It has been a rough ride for the GQG Partners Inc (ASX: GQG) share price over the last year, it’s down around 40% since July 2025, as the chart below shows. The drop of the valuation has led to a big increase in the dividend yield.

GQG is a leading US-based fund manager offering four main strategies. Its key funds are focused on international shares (excluding the US), emerging market shares, US shares and global shares.

Headwinds to turn into tailwinds?

Short-term investment performance has been difficult as the fund manager positioned its portfolios defensively to protect against excessive, lofty valuations. Despite that, all four of its strategies have outperformed their respective benchmarks since their inception in 2014.

I think the business has a lot of potential to outperform from this current low point in the GQG share price.

The business could see better performance in the coming months if share markets rise, providing a tailwind for its funds under management (FUM) to rise. Or, if the market falls, its defensive positioning could enable outperformance of the benchmark.

FUM outflows have already slowed significantly, and returning to outperformance could help GQG regain FUM inflows.

Big dividend yield

The business is currently paying out approximately 90% of its distributable profit to shareholders, which is a very generous level of passive income.

With the large drop in the GQG share price, it’s now trading on a very low price/earnings (P/E) ratio, giving investors an opportunity to buy this business for incredible value.

It pays its dividend quarterly, meaning investors receive their payouts at a pleasing frequency. The latest dividend was AU $0.04878 per share, which translates into an annualised dividend yield of 13.4%.

That also suggests that the business is currently valued at less than 7x its current annualised distributable profit.

If FUM were to continue declining over a long period, that would not be ideal. But GQG has a long track record of outperforming its benchmarks, and I believe it can get back to that level of performance.

What do analysts think of the GQG share price?

According to CMC Invest, there have been three ratings on the business within the last three months, with two buy ratings and one hold rating. The average price target is $1.76, implying a possible rise of around 20% over the next year.

Overall, it seems like the business is significantly undervalued, and it can provide investors with a lot of passive income.

The post Down 39% in 12 months with a 13% yield, are GQG shares too cheap to ignore? 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 recommended Gqg Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) has been a strong performer over the long-term. We shouldn’t judge a market or investment too much based on a short time frame, which I’d describe as anything less than a year.

The S&P 500 is one of the most popular indices from across the world because many of the largest (and strongest) global companies are listed in the US.

In this index, we can find 500 of the largest and most profitable businesses listed in the US share market, such as Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta Platforms.

How strongly has the S&P 500 Index performed in 2026?

At the time of writing, the S&P 500 Index has risen by 7.2% in 2026 to date. That compares very favourably to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which has only risen by 0.4% in 2026 to date.

As you might expect, the gains in the US share market have largely been driven by a very small number of businesses.

In 2026 to date:

• The Nvidia share price is up 2% (it’s down 18% from mid-May)
• The Apple share price is up 4.7%
• The Microsoft share price is down 21%
• The Amazon share price is up 2.7%
• The Alphabet share price is up 6.1%
• The Meta Platforms share price is down 15%
• The Broadcom share price is up 5%
• The Micron Technology share price is up 259%
• The Advanced Micro Devices share price is up 133%

It is very interesting to me that names like Microsoft and Meta Platforms have suffered major declines, and Nvidia has given up much of its 2026 gains, while others in the tech space have soared.

How can Australian investors get exposure to this index?

The easiest way for Aussies to buy into the S&P 500 is through the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV). It’s one of the cheapest exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the ASX with an annual management fee of just 0.04%.

The fund’s performance has been excellent, thanks to the businesses it holds. Over the past decade to 31 May 2026, the IVV ETF has averaged an annual return of 15.5%.

I’m not expecting the next five and ten years to be as good as that because of how reliant those returns were on a few tech names.

It becomes increasingly difficult to continue growing earnings at a strong pace when you’re talking about businesses with market capitalisations of more than US$1 trillion. Plus, it’s an intriguing development that the index is becoming more concentrated on the top ten names.

However, great companies do manage to continue growing their earnings. So, aside from the complexity of the huge spending on AI, I think the outlook for the S&P 500 looks compelling.

The post $5,000 invested in the S&P 500 at the start of 2026 is now worth… 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 positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Nvidia, and iShares S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and iShares S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Buying ASX dividend stocks at cheap value makes a lot of sense. That’s why I think the business Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI) is very appealing after its 19% decline since late February 2026, as the chart below shows.

It may not be one of the most well-known dividend businesses out there, but I think it has significant potential. It’s a retailer of what it describes as premium youth fashion brands, including Universal Store, Perfect Stranger, and the CTC business (with the THRILLS and Worship brands). It has more than 120 stores across Australia.

Let me explain why it’s such an appealing ASX dividend stock today.

Great dividend track record

The ASX dividend stock began paying dividends to shareholders in 2021 and has continued to increase its annual payout each year since.

Universal Store’s latest result was the FY26 half-year result – it hiked its interim payout by 18.1% to 26 cents per share. I’m not expecting the company to continue increasing its payout at that pace every year forever, but it shows it is delivering excellent passive income growth for investors.

There are plenty of ASX blue-chip shares that have given investors a dividend reduction in the last five years, but Universal Store has not.

According to the projection on CMC Invest, the business is forecast to pay a dividend that equates to a grossed-up dividend yield of close to 8%, including franking credits, with further (but slower) growth projected for FY27 and FY28.

There are not many ASX dividend stocks with a yield of around 8% (or more) that are expected to grow their payout in high single-digit terms in the coming years.

Why this is a good time to buy the ASX dividend stock

The business is doing all the right things to grow its sales and earnings in a number of ways.

For starters, it’s achieving ongoing sales growth through both good like-for-like sales at existing stores and expansion of its store network.

Its FY26 retail sales through week 43 were solid. Universal Store delivered sales growth of 11.8%. Perfect Stranger’s like-for-like (LFL) sales grew 12.9%, while total sales growth came to 39.8%. CTC LFL sales increased 3.8%, while total sales increased 14.5%.

During FY26, Universal Store has opened four new stores and Perfect Stranger opened seven new stores.

The company expects total FY26 sales to grow by approximately 11.5%, while underlying operating profit (EBITA) could grow by 15.4%. As we can see, profit margins are expected to improve, which helps the bottom line grow faster, and this is what funds those rising dividends.

It has shown great skill at growing earnings and dividends over the years – I think this is a good time to invest in the ASX dividend stock, along with a few other names.

The post 1 ASX dividend stock down 19% I’d buy right now 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 recommended Universal Store. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.