Author: therawinformant

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) has been shamed by an industry authority for its debt collection practices from investors.

The Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) found that Bendigo and Adelaide Bank violated the code multiple times from 2015 to 2019. 

The breaches related to “debt collection practices and the treatment of customers experiencing financial difficulty” by its Great Southern Loans (GSL) business unit.

This is the first time ever the committee has explicitly named a bank for violations.

“In deciding to name Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, the committee has given careful consideration to a number of factors, including the seriousness of the breaches and their likely impact on GSL customers,” said BCCC chair Ian Govey.

GSL, a managed investment scheme from an agri-business, was acquired by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank upon its merger with Adelaide Bank in 2007.

The agri-business failed and was liquidated a couple of years later, leaving some investors with debt without any assets.

Legal cases over $300 million in outstanding loans then ensued with GSL stopped from collecting debts in 2012.

The bank was finally authorised from 2015 to start calling in those debts — and that’s when the troubles seem to have started.

“We regret our actions and sincerely apologise for any negative impacts these breaches have caused for our customers,” said Bendigo and Adelaide Bank managing director Marnie Baker.

“We fell short of our own expectations and that of our customers and the community. These actions do not reflect who we are and what we stand for. We always strive to put our customers and communities first and these historic issues are not acceptable.”

Govey acknowledged that Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has taken remedial steps since an audit into GSL.

“We also note Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has commenced efforts to remediate customers who were adversely impacted by non-compliance with the 2013 Code,” he said.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank shares were down 2.74% at 2:20pm AEST Wednesday, to trade at $6.03.

What exactly did Bendigo Bank and GSL do?

The BCCC found the bank hounded customers to the point where they were spammed repeatedly with payment demands to wrong email addresses and had their private information disclosed to third parties.

Process servers who served legal papers from the bank to the customers also violated the BCCC code.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank was also accused of not properly training its debt collections staff nor keeping appropriate records. The GSL collections team ignored customers who were in financial distress and the bank didn’t have a separate unit for dealing with complaints.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank also initially “failed to co-operate” with the committee’s investigation in 2017. 

“We accept and have reflected deeply on the findings and we understand how the mistakes occurred,” said Baker.

“Our Great Southern collections team was established and operated separately from the bank’s broader operations, was inadequately resourced, and our processes and systems were insufficient for these staff and the Great Southern customers.”

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has set aside $1 million on its books for remediation to customers.

“The bank has addressed the operational issues to prevent this from happening again and has established a remediation program to provide payments to customers where we made mistakes that had an adverse customer impact,” Baker said.

More reading

• Is the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price in the buy zone?
• ASX 200 finishes the week with a bang
• CBA (ASX:CBA) employees angry at ‘disrespect’
• Borrowers on loan holidays are ignoring ASX bank communications
• Top ASX dividend shares to buy in September 2020

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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.

The post Bank named and shamed for hounding investors appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price hasn’t had a fabulous month and a half. Since making a fresh new all-time high of $19.26 on 14 August, Coles shares have slid to the $17.00 the company is asking at close of trade today. That’s a six-week slide of more than 10%.

But for ASX dividend investors, cheaper share prices mean higher dividend yields. So is this a buying opportunity for Coles shares today?

Coles shares’ crazy year

It’s certainly been a crazy year for the Coles share price. Just look at this visual representation:

We saw a big dip at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, followed by some frenzied buying pressure when investors realised Coles was one of the only businesses experiencing booming sales amid the lockdowns. Then investors cooled off a bit when the broader market began to recover before another rally from June to mid-August.

The dip over the past 6 weeks has reversed some of these gains, but could this also indicate a buying opportunity?

What are Coles shares offering today?

On current prices, Coles shares are trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.28 and a trailing dividend yield of 3.37%, or 4.81% grossed-up with Coles’ full franking. That compares with the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s current average P/E ratio of 17.81 and trailing dividend yield of 3.41%. That tells us that the market is placing a premium on Coles shares today. But is this justified? Well, I think Coles shares have a lot going for them today, especially if you’re a dividend investor.

In its August full-year earnings report for the 2020 financial year, Coles increased its final dividend to 27.5 cents per share, fully franked. That’s a 14.6% improvement to FY19’s final dividend and brings the total dividend from Coles in FY20 to 57.5 cents per share.

Foolish takeaway

A 3.37% dividend yield isn’t the largest offering on the ASX today. In contrast, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) for example, is offering investors a trialling yield of 10.77% right now.

Even so, a company like Coles offers stability and defensiveness that few other ASX companies (especially Fortescue) can offer. Groceries and alcohol are household essentials for almost everyone (the former more than the latter) and Coles is one of the few places Aussies go to buy them.

This paradigm is consistent no matter the economic conditions or the impact of the coronavirus pandemic (as we saw in March and April). As such, I think Coles is a valuable share for any ASX dividend investor to have in their portfolio, and I think today’s pricing isn’t a bad offer at all.

More reading

• ASX 200 sinks 2%, Corporate Travel (ASX:CTD) soars 8%
• ASX 200 down 1.1%: Corp Travel Management surges higher, gold miners rise, Santos given approval
• Santos (ASX:STO) share price on watch after Narrabri Gas Project approval
• Why the Jumbo (ASX:JIN) share price is moving higher today
• Why the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price has further to run

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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.

The post Are Coles (ASX:COL) shares a top option for ASX dividend investors today? appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell by around 2% today to 5,832 points. 

Here are some of the main highlights today:

US election

It can be inaccurate and pointless to assign overall share market movements to specific events. The US election is getting closer and today was the first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. It was a spicy affair, to say the least. Most media organisations covered the debate, including Australia’s ABC.

The ASX 200 drifted more than 1% lower over the course of the afternoon after the debate.

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

The Corporate Travel Management share price went up more than 8% today.

Investors got their first chance to react to the company’s acquisition of Travel & Transport in the US.

As a reminder, Travel & Transport is a North American corporate travel business which had US$2.8 billion of total transaction value (TTV) in the 2019 calendar year.

The enterprise value of this acquisition is US$200.4 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis. The enterprise value implies a multiple of seven times the 2019 calendar year pro-forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which was before the impacts of COVID-19. The implied multiple reduces to 4.3 times including the estimated full run-rate synergies of US$18 million.

It’s expected to be approximately 10% earnings per share (EPS) accretive on a pro-forma 2019 calendar year basis excluding synergies, and 30% EPS accretive including synergies.

Corporate Travel is carrying out a fully underwritten entitlement offer to raise $375 million.

Today the ASX 200 company announced that it has raised approximately $262 million under the institutional entitlement offer at $13.85 per share. That was an approximate 90% take-up by eligible shareholders, excluding Corporate Travel’s founder.

Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS)

Defence, space and communications technology business Electro Optic Systems (EOS) announced today that it has completed contract negotiations with the Australian government for the purchase of 251 remote weapon systems and related material.

The contract is valued at over $94 million and, according to EOS, “will not only enhance Australian Army capability and secure EOS’ supplier base, but will boost Australian jobs and create opportunities for small businesses. The contract finalisation includes $28.5 million of cash flow to EOS in the fourth quarter of 2020 that will assist in securing the EOS Australia supply chain consisting of 146 SMEs and 1,100 employees. The 251 remote weapons systems will be integrated on to Bushmaster and Hawkei protected mobility vehicles. Forty RWS are scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2020, with the remainder to be delivered in 2021.”

The EOS share price jumped to $5.88 in early trading, but it settled down to be down by 0.5% to $5.50.

Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX: JIN)

Ex-ASX 200 lottery business Jumbo saw its share price jump to $13.50 in early trading in reaction to the Lotterywest deal. But over the course of the day it dropped around 7.5% to $12.50.

After the market had closed yesterday Jumbo revealed the terms of its agreement with Lotterywest.

Jumbo will provide a white label software platform to Lotterywest with Lotterywest branding. This will allow Jumbo WA online players (worth around $33 million of total transaction value (TTV) in FY20) to opt to continue playing online on a platform they are used to, with Lotterywest.

The agreement is for an initial 3-year term with options to extend for a further three years and then another four years.

Jumbo will receive a service fee for every customer transaction through the white label platform for the provision of the software platform and associated operation, technical and customer support and development services and costs.

More reading

• 2 exciting ASX mid cap ASX growth shares to buy for the long term
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why Corp Travel Management, EOS, Evolution, & Recce shares are charging higher
• ASX 200 down 1.1%: Corp Travel Management surges higher, gold miners rise, Santos given approval
• Santos (ASX:STO) share price on watch after Narrabri Gas Project approval

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited and Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited. 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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One side of the Australian share market which I think is a great place to look for investment ideas is the mid cap space.

I’m a big fan of mid cap shares as they offer stronger potential returns than large caps, but arguably carry less risk than small caps.

With that in mind, here are two mid cap ASX shares that I think are worth watching closely:

Jumbo Interactive (ASX: JIN)

Jumbo is an online lottery ticket seller and best-known as the operator of the Oz Lotteries website. The majority of the company’s revenue is currently coming from the Oz Lotteries business, which is benefiting from the shift to online gambling. However, this won’t be the case over the long term thanks to its Powered by Jumbo software-as-a-service (SaaS) business. The company is taking its Powered by Jumbo business global with the aim of capturing a slice of a US$303 billion total addressable market. It is worth noting that only 7% of this market is estimated to be online at present. I believe this gives it a significant runway for growth over the next decade as more gambling shifts online.

Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT)

Opthea is a leading developer of novel biologic therapies for the treatment of eye diseases. I think it is well worth considering due to its very promising OPT-302 combination therapy. This therapy is targeting wet age-related macular degeneration and achieved very positive Phase 2b study results last year. The current standard of care treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration had sales of over US$3.7 billion in 2018. This gives it a sizeable market opportunity. In addition to this, the company is targeting diabetic macular edema (DME), which had sales of over US$6.2 billion in 2018. Though, recent results for DME haven’t been as positive.

More reading

• Why the Jumbo (ASX:JIN) share price is moving higher today
• 3 stellar mid cap ASX tech shares to buy for the long term
• Why Jumbo, New Hope, Northern Star, & Qantas shares are dropping lower
• Jumbo (ASX:JIN) share price on watch after Tabcorp (ASX:TAH) sells its stake
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Jumbo Interactive Limited. 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.

The post 2 exciting ASX mid cap ASX growth shares to buy for the long term appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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I believe trying to time the absolute bottom for ASX share prices is a mug’s game.

And though we’re proud to be Fools (with a capital ‘F’), we’ll leave attempting to pick the precise highs and lows of share markets to another category of fools.

Though futures markets may have given some indication, at this time yesterday we would not have been able to tell you with any certainty that the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) would be down 1.3% in early afternoon trading.

Nor can we tell you now if the ASX will gain tomorrow only to dip again on Friday. Or if share prices will gain both days. Or…

Well, you get the idea.

Rather than encourage a rapid spread of grey hairs, we recommend taking a step back. Have a long-term investment horizon for the quality shares you buy. And when it comes to analysing the market’s next moves higher or lower, look at the medium-term trends, not the daily price swings.

With that in mind…

This is not the end of the rebound for ASX shares

Robert Sluymer is a technical strategist for Fundstrat Global. Using a series of weekly indicators, Sluymer is forecasting markets will bottom out by mid-October.

Sluymer says (as quoted by the Australian Financial Review):

Our technical outlook remains unchanged heading into the fourth quarter viewing the weakness that began for the S&P 500 in September as part of a normal, albeit unpleasant, seasonal correction within the context of a four-year bull cycle…

As more strategists turn cautious, we would highlight that the internal momentum for the market peaked in June and July, and incrementally a growing list of stocks are unwinding the intermediate-term/weekly overbought condition that developed during [and] into the summer. From our perspective, the current pullback is not the end of the rebound but is setting the stage for another advance in the fourth quarter through year-end into the first quarter of 2021.

Show me the money

Whether the ASX rebounds in early October or later in the month, we believe Sluymer is spot on with his call for advancing share prices heading into 2021.

Part of that is based on the share price corrections we’ve witnessed over the past weeks. Since 3 September, for example, the ASX 200 is down 4%. In US markets the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) has fallen harder, down 7% since 2 September.

Even after those retracements, US and Aussie share markets are still well above their mid-March lows. The S&P 500 is up 49% from 23 March and the ASX 200 has gained 30% since then.

That big rebound partly came on the realisation that most shares had been oversold in the initial COVID panic selling. The other major drivers were the waves of record-breaking central bank and government stimulus packages across the developed world.

According to statistics from the Bank of America, the major global central banks slashed interest rates 164 times within 147 days.

Atop the rate cuts, quantitative easing (QE) also kicked back into higher gear. As Bloomberg reports, this resulted in US$8.5 trillion (AU$12 trillion) of monetary support from central banks. Add in the US$11.4 trillion in fiscal stimulus and you arrive at AU$28 trillion in stimulus packages.

The extraordinary moves by the biggest central banks now see them owning assets worth almost 25% of the world’s total share market capitalisation.

But they’re not done yet. Which is the second reason I expect ASX share prices to see a strong leg up in the coming months.

From Bloomberg:

According to JPMorgan, further asset purchases and credit-easing policies should increase these [central] banks’ balance sheets from $21.5 trillion, or 57% of their gross domestic product, to almost $27 trillion, 67% of GDP, by the end of 2021.

Now it’s no secret that US share markets greatly influence share price moves on the ASX.

On that front, there are a few glimmers of good news trickling through.

First, the US federal government looks to have averted a costly and embarrassing shutdown on 1 October after the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill yesterday (overnight Aussie time).

Second, and more importantly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are still in discussions for the next big US government stimulus package. It’s almost unimaginable that the two sides will put off any further stimulus for much longer.

Whether the Democrats get the US$2.1 trillion package they’re proposing or it gets whittled down a bit, the final number is sure to be impressive. And it’s also sure to have an impact on share prices.

As Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management says (as quoted by Bloomberg), “A lot of the fiscal stimulus conversation is driving the markets here in the near-term.”

Today might not be the absolute bottom before the next ASX rebound. But the signs indicate we should be getting close.

Foolish takeaway

When word that the next US stimulus package has passed hits the headlines (as I expect it will), many shares on the ASX should see their share prices rise. All the more so following on from the recent pullback.

Hopefully that includes most, or all, of the shares you already own.

But if you want to gain access to the wider performance of the top 200 ASX companies, there are several exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available on the ASX that are intended to closely track the performance of the top 200 listed companies. You can buy and sell shares in these ETFs just as you would with any of the individual ASX companies.

One you may wish to consider is the Ishares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ). This ETF works to closely match the performance of the ASX 200 Accumulation Index, meaning companies’ share price moves plus any dividends they pay.

Year to date, the ETF’s share price is down 12%. Since the 23 March low this ASX share price has gained 29%.

More reading

• Here are the 10 most popular ETFs on the ASX
• A rising tide of money to lift all shares…and one ASX ETF to buy today
• Why the Ramelius (ASX:RMS) share price is at a new all-time high
• 3 ASX high-growth ETFs growth investors can’t ignore
• A strange thing is happening with index funds…

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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.

The post Here’s why the stage is set for another big advance in ASX share prices appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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I believe that some ASX shares would make great buys right now with $2,000 for October and the long-term.

The US election could throw up a lot of volatility over the next month (or four). Sometimes we have to ignore potential short-term problems and go with investments that seem like quality long-term ideas.

If I were buying two growth shares for the long-term, I’d go with these picks:

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

I think the market is underestimating how much growth Pushpay can generate over the next year or two.

Don’t get me wrong, the electronic donation business has been doing very well. The Pushpay share price has actually risen by 141% over the past six months.

I think there’s more to come from the ASX share. It was able to beat its previous guidance for FY20 and I believe that it could beat its guidance in FY21. Pushpay is aiming to at least double its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and foreign currency (EBITDAF) to at least US$50 million in FY21. The unfortunate COVID-19 circumstances are boosting adoption of Pushpay’s services. It also offers livestreaming capabilities for congregations. 

Part of the reason why I think Pushpay could do so well is because of its scalability. In FY20 alone it grew its EBITDAF margin from 17% to 22%. That came from just adding another US$30 million-ish revenue to its top line. In FY20 it made US$130 million revenue, it seems the business can become much more profitable as it steadily grows to its US$1 billion revenue target from large and medium US churches.

Over the longer-term, the ASX share could expand its technology to other religions in the US, other geographical markets or other not-for-profit sectors.

At the current Pushpay share price it’s priced at around 38x FY21’s estimated earnings.

A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

The A2 Milk share price has been crunched almost 30% lower over the past two months.

Over the short-term, businesses will suffer some difficulties. A2 Milk seems to be going through some COVID-19-related pain right now.

For the second year in a row, A2 Milk’s share price has suffered through August and September.  

I think the market is overestimating how much A2 Milk’s earnings are going to be hurt over the long-term.

I believe this is a long-term opportunity to buy shares of one of the best ASX shares. The company is impressively growing its market share domestically and overseas, particularly in the US and China.

Daigou channel sales aren’t the only way to sell to Chinese consumers. A2 Milk is seeing fast growth of its China business.

For the full 2021 financial year it’s expecting revenue to be between NZ$1.8 billion to NZ$1.9 billion. That would represent growth of between 4% to 10%, up from NZ$1.73 billion in FY20, with a fairly similar earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin.

The company continues to add thousands more stores to its distribution network across China as well as the US.

I’m particularly excited by the expansion into Canada with its agreement with Agrifoods. The more countries that A2 Milk can sell its products into the better. It increases A2 Milk’s total addressable market and gives it a longer growth runway.

In the short-term, Melbourne’s lockdowns seem on track to be lifted soon which should help boost sales.

In my opinion, the ASX share has many years of good growth ahead. I view this selloff as a very attractive buying opportunity. I don’t know what A2 Milk shares will do over the next few weeks, but I think it can do well over the coming years.

At the current A2 Milk share price it’s trading at 21x FY23’s estimated earnings.

More reading

• 3 ASX shares for growth, income, and value investors to buy in October
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why a2 Milk, BrainChip, Oil Search, & Starpharma shares are dropping lower
• Could the Bubs (ASX:BUB) share price be an A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) contender? 
• These are the ASX blue chip shares I’d buy today

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. 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.

The post 2 top ASX shares I’d buy with $2,000 for October and beyond appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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Are you looking for options for your portfolio in October? Well, whether you’re a growth, income, or value investor, one of the shares listed below could be worth considering.

Here’s why I think they are top options for investors:

BWP Trust (ASX: BWP)

If you’re an income investor then you might want to consider BWP. It is a commercial real estate company which leases the majority of its properties to hardware giant Bunnings Warehouse. Given the strength of the Bunnings business, particularly during the pandemic, I believe BWP is well-placed to continue growing its distribution over the coming years. In FY 2021, the company expects to pay a distribution in the region of 18.29 cents per unit. Based on the current BWP share price, this equates to a 4.5% distribution yield. 

Pushpay Holdings Group Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Growth investors might want to look at this leading donor management and community engagement platform provider for the faith sector. Due to the digitisation of the church and the shift to a cashless society, Pushpay’s platform is quickly becoming indispensable in the sector. I believe this puts it in an excellent position for growth over the next decade. In FY 2021, the company expects to deliver EBITDAF of between US$48 million and US$52 million. This will be a 91.2% to 107% increase, respectively, year on year.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

I think Telstra would be a great option for value investors. Due to a heavy decline this year, the telco giant’s shares are changing hands at under 19x estimated FY 2021 earnings. This strikes me as great value, especially given its improving outlook and defensive qualities. Another positive is this decline means that its shares now offer a very generous dividend yield. I still believe the company can maintain its 16 cents per share dividend in FY 2021 through its free cash flow. Based on the current Telstra share price, this equates to a 4.8% dividend yield.

More reading

• 2 top ASX shares I’d buy with $2,000 for October and beyond
• New $190 million tech share listing on ASX
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) launches new 5G NBN alternative
• Is the TPG (ASX:TPG) share price a buy today?
• Which ASX REITs are still worth buying in a post-COVID-19 world?

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. 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.

The post 3 ASX shares for growth, income, and value investors to buy in October appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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One area of the market which I think is a great place to look for investment ideas is the tech sector.

At this side of the market there are a good number of shares which have the potential to generate strong returns for investors over the next 10 years.

Two ASX tech shares that I think investors should take a look at are listed below:

Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH)

Bigtincan is a provider of enterprise mobility software which helps sales and service organisations to increase their sales win rates and improve customer satisfaction. This is achieved through improved mobile worker productivity. It was a very strong performer in FY 2020, delivering a 53% increase in annualised recurring revenue (ARR) growth to $35.8 million.

More of the same is expected in FY 2021, with management guiding to ARR growth of 36.9% to 48% year on year. This is still only a fraction of its overall market opportunity. Management expects the sales engagement platform market to be worth $6 billion a year by 2021.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Another high quality ASX tech share to buy is Xero. Over the last few years Xero has evolved from being a cloud-based accounting solution to a full service small to medium sized business solution. Unsurprisingly, this has gone down well with small businesses across the globe, leading to stellar subscriber growth over the last few years.

At the last count the company had almost 2.5 million subscribers using its platform. While this is certainly a large number, it is still only scratching at the surface of its overall market opportunity. In fact, management notes that less than 20% of its global English-speaking target market is using cloud-based accounting software currently. I believe more and more will start embracing the new technology in the coming years. And given the quality of Xero’s platform, I suspect it will be very well-positioned to benefit from this shift.

More reading

• Why these ASX tech shares just hit record highs
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 2 ASX tech shares I’d buy with $10,000 
• 10 fantastic ASX shares to buy in October
• 3 of the best ASX growth shares you can buy right now

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends BIGTINCAN FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BIGTINCAN FPO. 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.

The post Why I would buy Xero (ASX:XRO) and this ASX tech share appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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Each week, we Fools like to look at the most traded shares Aussies are buying and selling. Commonwealth Bank of Australia‘s (ASX: CBA) CommSec platform provides week-to-week data on both the most traded ASX shares and the most traded international shares (which are almost always United States shares). So here are the most traded US shares that Aussies were trading last week (21-25 September).

Most traded international shares on the ASX

The five most traded international shares last week were these:

1. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) — representing 15.8% of total trades with an 84%/16% buy-to-sell ratio.
2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) — representing 5.4% of total trades with an 82%/18% buy-to-sell ratio.
3. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) — representing 1.9% of total trades with a 79%/21% buy-to-sell ratio.
4. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) — representing 1.9% of total trades with a 75%/25% buy-to-sell ratio.
5. Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA) — representing 1.3% of total trades with a 53%/47% buy-to-sell ratio.

The next five most traded shares were the following:

      6. Workhorse Group Inc (NASDAQ: WKHS)

      7. Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ: GOOG)

      8. Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO)

      9. Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM)

    10. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA)

What can we learn from these trades?

Once again, we see the big US tech companies and electric auto companies dominating the list, with Elon Musk’s electric car and battery manufacturer Tesla again claiming top spot by quite a large margin there, almost triple that of Apple in the number two spot. Over the period in question, Tesla shares were down nearly 10%, so clearly there were some ASX investors looking to scoop up a perceived bargain here (the Tesla share price is up 8% since 25 September, so it’s paid off so far). Work-from-home market darling, Zoom, also made a rare appearance.

Nikola, Workhorse and Nio are all electric vehicle manufacturers as well, although these companies are clearly in the ‘speculative’ side of the market (in my view anyway). It’s clear that many ASX investors think these companies are worth taking a shot on, even if most (excepting Chinese company, Nio) have yet to produce a market-ready vehicle. These shares are highly volatile. As an example, Workhorse stock was down 18% between 21-25 September, and up more than 22% between 25 September and today. How’s that for a rollercoaster!

That’s nothing compared to the embattled Nikola though. The Nikola share price lost 30% over the same period (and a further 8% since). That probably explains why Nikola is the only share with anything close to an even buy/sell split on this list.

Foolish takeaway

It was an interesting set of numbers last week for the ASX’s most traded international shares, with some familiar and surprising names coming up. It will be fascinating to see what this week’s numbers drag up.

More reading

• Banks rejoice: Mortgages back to pre-COVID levels
• Where to invest your CBA dividends
• The ASX big bank stock that’s most at risk of a dividend cut
• Which ASX REITs are still worth buying in a post-COVID-19 world?
• BrainChip (ASX:BRN) and Novonix (NVX) were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Tesla, and Zoom Video Communications and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $85 calls on Microsoft, short January 2021 $115 calls on Microsoft, short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon, and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, NVIDIA, and Zoom Video Communications. 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.

The post ASX investors were buying Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares last week appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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The Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) share price has come under pressure on Wednesday and is dropping lower again.

The regional bank’s shares are down over 2% to $5.75 in afternoon trade.

Is this a buying opportunity for investors?

While I see more value in some of the big four banks and would sooner buy their shares, one broker that thinks this is a buying opportunity is Goldman Sachs.

This morning the broker retained its buy rating but trimmed the price target on the bank’s shares to $6.85. This follows Bank of Queensland’s provisions update this week.

The broker’s price target implies potential upside of 19% for its shares over the next 12 months, excluding dividends.

Including dividends this increases to approximately 24% based on its dividend estimates.

Why is Goldman Sachs positive on Bank of Queensland?

Goldman commented: “BOQ has announced that it expects its FY20 loan impairment expense (LIE) will be A$175 mn, including a COVID-19 related collective provision of A$133 mn. While we had sat above BOQ’s previous guidance on its COVID-19 provision, today’s LIE update is still c. A$25 mn higher than our previous forecast. Furthermore, BOQ has announced that an A$11 mn expense will be taken at the FY20 result (due on 14 October) resulting from a proactive review of historical employee pay and entitlements.”

And while this has led to the broker reducing its earnings estimates, it still sees a lot of value in its shares at the current level.

It explained: “We think BOQ provides good exposure to the lower basis risk and falling deposit costs that we are currently seeing in the market and its capital position remains solid, with our Aug-20 CET1 ratio forecast to be 10.0%. Therefore, with our revised TP offering 15% [now 24%] total shareholder return, we stay Buy.”

More reading

• ASX 200 ends the day flat, BOQ (ASX:BOQ) shares drop on impairments
• ASX bank share price hammered after missing pay revealed
• ASX 200 up 0.15%: a2 Milk sinks lower, Bank of Queensland tumbles, CTM’s major acquisition.
• Why a2 Milk, Bank of Queensland, Mesoblast, & Northern Star are dropping lower today
• Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) share price on watch after COVID and employee underpayment update

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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.

The post Top broker names Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) shares as a buy appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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