The Webjet Ltd (ASX: WEB) share price has delivered returns for investors in 2023, but is it too late to buy?

Webjet shares have risen 7.77% since market close on the last trading day of 2022 and are now fetching $6.68 apiece at the time of writing.

In today’s trade, Webjet shares are down 2.42% amid a wider market fall. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is also 1.51% in the red today.

Let’s check the outlook for Webjet shares.

What’s ahead?

Broker outlook for Webjet is positive with travel booming this year in the wake of COVID-19 border closures and travel restrictions that plagued the industry in 2020 and 2021.

Australia’s borders reopened to international travellers on 21 February 2022.

However, recent research from Southern Cross Travel Insurance reveals 83% of Australians on the move this year plan to cut travel expenses due to the rising cost of living, Global Travel Media reported.

On the positive side, 87% of Australians are planning to travel within Australia or internationally within 12 months.

Webjet is an online travel business operating all over the world. The company also owns the global travel brand WebBeds.

Morgans is positive on the Webjet share price. The broker has placed a buy rating on the company with a $7.20 price target.

This implies an upside of 7.8% at the current share price. Analysts at Morgans believe Webjet is trading at a discount. Commenting on Webjet, Morgans said:

Based on our forecasts, WEB is trading on an FY24 recovery year PE which is at a discount to its five-year average PE (pre-COVID). Its WebBeds (B2B) business is highly leveraged to the northern hemisphere summer holiday season which is forecast to be strong.

Webjet OTA is leveraged to ANZ domestic and international travel. Management also wasted a crisis and cost reduction initiatives will reduce its cost base by 20% across the group once the business returns to scale.

Webjet subsidiary WebBeds last week announced an agreement with Luxembourg tour operator LuxairTours, broadening its customer base. Commenting on this news, WebBed Central Europe regional sales director Pepita Borrajo said:

We are pleased to be working with LuxairTours. The depth and breadth of our accommodation inventory means that whatever holiday a LuxairTours customer wants, it can be supplied through WebBeds.

Share price snapshot

The Webjet share price has jumped 18% in the past year amid the travel recovery. In the last month, the company’s share price has slid 1.33%.

Webjet has a market capitalisation of about $2.5 billion based on the current share price.

The post Up 8% in 2023, is right now the time to buy back into Webjet shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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’s been yet another day of carnage for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Thursday. After what has been a highly volatile week, the ASX 200 has fallen again, this time by a nasty 1.58%. That puts the Index back below 6,960 points.

Ouch. But let’s not dwell too long on those depressing figures. It’s time now for a look at the ASX 200 shares that are at the peak of the share market’s trading volume charts at present, according to investing.com. 

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Thursday

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

First up today is the ASX 200 lithium share Pilbara Minerals. So far this session, a notable 28.31 million Pilbara shares have been dug up and sold on the markets. With no news from the company this Thursday, it looks like this volume is the result of the movements of Pilbara shares themselves.

Pilbara has lost another 3.94% so far today and is currently down to $3.535 a share. As my Fool colleague covered this morning, Pilbara investors have now lost 20% of their capital over the past week alone. No wonder so many shares are flying around.

Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Next up is the ASX 200 telco Telstra. This Thursday has seen a hefty 32.33 million Telstra shares rung up for sale thus far. There’s also not been much news out of Telstra, apart from a notice today that non-executive director Ming Long has acquired just over $100,000 worth of shares recently.

So perhaps today’s volumes are a consequence of this notice.

But Telstra has also been bouncing around a fair bit this session. The telco is currently up by a healthy 0.74% at $4.10, defying the broader market. But this morning, Telstra sunk into the red briefly, getting down to $4.04 a share. This volatility is probably driving the high volumes we are seeing.

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)

Finally this Thursday, we have another ASX 200 lithium stock in Sayona Mining to consider. So far today, a hefty 34.22 million shares have been bought and sold on the share market. Sayona is another ASX 200 share that is bucking the market.

The lithium stock has gained a decent 1.16% so far, putting the company up at 21.75 cents a share. That was despite Sayona starting out in the red this morning.

This high volume could be the result of the major announcement Sayona made to investors before open today. As my Fool colleague Monica covered earlier, Sayona announced that it has produced its first saleable commercial-grade spodumene lithium concentrate at its North American Lithium project.

This is probably contributing to Sayona’s place at the top of the ASX 200 trading sharts right now.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

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• Is now the time to be bold and snap up cheap ASX 200 dividend shares?
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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Telstra Group. 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 positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. 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 Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is on a rollercoaster on Thursday.

In afternoon trading, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank stock are down 0.5%, at $94.96 per share.

That’s significantly better than the 1.6% loss posted by the ASX 200 at this same time. CommBank is also outperforming the other big four banks.

In fact, during the lunch hour, the CBA share price rebounded into the green, briefly up as much as 0.8% at $96.15 per share. That was a large improvement from the earlier $93.35 per share, which saw CommBank trading down 1.3%.

So, why the wild ride today?

Why all the volatility?

The CBA share price has been unusually volatile as investors consider the possibility of a looming global banking crisis.

As you’re likely aware, last week the 18th biggest bank in the United States, SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB), went belly up following a liquidity crunch that saw it unable to meet depositors’ withdrawal requests.

Silicon Valley Bank shares plummeted 60% before trading was halted. Depositor funds have been guaranteed by the US government. But the now non-operational bank may well leave its shareholders begging for crumbs.

The news saw the CBA share price and other ASX bank shares take a sharp fall this past Friday.

In an unwelcome development, investors are now learning that the US banking woes have spread to Europe.

In overnight trading, shares in Switzerland-based Credit Suisse Group (SWX: CSGN) tanked by 24% to new all-time lows.

This came after the bank’s largest investor, Saudi National Bank said it could not offer additional financial support.

The CBA share price may have enjoyed its midday bounce on fresh news that Credit Suisse is getting strong funding support from the nation’s central bank.

“Credit Suisse is taking decisive action to pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity by intending to exercise its option to borrow from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) up to CHF 50 billion,” the bank reported.

The AU$81 billion lifeline will be welcomed not just by Credit Suisse shareholders, but by bank investors the world over.

CBA share price snapshot

With today’s intraday losses factored in, the CBA share price is down just over 7% in 2023.

The post The CBA share price is on a rollercoaster today. Is Credit Suisse to blame? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ASX 200 oil stocks are tanking. Is now the time to buy?
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• Down 14% in a month, should I buy the dip on CBA shares?

SVB Financial provides credit and banking services to The Motley Fool. Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 SVB Financial. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended SVB Financial. 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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Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) shares have come under pressure with the rest of the banking sector this week.

This means that the banking and insurance giant’s shares have lost almost 8% of their value since this time last week.

In light of this decline, investors may be wondering if now is a good time to pounce on Suncorp’s shares. Let’s take a look.

Is it time to buy Suncorp shares?

One leading broker that thinks investors should be snapping up shares is Goldman Sachs.

Earlier this month, the broker retained its buy rating with a $14.47 price target. This implies potential upside of almost 21% for its shares over the next 12 months.

In addition, income investors may be pleased to learn that some very attractive dividend yields are expected in both FY 2023 and FY 2024.

Goldman is forecasting fully franked dividends of 78 cents per share and then 79 cents per share, respectively. Based on the current Suncorp share price of $11.98, this will mean yields of 6.5% and then 6.6%.

Why is the broker bullish?

Goldman revealed that it is feeling bullish on Suncorp shares due to the company’s favourable outlook. This is being underpinned by a number of tailwinds in the general insurance market. It commented:

We are favourably disposed to Suncorp noting in large part the tailwinds that exist in the general insurance market i.e., very strong renewal premium rate increases and the benefit of higher investment yields. We think the strong rate momentum that SUN is getting should likely offset volume pressures as they optimise their risk exposures in certain portfolios such as home but also likely policy lapses / buy downs.

And while it acknowledges that its underlying margin is facing pressures, it sees scope for price increases to offset this. It adds:

We note that SUN is putting through significant price increases to reflect these pressures but these benefits will flow through with a lag. Further, we note that we could start to see benefits of underlying claims inflation abating into FY24E.

Overall, the broker believes Suncorp shares look cheap compared to peers. It also sees potential for a capital return when it sells its banking business. Goldman concludes:

Despite reflecting some of these pressures in underlying margins, we think SUN trades relatively cheap compared to IAG hence we have a relative preference for SUN. We also see possible catalysts on the horizon for SUN including capital return post the bank sale and the possibility of a whole of account quota share arrangement similar to IAG. We are Buy-rated on SUN.

The post Are Suncorp shares a cheap passive-income buy after diving 7% in a week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy now
• Bought $1,000 of Suncorp shares 10 years ago? Here’s how much passive income you’ve received

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 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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