The AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) share price is up 8.92% to $1.92 a share at the time of writing today. The broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (INDEXASX: JXO) is having a bit of a roller-coaster kind of day, up 1%, then down 1% and now flat. But in contrast, AMP shares are surging and are back to the levels we were seeing before the March stock market crash. In fact, since 24 March, AMP shares are up nearly 80%.

So why are AMP shares surging today? And more importantly, are AMP shares still a buy at these levels?

Why the AMP share price is raising the roof

We can safely say that the AMP share price surge we are seeing today is the direct result of the company receiving the green light for its AMP Life sale. This morning the company announced that it has been given the all-clear by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) for the sale of its life insurance business to go ahead. The RBNZ blocked AMP’s initial proposal last year on the grounds that the deal endangered the wellbeing of AMP’s New Zealand clients.

If the sale does indeed go ahead, it will result in approximately $1 billion in proceeds for AMP. The sale was the central tenet of AMP’s new-ish CEO Francesco De Ferrari’s turnaround plan for the emballed wealth manager.

The AMP share price is still recovering from the revelations that came to light during the 2018 Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. Before this time, AMP was worth around $5 a share. But revelations of systemic fraud, mischarging of customers and charging fees for no service saw an exodus of customers and AMP’s share price smashed.

That’s why the cash injection that the now-cleared sale will provide the company is welcome for shareholders today.

Is AMP still a buy today?

I say ‘still a buy’ only because picking up AMP shares at any time over the past 3 months would likely have netted a tidy profit on today’s AMP share price. But how are things looking from here?

Well, there’s no doubt that AMP will be a stronger company once it amputates the struggling AMP Life business. There is now little prospects of a dilutive capital raising and the company can continue to focus on the avenues where it has the most strength – namely asset management.

AMP shares are still cheap today from a valuation perspective, in my view. But then again, there is still a lot of uncertainty in this company’s future. So much so that I’m not tempted at all. I like to invest in companies with clear competitive advantages and strong brands. AMP has neither of these things in my opinion and so I’ll be looking elsewhere for a future winner.

More reading

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• Leading brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to sell today
• ASX shares in danger? Why the gold price is creeping towards all-time highs
• Renewed US-China trade war puts these ASX 200 stocks in the firing line

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 Rox Resources Limited (ASX: RXL) share price is soaring today after the small-cap ASX miner reported more high gold grades at Youanmi.

At the time of writing, Rox Resources shares have jumped 17.74% to 7.3 cents after rallying as much as 29.03% in morning trade.

Rox Resources is an emerging Australian minerals exploration company, with advanced gold and nickel projects in Australia.

The company owns a 70% interest in the Youanmi Gold Mine, and wholly-owns the Mt Fisher Gold Project, Fisher East Nickel Project and Colluabbie Nickel Project, all located in Western Australia.

Why is the Rox Resources share price spiking?

This morning, Rox Resources reported further high-grade gold results from the drilling program underway at the Grace prospect at Youanmi.

Rox stated that shallow infill drilling has returned more high gold grades, including:

• 4 metres at 88.81 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 27 metres, including:
  • 2 metres at 176.03 g/t gold from 28 metres;
• 11 metres at 18.75 g/t gold from 8 metres, including:
  • 3 metres at 61.27 g/t gold from 10 metres; and
• 9 metres at 9.28 g/t gold from 9 metres, including:
  • 2 metres at 33.53 g/t gold from 11 metres.

These results relate to reverse circulation drilling designed to tighten drill spacing on the shallow high-grade part of the emerging Grace prospect to facilitate resource estimation.

Commenting on the results, managing director Alex Passmore said:

“These strong infill results are extremely encouraging and endorse our interpretation for Grace. The results, along with outstanding RC assays, will be complemented by upcoming diamond drilling to facilitate a maiden resource estimate, which we are aiming to have completed later this year.”

Recent developments

Today’s announcement follows another promising ASX release last week which saw the Rox Resources share price more than double.

The release also related to the drilling program being undertaken at the Grace prospect, with the deepest drilling completed to date returning impressive gold grades. This included 25 metres at 34.79 g/t gold from 143 metres, including 6 metres at 140.7 g/t gold from 150 metres.

With a share price of 7.3 cents at the time of writing, Rox Resource’s market capitalisation currently stands at around $145 million. With today’s rise, the Rox Resources share price has now rocketed 192% since the beginning of last week.

More reading

• Why the AMP share price is up 9% today
• Leading fund manager names 3 undervalued Chinese shares to buy
• Western Areas share price blasts 14% on successful drilling results
• Is a Fortescue Metals mega-merger on the cards?
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to sell today

Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) share price has jumped by 14.94% to $2.66 per share at the time of writing. This significant jump comes on the back of the miner reporting successful drilling results from its Sahara prospect within the Western Gawler project in South Australia. 

What did Western Areas report?

The company discovered over 200 metres (down-hole length) of nickel and copper-bearing sulphides at the Sahara prospect within the Western Gawler Project. This was the first diamond hole completed by the company on the lluka farm-in and joint venture ground. 

Western Areas managing director Mr Dan Lougher said:

This is an excellent result from our first drill hole at the Sahara prospect, intercepting broad widths of nickel and copper bearing mineralisation. We keenly await the assay results, but it is already clear from what we have seen in the drill core, that we have a significant exploration result that merits immediate follow up work.

Importantly, we originally targeted this area due to its geological similarities to the Nova-Bollinger and Nebo-Babel nickel/copper deposits and this result adds to our belief that this area could host similar mineral accumulations. A lot more work is required to determine the extent of this mineralisation and we are in the process of updating our exploration plans to focus on this area.

According to the company, the drilling site was selected following an extensive campaign of target generation and assessment in 2019. The diamond drilling project commenced at Sahara on 10 June.

Western Areas reports that it is highly encouraged by these results, commenting that they vindicate its “long-held belief that the Fowler Domain has the potential to host significant magmatic nickel and copper sulphide accumulations.”

The Sahara prospect lies within 10km of the Trans Australian railway.

How has the Western Areas share price performed recently?

The Western Areas share price is up 60% from its 52-week low of $1.62, however, it is down by 11%, year to date. It reached a 52-week high of $3.48 in October 2019. Since 2015, the Western Areas share price is down by 22%. 

At its current share price, Western Areas trades on a fully franked trailing dividend yield of 1.3%. 

More reading

• ASX 200 flat: Westpac tumbles, Woolworths reveals strong sales growth, Challenger sinks
• Why Afterpay, Flight Centre, TPG Telecom, & Western Areas are charging higher

Motley Fool contributor Chris Chitty has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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