If you are looking to bolster your portfolio with some ASX 200 blue chip shares, you may want to look at the two listed below that experts rate highly.

Here’s why analysts think they are in the buy zone this month:

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)

The first ASX 200 blue chip share that has been named as a buy is this leading hearing solutions company.

Goldman believes that Cochlear is well-placed to deliver the top end of its guidance this year. It commented:

In our view, the backdrop for this year appears relatively more favourable, and we see clear scope for COH to deliver at the upper-end of another solid guidance (+8-13% to $290-305m, with further accretion possible from the Oticon Medical transaction, which is yet to close).

Goldman Sachs currently has a buy rating and $247.00 price target on its shares.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)

Another ASX 200 blue chip share that has been named as a buy is airline operator Qantas.

Morgans is bullish on the company and believes it is well-placed in the current environment. It said:

QAN is now our preferred pick out of our travel stocks under coverage given it has the most near-term earnings momentum. Looking across travel companies globally, airlines are now in the sweet spot given demand is massively exceeding supply.

The broker also sees plenty of value in the Qantas share price at the current level. Morgans adds:

QAN is trading at a material discount compared to pre-COVID multiples, despite having structurally higher earnings, a much stronger balance sheet, a better domestic market position, a higher returning International business and more diversification (stronger Loyalty/Freight earnings).

All in all, this makes Qantas the broker’s top pick in the travel sector right now. As a result, it has put an add rating and $8.50 price target on the company’s shares.

The post Why experts say these ASX 200 blue chip shares are buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 10 ASX stocks to buy before they report this earnings season: Goldman
• Virgin IPO talks are heating up. So why is the Qantas share price still climbing?
• Up 25% in a year, is it time to cash in Qantas shares?
• Should I buy Qantas shares before the company’s ASX earnings update?
• Morgans names 2 of the best ASX 200 shares to buy in February

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 positions in and has recommended Cochlear. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear. 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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Looking for a growth share or maybe two to buy? If you are, the two listed below could be worth considering.

Here’s why these ASX growth shares are rated highly by experts:

Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE)

If you’re not averse to investing in the mining sector, then the first ASX growth share to consider is Allkem. It is one of the world’s largest lithium miners with a collection of projects in Argentina, Australia, and North America.

Allkem is already producing a lot of lithium from these projects, but it won’t be stopping there. Management aims to grow its production multiples times current levels in the coming years in order to maintain a 10% share of global lithium supply over the long term.

Goldman Sachs may be bearish on lithium prices but it is bullish on Allkem. This is due to its production growth and exposure to several lithium types. The latter includes moving downstream from spodumene into lithium chemicals, which it sees as a margin accretive opportunity.

The broker has a buy rating and $15.50 price target on Allkem’s shares.

Lovisa Holdings Limited (ASX: LOV)

This fast-fashion jewellery retailer could be another top ASX growth share to buy right now.

It has been tipped to grow strongly in the coming years thanks to the popularity of its affordable offering, its focus on younger consumers, and its ambitious global expansion plans. The latter is being driven by a management team that has been here before and successfully grown other retail brands globally.

It is for this reason that Morgans believes Lovisa has the potential to “be one of the biggest success stories in Australian retail.”

Morgans currently has an add rating and $28.50 price target on its shares.

The post 2 explosive ASX growth shares to buy now according to analysts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• How to create a million-dollar ASX share portfolio in two decades
• Morgans names 2 more of the best ASX shares to buy in February
• Should I buy ASX 200 lithium shares now or not?
• How I’d invest $200 a month in ASX shares to make a $20,000 passive income for life
• What’s with ASX 200 lithium shares today?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Allkem. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Lovisa. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished Tuesday’s trading session 0.46% lower, closing back under 7,500 points.

For most of the day, the ASX 200 was well in the green. But when the decision of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to hike the official cash rate by 0.25% came out this afternoon, markets went into a tailspin.

But that was certainly not the case with ASX 200 coal shares.

This corner of the share market was on fire today. Take the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price. Whitehaven shares closed up a pleasing 1.89% at $8.62 a share.

New Hope Corporation Ltd‘s (ASX: NHC) share price did even better. It ended the day 3.7% higher at $6.16 a share. Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) also enjoyed a nice boost, recording a happy rise of 3.51% to $6.19 a share:

ASX 200 coal shares propped up the entire energy sector today – one of only two ASX sectors to finish in the green.

Some oil shares also did quite well, including Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) which gained 2.92%. But that wasn’t the case for the largest oil producer in the ASX 200. Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) only managed to close 0.31% ahead after a largely anaemic day.

Thus, it was coal shares that were really behind the energy sector’s dominance of the markets this Tuesday.

So what was going on with ASX 200 coal miners? Why did these shares defy the gloom of the broader market?

Why are coal shares smashing the ASX 200 today?

Well, it’s probably down to a relatively simple reason: coal prices themselves.

As my Fool colleague covered this afternoon, coal prices rose strongly overnight, with Coal Nymex futures up a solid 5.3% to US$157.00 a tonne.

Such a meaningful jump in the primary commodity of Whitehaven, New Hope, and Yancoal was always going to excite investors.

As such, it was no real surprise to see this sector shining out amid the sea of red that the ASX 200 gave us this afternoon.

The post Why did ASX 200 coal shares have such a top run on Tuesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• ASX 200: Buy high and sell higher
• Why Beach Energy, Medibank, Pushpay, and Whitehaven Coal shares are rising
• Will the stock market crash in 2023?
• Better buy: Core Lithium vs Pilbara Minerals shares

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 Scott Phillips.

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If one looks at Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) shares today, no doubt one metric in particular will jump off the page: Fortescue’s massive dividend yield.

At the time of writing, the Fortescue Metals share price is going for $22.22, up a healthy 1.21% for the session thus far:

At this share price, Fortescue shares have a trailing dividend yield of 9.32%.

This rather monstrous dividend yield comes from Fortescue’s last two dividend payments. Those consisted of the March interim dividend of 86 cents per share, as well as September’s final dividend worth $1.21 per share.

Both payments came fully franked, which means this already massive dividend yield grosses-up to a whopping 13.31% with the value of these franking credits.

So Fortescue shares are a no brainer for passive income investors seeking large dividends, right? Who wouldn’t want to get more than $9 in annual cash dividends for every $100 invested?

Is the Fortescue dividend a source of safe passive income?

Well, it’s not that simple. Dividends are not term deposits and ASX shares are not banks (with the exception of the bank shares, of course). A company is under no duty, responsibility, or obligation to fund its dividends at last year’s levels. Or to fund a dividend at all, in fact.

If Fortescue wished, it could announce tomorrow that it will never pay a dividend again.

Of course, this is unlikely. But Fortescue does have a dividend policy. According to the company, Fortescue targets dividend payments worth 80% of its full-year net profits after tax (NPAT).

However, investors need to consider this. Fortescue is almost solely a pure-play iron ore miner. As such, its profits are nearly entirely dependent on the price of iron ore. Right now, the industrial metal is trading at historically high levels of more than US$120 a tonne.

But in the past 10 years, iron ore has been as low as US$39 per tonne. Iron is an extremely cyclical commodity that tends to function as a bellwether for economic growth. During the next recession, whenever that might be, you can bet that the iron ore price will experience a significant slide.

And that will put a serious dent in Fortescue’s profits and, by extension, its dividends.

So, no, Fortescue’s 9%+ dividend yield is not ‘safe’ for passive income investors. Nor will it ever be.

If you want a truly ‘safe’ income stream, term deposits, government bonds, and annuities are where to look, not dividends from ASX shares.

But that doesn’t mean Fortescue shares won’t remain a significant source of passive income for ASX investors well into the future. They might, and probably will be. We just can’t call this passive income source a safe one.

The post Is the 9%+ Fortescue dividend yield safe for passive income investors? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why are ASX 200 iron ore shares being hammered hard on Friday?
• Why are ASX 200 iron ore shares like Rio Tinto sliding lower today?
• Here’s the Fortescue dividend forecast through to 2025
• Will funding FFI drag the Fortescue share price lower?
• Broker warns that the Fortescue share price could crash 39% from current levels

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 Scott Phillips.

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