While there are a good number of quality blue chip options on the Australian share market, two that could be in the buy zone are listed below.

Here’s why analysts at saying these ASX blue chip shares are buys right now:

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

The first blue chip to look at is REA Group. It is the dominant player in real estate listings in the Australian market with its realestate.com.au website.

The team at Citi appear to see recent weakness in the REA share price as a buying opportunity. The broker recently put a buy rating and $153.50 price target on its shares.

Its analysts were pleased with what management said at its recent investor day event and appear confident that the company’s growth can continue despite the slowing housing market.

The broker said:

While we do not expect the Investor Day to change sentiment on the stock in the short term given the slowing house market, it did highlight the levers (especially new products and price) in the core listings business to drive growth in the near term, while India and potential direct monetisation of the consumer through Property.com.au presents long-term growth potential.

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)

Another ASX blue chip share that could be in the buy zone is retail giant Woolworths.

It could be a top option for investors according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. This is due to the broker’s belief that the company’s operations are of the highest quality and capable of delivering solid sales and earnings growth even in the current environment.

Goldman has a buy rating and $41.70 price target on the company’s shares. It commented:

We are encouraged by the resilience and superior operations of WOW and reiterate our unchanged FY22-24e Sales and EPS CAGR of 6.9% and 14.9% respectively. We expect this to be driven by high price growth, well protected GPM and slight EBIT margin expansion as COVID costs roll-off and cost efficiencies continue.

The post Here are 2 blue chip ASX shares analysts rate as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• How does the Woolworths dividend compare to Wesfarmers over the last 5 years?
• Here’s why ASX 200 tech shares are taking a beating on Wednesday
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here’s why I think the REA Group share price is a buy right 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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) is reportedly the target of a social media campaign promoting pro-China narratives.

Lynas shares have surged 51% in a year and are currently trading at $8.73. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has lost 10% in a year.

So what are the details of this cyber campaign said to be targeting Lynas?

Lynas received high level attention

American cybersecurity company Mandiant says Lynas is being targeted by a social campaign known as Dragonbridge. Thousands of social media accounts linked to this group are reportedly promoting the pollical interests of China.

Mandiant said the campaign “targeted the Australian rare earths mining company Lynas Rare Earths”.

The social media posts are calling for protests against the planned Lynas’ rare earths processing facility in Texas.

The United States Department of Defense (DOD) on Tuesday said it appreciated Madiant’s diligence exposing this campaign. The DOD said:

The Department of Defense is aware of the recent disinformation campaign, first reported by Mandiant, against Lynas Rare Earth Ltd., a rare earth element firm seeking to establish production capacity in the United States and partner nations, as well as other rare earth mining companies. 

The department has engaged the relevant interagency stakeholders and partner nations to assist in reviewing the matter.

Lynas on its website, states it is the only significant producer of separated rare earth materials outside China. The company has multiple agreements with the US Government. On 14 June, Lynas revealed it has signed a US$120 million follow-on contract with the United States Department of Defense (DOD) for a commercial heavy rare earths separation facility. In January 2021, Lynas signed a deal with the US Government for a light rare earths separation facility.

Commenting on the social media campaign, Lynas told the Australian Financial Review this is the first time it has seen evidence of direct links between “fake social media accounts” spreading disinformation and political agendas. Lynas added:

The report shows evidence of direct and mutual engagement between the pro-China Dragonbridge social media accounts and the Malaysian anti-Lynas activists.

Lynas share price snapshot

Lynas shares have lost 14% in the year to date, while they are down nearly 7% in the past month. In the last week, the company’s share price has jumped 4%.

Lynas has a market capitalisation of about $7.9 billion based on the current share price.

The post Own Lynas shares? Here’s the latest challenge faced by the rare earths miner appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Mineral Monday: What you need to know about rare earths and which ASX shares are cashing in on them
• Guess which ASX 200 mining shares these experts are backing
• How is the Lynas share price performing against its sector this month?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 3 ASX 200 shares stretching higher on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea 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 Scott Phillips.

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It was a month to forget for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in June after rate hikes, recession fears, and rising inflation weighed on investor sentiment. Over the period, the benchmark index dropped 8.9% to finish at 6,568.1 points.

Fortunately, some shares were able to avoid the market selloff. Here’s why these were the best performers on the ASX 200 in June:

Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH)

The Tabcorp share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 in June with a 15.1% gain. This was driven by news that the gambling company has settled its Racing Queensland litigation for $150 million. This settlement was conditional on the commencement of legislation that will implement proposed reforms by the Queensland Government relating to the wagering taxation and racing industry funding model. These reforms are expected to be a very big boost to Tabcorp’s business.

Atlas Arteria Group (ASX: ALX)

The Atlas Arteria share price was a strong performer with a 12.1% gain during the month. The catalyst for this was news that IFM Global Infrastructure Fund picked up a 15% stake in the toll road operator with a view of making a takeover proposal. However, the company wasn’t biting and revealed that it denied a request from IFM for access to non-public information to help it form a proposal.

Iress Ltd (ASX: IRE)

The Iress share price was on form and rose 9.9% in June. This was despite there being no news out of the financial technology company or broker notes during the month. However, one fund manager that was buying shares last month was DNR Capital. It popped up with a 5.01% stake on 21 June. Its release shows several large purchases of shares during the month.

Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF)

The Collins Foods share price had a good month and climbed 7.5%. All of this gain and more came in the final week of the month following the release of the KFC restaurant operator’s FY 2022 results. For the 12 months ended 1 May, Collins Foods delivered an 11.1% increase in revenue to $1,184,5 million and a 25% jump in underlying net profit after tax to $59.7 million. This was driven by growth across the business. A number of brokers responded positively and have tipped its shares to keep rising.

The post These were the best performing ASX 200 shares in June appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in June
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• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
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• How did ASX energy shares perform in June?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Collins Foods Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Collins Foods Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Collins Foods Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price went cold today, down 1.59% to $7.42 at the closing bell on Thursday.

This ended a three-day winning streak and a 5.13% bump for the ASX oil & gas share between Monday and Wednesday.

Today’s dip comes amid the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) releasing its 30-year plan for energy investment to “efficiently enable” the transition to renewables.

The 2022 Integrated System Plan (ISP) outlines key priorities to support the National Electricity Market (NEM) into the future.

Gas to ‘play a crucial role’ in future energy supply

AEMO consulted 1,500 stakeholders, including energy industry representatives, to create the ISP. It says the report is “based on rigorous economic and engineering analysis”.

In the investment roadmap, AEMO says “gas-fired generation will play a crucial role as coal-fired generation retires” in Australia.

For now, this bodes well for the Santos share price and other ASX oil & gas stocks.

AEMO says:

[Gas-fired generation] will complement battery and pumped hydro generation in periods of peak demand, particularly during long ‘dark and still’ weather periods.

It will help cover for planned maintenance of existing generation and transmission. And it will provide essential power system services to maintain grid security and stability, particularly following unexpected outages or earlier than expected generation withdrawal.

Gas-fired power needed through to 2050

AEMO says:

This critical need for peaking gas-fired generation will remain through the ISP time horizon to 2050, and older and less efficient peaking plants may need to be replaced.

Additional and earlier peaking gas-fired generation would add resilience against potential shortfalls in VRE, storage, DER or transmission.

Over time, gas-fired generation emissions will need to be offset elsewhere if the economy is to reach net zero emissions, and natural gas may be replaced by net zero carbon fuels such as green hydrogen or biogas.

AEMO wants investment in gas-fired power generation

AEMO CEO, Daniel Westerman, said: “Australia is experiencing a complex, rapid and irreversible energy transformation” and essential transmission investments are needed to “efficiently enable low-cost, firmed renewable energy to replace exiting coal generation”.

Westerman added:

To maintain a secure, reliable and affordable electricity supply for consumers through this transition to 2050, investment is required for a nine-fold increase in grid-scale wind and solar capacity, triple the firming capacity (dispatchable storage, hydro and gas-fired generation) and a near five-fold increase in distributed solar.

Santos share price summary

The Santos share price has risen 12.6% in 2022. Disrupted international supply chains have encouraged many investors to buy ASX energy stocks this year.

Over the past 12 months, the Santos share price is up 5.1%.

Santos will report its FY22 full-year results during the upcoming earnings season on 17 August.

The post Santos shares go cold despite energy regulator outlining ‘crucial’ role gas will play for decades appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• How did ASX energy shares perform in June?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Why are ASX 200 energy shares surging today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Own Santos shares? This analyst expects gas prices to grow through to 2025

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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 Scott Phillips.

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