1.32, 3.99% lower than its previous close. That’s also 21% lower than its shiny new all-time high.

For context, the broader market is also in the red on Thursday. Right now, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) and S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) are both down almost 0.6%.

Let’s take a look at how the ASX lithium share is trading compared to its peers today.

What’s happening with the Core Lithium share price?

The Core Lithium share price is slumping alongside many of its peers on Thursday.

Right now, shares in Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) and IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) are also in the red, down 4.27% and 3.1% respectively. Additionally, AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ) slumped by 4% in morning trade before staging a recovery.

Interestingly, each of the above-named lithium-focused stocks hit all-time highs on Friday. Thus, today’s falls could be the result of extended price taking.

The falls also come despite good news about lithium demand hitting the market on Tuesday.

Then, Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) announced that, due to “unprecedented” demand for the battery-making material, it will be upping its production.

It follows an update from Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) on its lithium outlook for the June quarter, released last week.

The company expects the price of both lithium and spodumene to continue rocketing this quarter, reaching around US$35,000 per tonne and US$5,000 per tonne respectively.   

Despite the recent positive news from its peers, the Core Lithium share price has tumbled almost 14% so far this week.

Though, it’s still 111% higher than it was at the start of 2022. It’s also 478% higher than it was this time last year.

The post The Core Lithium share price is tumbling again. What’s going on? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Core Lithium share price sinking 7% today?
• These are the best ASX lithium stocks so far in 2022
• 5 ASX mining shares rocking all-time highs on Friday
• Why BHP, Core Lithium, Tabcorp, and Talga shares are racing higher
• Why is the Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) share price up 6% to a record high?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended up having a positive, if spectacularly volatile, first quarter of 2022. For the three months to 31 March, the ASX 200 gained 0.7%. But the same cannot be said of the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price. 

Wesfarmers shares had a quarter to forget. This ASX 200 industrial and retail conglomerate started the year at $59.30 a share. But by 31 March, Wesfarmers had fallen to just $49.59 a share. That represents a steep loss of 14.99%. This is a rather unusual performance for Wesfarmers, which has traditionally been rewarded with a strong and steady share price performance from investors, not to mention a healthy price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple.

But since the owner of Target, OfficeWorks, Kmart, and Bunnings hit a new all-time high of just over $66 a share in August last year, we have now seen investors shave more than a quarter off of the Wesfarmers share price.

So after these rather steep falls, what does the market have in store for Wesfarmers going forward? Well, we can’t of course know for sure. But let’s take a look at what some top ASX brokers reckon.

Is the Wesfarmers share price a buy today?

As we covered yesterday, Morgans is one broker who is bullish on Wesfarmers shares right now. Morgans currently rates Wesfarmers as an add, with a 12-month share price target of $58.50. That implies a potential upside of almost 19% over the coming year. 

Morgans loves the company’s “highly regarded management team”, and reckons Wesfarmers has “one of the highest quality retail portfolios in Australia”. The broker assesses the company’s balance sheet as healthy and has told investors that the recent weakness in the Wesfarmers share price is a “good entry point for long-term investors”.

It is also foreseeing strong dividend growth from the ASX 200 share over the next few years. It has pencilled in dividends worth $1.62 per share for FY2022 and $1.81 per share for FY2023.

No doubt that will be music to existing Wesfarmers shareholders’ ears. But we’ll have to wait and see if these optimistic projections indeed come to pass. 

In the meantime, the Wesfarmers share price currently gives this ASX 200 share a market capitalisation of $56 billion, with a dividend yield of 3.45%. 

The post The Wesfarmers share price tumbled 15% in the March quarter. What’s next? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 midday update: Magellan jumps, tech shares tumble
• 2 ASX tech shares that are cheap enough to buy now
• Brokers name 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy now
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Why has the AFIC share price leapt 5% in 4 weeks?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 owns and has recommended Wesfarmers 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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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

OpenSea, the world’s largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, announced that it will list Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) based NFTs on the site this April. Currently only NFTs on the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) blockchain are available on OpenSea. 

Solana has made a name for itself in the last year. Despite a recent pullback of more than 40% from an all time high in November 2021, this “Ethereum Killer” rebounded out of a four month slump thanks to some impressive news.

To date, this will be the most significant utility Solana has supported in the NFT marketplace. Solana will be put to the test against Ethereum, one of its main competitors. If users begin to take note of Solana’s low fees and lightning fast speeds, it may position the cryptocurrency to return to all time highs. 

Back to the top

This is welcome news for a blockchain that suffered from more than a few poor headlines in late 2021. The Solana network was down three times as the result of inordinate traffic on the blockchain. Something Solana developers claimed the network could handle. These events caused the price of Solana to crash.

Solana now has the chance to showcase its utility and leave that news in the past. Since its launch in April 2019, it has built a reputation as one of the fastest and cheapest blockchains out there. Contrastly, using the Ethereum network for NFTs can be costly for users. During times of increased network traffic, there are high fees when users create or purchase NFTs. The Solana network boasts speeds of up to 65,000 transactions per second for fractions of a penny. That is roughly 4,000 times faster than Ethereum and exponentially cheaper.

DeFi developers are well aware of these perks on the Solana network. To quantify the utility of the Solana ecosystem, we can use the total value locked (TVL) statistic. Total value locked is a sum of all assets a blockchain supports in DeFi protocols. It is represented as a dollar amount. A large TVL indicates that a blockchain offers unique utility that attracts developers and money. Currently, the blockchain has the fifth largest TVL among competitors. A slight pullback from fall of 2021 when Solana rose to as high as third. Solana is no stranger to the top and it may return to those heights. 

What’s the opportunity?

Solana now has direct exposure to the busiest and most prominent NFT marketplace. In just the month of January, there was nearly $5,000,000,000 in volume traded on OpenSea. It was also reported in the same month that the platform surpassed one million wallets, or users. The next largest platform, Rarible, has just under 100,000 wallets. OpenSea will help Solana gain exposure to millions of digital artists, investors, and NFT collectors. If all works out, this new found exposure should bode well for the price of Solana.

Another milestone for Solana

But now the blockchain is at a crossroads. It must prove to users that the bugs that led to the network outages are a thing of the past. This crossroads presents an opportunity for investors. The latest news and price support Solana has found should garner considerable attention. Keep an eye out for this Ethereum opponent to capitalize on a historic opportunity. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Solana makes another leap appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How these top cryptos stacked up against Bitcoin and Ethereum in March
• Why Solana, Polkadot, and Cardano are down big today
• Why Solana jumped again today
• Why Solana Stock jumped 10% today
• Why Ethereum, Solana, and Dogecoin are surging higher today

RJ Fulton owns Solana and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Ethereum and Solana. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Virtus Health Ltd (ASX: VRT) share price is frozen today amid a bidding war for the company.

The company’s shares were trading at $8.15 before grinding to a halt. In yesterday’s trade, the Virtus Health share price climbed 1.37%.

Virtus Health is a fertility treatment company with operations in Australia, Ireland, Denmark, the UK, and Singapore.

Let’s take a look at why the company’s share price is on hold.

Bidding contest heats up

Virtus Health has entered a trading halt amid a new takeover proposal from CapVest Partners LLP.

Virtus was notified of CapVest’s revised offer this morning but is still waiting on more information. CapVest first made an offer to buy the company in January.

In a statement signed by the company secretary, Virtus Health said:

The trading halt is necessary as the company has been notified this morning that CapVest Partners LLP (CapVest) intends to submit a revised proposal to Virtus but no details of the terms of that revised proposal have been provided at this time.

Accordingly, Virtus considers a trading halt to be appropriate to prevent trading in its securities taking place in an uninformed market.

CapVest is not the only company vying for Virtus Health. Just yesterday, BGH Capital proposed a revised $8 per share off-market takeover bid to Virtus shareholders.

The Virtus Board said it was considering if this bid constituted a superior proposal to that signed with CapVest. In March, Virtus signed a transaction implementation deed with CapVest on a 100% takeover proposal which valued the company at $8.25 per share.

In total, eight competing proposals have now been received by Virtus Health.

Virtus Health share price snapshot

The Virtus Health share price has surged 27% in a year and almost 19% this year to date.

The company’s shares have jumped 4% in the past month, while they are climbing nearly 2% in the past week alone.

For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned about 8% over the past year.

The company has a market capitalisation of about $697 million based on the current share price.

The post Virtus Health share price on ice as takeover battle heats up appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why the Virtus Health share price outperformed today
• Why is the Virtus Health (ASX:VRT) share price slipping today?
• Time is running out to secure this ASX healthcare share dividend
• Virtus Health (ASX:VRT) hits 52-week high, accepts CapVest bid
• Why CSL, Dicker Data, Elders, and Virtus Health shares are charging higher

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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On 3 November last year, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) earned its spot in the virtual history books.

If you own CBA shares, you may recall that was the date the bank announced it would begin to offer crypto services to its 6.5 million customers, a first in Australia.

In a partnership with Gemini and Chainalysis, customers will be able to use the CommBank app to trade and hold Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and a basket of other cryptos.

Commenting on the bank’s decision to rollout a crypto service at the time, CBA CEO Matt Comyn said, “We believe we can play an important role in crypto to address what’s clearly a growing customer need and provide capability, security and confidence in a crypto trading platform.”

And Gemini’s global head of business development, Dave Abner said at the time of the announcement, “The exponential growth of digital assets internationally, coupled with Gemini’s institutional-grade security and proactive regulatory approach, positions this partnership to set a new standard for banks and financial platforms in Australia and across the globe.”

Now, however, CBA’s crypto rollout is facing regulatory delays.

What’s happening with the bank’s crypto services?

As the Australian Financial Review reports, CBA’s crypto rollout is being held up by regulatory hurdles.

The bank is in discussions with a range of regulators, including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), AUSTRAC and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

ASIC is scrutinising CommBank’s “product disclosure statement, the target market for the product and consumer protection”.

Commenting on the matter at The Australian Financial Review Cryptocurrency Summit ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour said, “We’re interested in any sort of new innovation where we think there’s real benefits of innovation being within our regulatory regime. There are a bunch of rules there that you need to follow.”

How have CBA shares been performing?

CBA shares have gained 22% over the past 12 months, handily outperforming the 8% gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in that same period.

At the current price, CBA shares come with a 3.6% trailing dividend yield, fully franked.

The post Own CBA shares? Here’s why the bank’s crypto rollout is facing delays appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How these top cryptos stacked up against Bitcoin and Ethereum in March
• Why Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu are down today
• Why this crypto is the most resilient to inflation: experts
• Can the Bitcoin price really top US$500,000?
• Why CBA, Kelsian, PolyNovo, and Weebit Nano shares are pushing higher

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. 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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ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB) shareholders might be wondering why the company’s share price is currently down 4.35% to $39.62 today.

The 4×4 accessories company released its half-year results on 22 February, reporting double-digit growth across key financial metrics.

In turn, the board opted to ramp up its upcoming interim dividend to eligible investors.

Let’s take a look below at why the ARB share price is edging lower during midday trade.

Shareholders set eyes on ARB’s interim dividend

The ARB share price is in reverse following the company’s shares trading ex-dividend today.

Typically, one business day before the record date, the ex-dividend date is when investors must have purchased the company’s shares. If the investor does not buy ARB shares before this date, the dividend will go to the seller.

Historically, when a company reaches its ex-dividend day, its shares tend to fall in proportion to the dividend paid out. This is because investors tend to sell off the company’s shares after securing the dividend.

In addition, the the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also heading south today, down by 0.46% to 7,456 points. It appears investors are heading for the exits after a poor performance on Wall Street overnight.

When can shareholders expect to be paid?

For those eligible for ARB’s interim dividend, shareholders will receive a payment of 39 cents per share on 22 April. The dividend is fully franked.

Franking credits, otherwise known as imputation credits, are highly regarded in the investing world. This is a type of tax credit that is passed onto shareholders when dividend payments are made by a company. Essentially, the company is paying the tax on the dividends received by the shareholders.

Investors who elect for the dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) will see a number of shares added to their portfolio. This will be based on a volume-weighted average price from 7 April to 13 April.

The DRP discount rate is set at 2%, and the last election date for shareholders to opt-in is 13 April.

ARB share price summary

Since the beginning of 2022, ARB shares have lost 24%. In comparison, the benchmark index is relatively flat over the same time frame.

The ARB share price reached an all-time high of $55.00 on 4 January, before backtracking amid inflationary movements and geopolitical tensions.

Based on today’s price, ARB commands a market capitalisation of roughly $3.24 billion and has a trailing dividend yield of 1.71%.

The post Here’s why the ARB Corporation share price is on the slide today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Hoping to pocket the ARB Corporation dividend? Read this
• Here’s a look at some ASX shares with ex-dividend dates coming up in April
• The next ASX share ready to join the 20-bagger club: expert
• These were the best performing ASX 200 share last week

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 recommended ARB Corporation 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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The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price is sliding lower on Thursday despite no word from the company.

However, its dip might be linked to Wednesday’s rough session in the US that saw international travel stocks slumping amid interest rate concerns.

At the time of writing, the Webjet share price is $5.30, 5.19% lower than its previous close.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index(ASX: XJO) is currently down 0.53%.

Let’s take a closer look at what might be weighing on the Webjet share price today.

Why is the Webjet share price plummeting today?

Webjet’s stock is suffering today. Meanwhile, Australia has woken up to carnage among US travel stocks.

As The Motley Fool’s Rich Smith reported, many of the nation’s biggest airlines’ stocks fell overnight, weighed down by rising interest rate concerns.

Airlines are – perhaps unsurprisingly, given the still-ongoing pandemic – some of the most indebted companies on US exchanges, said Smith.

That means they could be hit hard if interest rates increase, as that would increase the cost of their debts.

And it wasn’t just US airline stocks that suffered while Australia slept.

Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: BKNG) – the parent company of Booking.com – saw its share price slip 3.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) share price fell 4.7%.

Landing back in Australia on Thursday, the Webjet share price is joined in the red by fellow ASX 200 travel stock, Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT). It has fallen 3.9% at the time of writing.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) and Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) are also down, having fallen 1.7% and 3.2% respectively.

Sadly, today’s tumble has wiped the Webjet share price’s 2022 gains off the board. It’s currently trading for 2.3% less than it was at the start of the year. It is also 5.1% lower than it was this time last year.

The post The Webjet share price is tumbling 5% on Thursday. Could this be why? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX travel shares have been flying higher over the past month. Here’s why
• Why this broker thinks the Webjet share price can fly 26% higher
• How did the Webjet share price travel in March?
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Booking Holdings. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Booking Holdings, Corporate Travel Management Limited, Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and Webjet Ltd. 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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At lunch on Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another decline. The benchmark index is currently down 0.4% to 7,462.5 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

Magellan shares jump on funds update

The Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price is surging higher today following a funds under management update (FUM). Although the fund manager reported another $1.1 billion of net fund outflows, this is a major slowdown from recent trends. Furthermore, thanks to favourable market movements, Magellan’s total FUM actually increased by $0.9 billion between 11 March and 31 March.

Tech shares tumble

It has been a difficult day for the tech sector after a very poor night of trade on the Nasdaq index on Wall Street on Wednesday. The S&P ASX All Technology index is down 2.6% at the time of writing, with Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) among the biggest drags on the index on Thursday.

Fortescue raises US$1.5 billion

The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price is edging higher today after the iron ore miner raised US$1.5 billion via a notes offering. The release reveals that US$800 million of proceeds from the offering will be applied to eligible Green Projects, with the remaining US$700 million of proceeds to be applied toward general corporate purposes.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Thursday has been the Magellan share price with a 10% gain. This follows the release of its FUM update this morning. Going the other way, the worst performer has been the WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price with a 5% decline following weakness in the tech sector.

The post ASX 200 midday update: Magellan jumps, tech shares tumble appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Magellan share price rockets 11% despite continued FUM carnage
• Fortescue share price lifts amid $2b cap raise
• March was a lousy month for ASX BNPL shares. Here’s why
• Broker says the Altium share price weakness is a buying opportunity
• 2 ASX tech shares that are cheap enough to buy now

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Altium, Block, Inc., and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Block, Inc. and WiseTech Global. 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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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

What happened

Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) gained 23.8% in March, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The electric vehicle (EV) veteran built this jump around the opening of a new factory and a bit of overly popular share-count management. 

So what

First, Tesla CEO Elon Musk traveled to Germany for the opening of a new car and battery Gigafactory in the Berlin area. There, he met up with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany to oversee the first 30 vehicle deliveries from the delayed factory. Tesla’s stock rose 7.9% that day.

Later, Tesla’s board of directors took steps toward a stock split later this year. Shareholders will be asked to allow a boost to the share count beyond the current authorization of 2.1 billion, which already has plenty of wiggle room for the issuance of new shares. The current share count stops at 1.03 billion. Investors were quick to embrace this idea, raising Tesla’s stock price by 8.9% over the next two days. 

Now what

The new factory is a potential game-changer, so it was good to see Tesla work its way through the German red tape and cut the ribbon at long last. The company plans to crank out 500,000 cars per year from this factory, alongside 50 gigawatt-hours of rechargeable batteries. For some context, Tesla delivered a total of 936,000 EVs globally last year.

The stock split is honestly not that interesting. Sure, it’s a sign that Tesla’s leadership expects share prices to continue rising, but the move itself doesn’t make a real difference to most investors. If you can’t afford a full share of Tesla at $1,045, your broker probably lets you pick up a small fraction of a share at no extra cost.

All things considered, Tesla continues to impress market makers and reward shareholders. My own investment in this company has gained 2,460% since the summer of 2014, and I have no plans to close that position anytime soon. In my view, Tesla is still in the early innings of a fantastic long-term plan. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Why Tesla shares rose 24% last month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why cryptos like Bitcoin are ‘no longer in the fringes’
• Why are ASX tech shares having such a stellar day?
• Should you buy fractional shares of Tesla before the potential stock split?
• Should investors worry about Tesla’s Q1 deliveries miss?
• Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) share price rockets 8% on stock split news

Anders Bylund owns Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Tesla. 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. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has once again gotten out on the wrong side of the bed today and has opened lower. At the time of writing, the All Ords is down by 0.45% at 7,753 points. So perhaps enthusiasts of the Ionic Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: IXR) share price might be feeling pleased that the company isn’t trading today. Ionic Rare Earths is currently stuck at 8.2 cents per share. And that’s the level it will be staying at, at least for now.

Yes, Ionic Rare Earths shares are currently in a trading halt. This comes after the company put out an ASX notice this morning before market open confirming the halt.

We don’t know too much at this stage, but here’s what the company said this morning:

In accordance with Listing Rule 17.1 Ionic Rare Earths Limited (ASX: IXR) requests an immediate trading halt on its securities pending an announcement by the Company regarding a capital raising. 

The Company requests the trading halt remain in place until the earlier of commencement of normal trading on Monday, 11th April 2022 or when the announcement concerning the capital raising is released to the market.

So we know this is the result of a planned capital raising program, but that’s about it at this stage.

A capital raising program is one way a company can raise additional capital to reinvest into its business. Or indeed for any other purpose it sees fit. A popular method is via a share purchase plan. This is where existing investors can apply for new shares at what is usually a discounted price.

But we shall have to wait and see what the company has to say on this matter before we can be certain. Until then, it’s a waiting game for investors.

Ionic Rare Earths share price snapshot

Before today’s halt, Ionic Rare Earths shares had been on a bit of a tear. The company has risen a pleasing 64% so far in 2022, rising from 5 cents a share at the start of the year to yesterday’s 8.2 cents. Ionic Rare Earths is also up a healthy 36.67% in the past month alone.

Over the past five years, investors have enjoyed gains worth a whopping 310%.

At the last traded Ionic Rare Earths share price, this company has a market capitalisation of $279.69 million.

The post Why is the Ionic Rare Earths share price frozen today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Magellan share price rockets 11% despite continued FUM carnage
• How these top cryptos stacked up against Bitcoin and Ethereum in March
• 3 more of the ‘best’ ASX 200 shares to buy this month: Morgans
• Is the Macquarie share price a buy ahead of next month’s earnings results?
• 2 hot ASX lithium stocks brokers rate as buys

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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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