Owning Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares normally means receiving a pleasing level of dividend income each year.

The ASX bank share typically has a generous dividend payout ratio and a fairly low price/earnings (P/E) ratio, resulting in a large dividend yield for investors.

In my view, Westpac shares offer investors a fairly similar investment setup as ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB). However, Westpac typically generates more of its earnings from lending to households than the other two banks.

All three of the bank majors that I’ve mentioned have a higher dividend yield than Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), though that’s largely because CBA trades on a higher P/E ratio than the other major banks.

With the above in mind, let’s take a look at what analysts are predicting for the ASX bank share in the years ahead.

FY26

We’re now at the end of the Westpac 2026 financial year, which finishes on 30 September 2026. But we’ll have to wait a few weeks to see what the ASX bank share actually achieved when it reports.

The latest update we’ve heard from the bank was the FY26 third-quarter update for the three weeks to June 2026.

It said it generated $1.8 billion of quarterly statutory net profit, which represented a 3% increase on the quarterly average of the FY26 first half. Its underlying net profit also came to $1.8 billion, resulting in a 2% year-over-year increase on the FY26 first half average.

Westpac noted that it continues to focus on simplifying its operations, improving the customer experience, and increasing productivity. The ASX bank share said its program, called UNITE, is progressing.

The ASX bank share also highlighted that its enterprise data has migrated to the cloud, that it has strengthened its data foundations, and that it supports greater use of analytics and artificial intelligence.

For the quarter, its net interest margin (NIM) – the profitability of its lending – was essentially stable, though rose slightly thanks to the higher interest rate environment, offset by competitive pressures in lending, the deposit mix and more savers qualifying for the savings bonus rate.

Westpac also highlighted continued operating momentum drove “strong customer deposit and loan growth”. Lending increased by 2%, reflecting broad-based growth across the Australian portfolio including 4% in business, 3% in institutional and 2% in housing.

According to the projection on CMC Invest, the business is forecast to increase its dividend per Westpac share to $1.55. That translates into a FY26 grossed-up dividend yield of 6.3%, including franking credits, at the time of writing.

FY27

The ASX bank share is expected to continue the positive trajectory for the Westpac dividend in the 2027 financial year, along with a slight increase in earnings per share (EPS).

The projection on CMC Invest suggests the annual dividend per share could be hiked slightly to $1.585.

FY28

In the final financial year of this projection series, Westpac is forecast to raise its annual dividend per share to $1.64.

That means the ASX bank share could pay a FY28 grossed-up dividend yield of 6.7%, including franking credits, at the time of writing.

The post Here’s the dividend forecast out to 2028 for Westpac shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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.

ASX share prices are always changing, giving investors the chance to invest at compelling value.

The recent reporting season provided deep insights into business profitability, allowing investors to judge whether ASX shares are overvalued or undervalued.

The below two ASX shares are some of the most backed ideas by analysts right now.

PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS)

PLS Group is one of the world’s largest lithium miners. It owns 100% of the world’s largest independent hard-rock lithium operation, the Pilgangoora operation in Australia and the Colina lithium project in Brazil. It’s also integrated into the lithium value chain with its joint venture with POSCO in South Korea, which manufactures battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

According to Commsec, the company currently has 19 analyst ratings. Of those ratings, 10 are a buy, five are a hold, and four are a sell. While that’s a mixed bag, the majority are positive ratings.

FY26 saw the company come roaring back as the lithium price bounced back following difficulties in FY25, which then huge flow-on impacts to the financials.

The ASX share’s realised (sold) price for its lithium soared 121% to US$1,488 per tonne, which combined with a 17% rise in the volume of lithium sold to 891.6kt. This led to revenue jumping 152% to $1.9 billion.

Underlying operating profit (EBITDA) rocketed higher by 1,067% to $1.14 billion and net profit after tax (NPAT) grew 369% to $526 million. It also reported that its cash margin from operations improved 608% to $1.36 billion.

Not only is the company capitalising on the current strength of the lithium price, but the P2000 and Colina projects are progressing, which could unlock the next level of production.

Ongoing demand for lithium amid electric vehicles and other battery requirements could help drive the lithium price higher, or at least absorb the higher supply without detrimental impacts.

AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP)

AMP is another ASX-listed company with broad expert backing. The ASX financial share offers several services, including banking, investments, and superannuation. It also has increasingly important Chinese partnerships.

According to Commsec, there are currently nine analyst ratings on the business, with seven of those being buy.

The FY26 half-year result was another impressive result for a business that’s steadily turning things around after a difficult several years.

It said that in the six months to 30 June 2026, underlying net profit grew 33% to $174 million, with statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) rising 57% to $154 million.

Assets under management (AUM) increased to $167.6 billion, reflecting growth in AMP’s wealth and retirement business.

The platforms’ net cash flows increased 33% to $3.1 billion for the half, and superannuation and investments delivered its first positive half-year net cash flow result since 2017.

Perhaps most importantly, the contribution from AMP’s China partnerships more than doubled to $56 million, supported by CLPC AUM growth to approximately RMD 2.6 trillion.

With that result, the ASX financial share announced an additional $150 million share buyback and an interim dividend of 3 cents per share.

According to the projection on Commsec, the AMP share price is valued at 19x FY26’s estimated earnings.

The post 2 ASX shares highly recommended to buy: Experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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.

There are a lot of ASX dividend shares for investors to choose from on the Australian share market.

To narrow things down, let’s take a look at one that could be among the best to buy as October approaches fast.

Which ASX dividend share?

The dividend share that could be a best buy is HomeCo Daily Needs REIT (ASX: HDN).

It is a REIT with a focus on large format retail, neighbourhood centres, and health and services.

The company counts Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) as tenants.

Upgraded

According to a note out of Bell Potter this morning, the broker has upgraded this ASX dividend share on the belief that it is significantly undervalued. It said:

As the dust settles from reporting season we revisit HDN, upgrading to a Buy recommendation on relative valuation, supported by earnings trajectory and nondiscretionary retail fundamentals. 

Valuation is oversold – HDN trades -2 std deviations below its 5-year average discount to NTA (-31.4% vs -13%) and at 12.0x P/E, a discount to the passive REIT peer average of 14.1x. The stock has fallen -13.3% since results and underperformed peers (HDN -19.1% vs XPJ -14.9%) over 3 months, a reaction we view as disproportionate to the underlying -2.2% FY27 earnings decline. Indeed, historically +2 or -2 standard deviations has been a strong indicator for externally managed REITs mean reversion and outperformance.

Bell Potter thinks now could be a good time to buy given its forecast for earnings to bottom in FY 2027. It adds:

We expect earnings to trough in FY27, with growth returning in FY28 (+2.5%) as the incremental mark-to-mkt of debt costs lessens, asset are divested accretively, and developments complete at >7% target ROIC.

It also believes longer term retail undersupply is supportive. Bell Potter said:

Retail supply completions have run well below trend (90k sqm p.a. average FY22-25 vs a 158k sqm 10-year average), driving vacancy down and rental growth up across the neighbourhood/ LFR formats HDN is exposed to, supporting ~+6% re-leasing spreads and further cap rate compression through 2029.

Big returns

The note reveals that Bell Potter has upgraded the ASX dividend share to a buy rating (from hold) with a trimmed price target of $1.20 (from $1.25).

Based on its current share price of $1.05, this implies potential upside of 14.3% for investors over the next 12 months.

The broker is also expecting dividends of 8.6 cents per share in FY 2027 and FY 2028, before an increase to 8.8 cents per share in FY 2029.  This represents dividend yields of 8.2%, 8.2%, and 8.4%, respectively.

Commenting on its upgrade, Bell Potter said:

HDN has materially underperformed and screens as oversold, trading at an 8.1% div yield and 12.0x P/E (vs 6.9% & 14.1x passive REIT sector avg), despite FY27 marking the trough in earnings. We see growth returning in FY28 (+2.5%) with stable topline growth supported by favourable retail sector supply/demand dynamics. We upgrade HDN to a Buy recommendation following its recent underperformance (- 19.1% last 3 months vs XPJ -14.9%).

The post Is this the best ASX dividend share to buy in October? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Woolworths Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended HomeCo Daily Needs REIT and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.