Category: Stock Market

With interest rates now heading north, it may be worthwhile taking a look at ASX shares representing retailers Australians just can’t live without.

After all, even if the economy slows down, consumers still have to eat food, wear clothes and have a drink.

The analysts at Morgans certainly thinks so, and are currently pretty keen on two particular retailer stocks:

‘A good entry point for longer term investors’

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) owns an enviable stable of retail brands in Australia — Bunnings, Kmart, Target and Officeworks.

The share price has taken a beating just recently though, dropping more than 17% this year so far and almost 25% since August.

According to Morgans analyst Andrew Tang, this is a blessing in disguise.

“We see the recent pullback in the share price as a good entry point for longer term investors,” he said in Morgans Best Buys memo for May.

“The company is run by a highly regarded management team and the balance sheet is healthy.”

Staff shortages are admittedly a challenge for every business right now, but especially so for one of Australia’s biggest employers.

But Tang’s not worried about that in the long run.

“The core Bunnings division (>60% of group EBIT) remains a solid performer as consumers continue to invest in their homes.”

Other analysts are torn about Wesfarmers shares.

According to CMC Markets, nine out of 15 are on the fence, labelling it a hold. There are four votes each on the buy and sell sides.

The retail giant does hand out a 3.42% dividend yield, as a nice sweetener for those who take the plunge.

Are Australians drinking at home or the pub?

Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) runs big retail brands like Dan Murphy’s and BWS.

But it also has a hospitality division, which operates a large network of pubs around Australia.

While the retail business went gangbusters during COVID-19 lockdowns, Tang admits the hotels division suffered from low patronage.

But that just gives it plenty of upside for the coming period.

“With the Australian economy now largely reopened and we move into a ‘living with COVID’ environment, this should be positive for the hotels outlook.”

Endeavour did cop a short-term blow to its stock price on Tuesday as it announced that the managing director for Dan Murphy’s had departed to return to the UK.

The share price is still up more than 12% so far this year, and a pleasing 26.4% higher than it was 12 months ago.

Much like Wesfarmers, the wider analyst community is also divided on Endeavour.

According to CMC Markets, four out of 13 rate it as a strong buy with one other supporting it as a moderate buy. Four analysts each label it as hold and sell respectively.

The post 2 retail ASX shares Morgans rates as a buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the Wesfarmers share price a buy or a sell in May?
• Here’s how some of the biggest ASX 200 shares are responding to the RBA’s rate rise
• Endeavour share price struggles amid Dan Murphy’s leadership resignation
• Why did the Wesfarmers share price lag the ASX 200 in April?
• Analysts name 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy next week

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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 positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. 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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Before 2022, it would be a fair statement to say that investors in the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price weren’t used to falling share prices. From 2018 until the back half of 2021, Wesfarmers shares went up in a fairly straight line, with the exception of the March 2020 COVID crash of course.

But 2022 has been telling a different tale. Wesfarmers has been one of the worst ASX 200 blue-chip share performers over the year to date. Since New Year’s Day, the Wesfarmers share price has fallen by a whopping 18.2%. Since the industrial and retail conglomerate hit its last all-time high of $67.20 in August last year, the company has now lost more than 25% of its value. Ouch.

But Wesfarmers is arguably one of the most diversified businesses on the ASX. It is certainly the most diversified company in the ASX 50. Its flagship Bunnings hardware business is almost universally praised as one of the top retail operations in the country.

But in addition to Bunnings, Wesfarmers also owns retailers OfficeWorks, Kmart, and Target. And that’s in addition to the plethora of other pies Wesfarmers has fingers in. These include mining, chemical manufacturing, and even a clothing line.

So now that Wesfarmers has given up such a significant chunk of its value in recent months, many investors might be wondering if this blue-chip share is a buy now that we are in May.

Is the Wesfarmers share price a May buy?

Well, one ASX broker who reckons Wesfarmers is a buy right now is Morgans. As my Fool colleague covered last month, Morgans currently has an “add” rating on Wesfarmers shares, together with a 12-month share price target of $58.50 a share. If that came to pass, it would result in a gain worth a tad over 19%. That’s not including dividend returns either.

The broker rates the company due to its strong balance sheet and its high quality portfolio, run by a “highly regarded management team”. Morgans even reckons Wesfarmers is in a good position to initiate future acquisitions. It is also pencilling in a big dividend increase in FY2023.

So no doubt that will come as music to Wesfarmers investors’ ears. But we’ll have to wait and see if Morgans’ predictions prove accurate.

At yesterday’s closing share price, Wesfarmers has a market capitalisation of $55.67 billion, with a dividend yield of 3.46%.

The post Is the Wesfarmers share price a buy or a sell in May? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here’s why the Metcash share price just hit a 15-year high
• Here’s how some of the biggest ASX 200 shares are responding to the RBA’s rate rise
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. 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 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price will be one to watch this morning.

This follows the release of the banking giant’s half-year results.

ANZ share price on watch amid $3.1bn cash profit

• Statutory operating income from continuing operation up 14% to $9,542 million
• Cash earnings from continuing operations up 4% to $3,113 million
• Net interest margin (NIM) down 7 basis points during the half to 1.58%
• CET1 ratio decreased 81 basis points to 11.53% during the half
• Interim fully franked dividend of 72 cents per share

What happened during the half?

For the six months ended 31 March, ANZ delivered cash earnings from continuing operations of $3,113 million. This represents a 4% increase over the prior corresponding period but a 3% decline on the second half of FY 2021.

ANZ’s year on year growth was driven by its Australia Retail and Commercial segment and its New Zealand segment, which offset a poor performance from the bank’s Institutional segment.

For the period, the Australia Retail and Commercial segment reported an 11% increase in cash earnings to $1,986 million. This was driven by positive balance sheet momentum after the bank increased home loan processing capacity by 30%, bringing assessment times in line with major peers.

Over in New Zealand, the bank reported a 2% lift in cash earnings to $787 million. Management revealed that it grew its home loans by 7% half-on-half. This took ANZ’s total home loan book in New Zealand to more than NZ$100 billion and increased its market share by 28bps to 30.66%.

The Institutional segment was the only real disappointment. It recorded a disappointing 23% decline in cash earnings to $730 million.

Nevertheless, this couldn’t stop ANZ from declaring a 72 cents per share fully franked interim dividend. This represents a 2.9% or 2 cents increase on FY 2021’s interim dividend.

How does this compare to expectations?

The good news for shareholders is that this result appears to have come in a touch ahead of expectations, which could bode well for the ANZ share price this morning.

For example, a note out of Goldman Sachs reveals that its analysts were expecting ANZ to report cash earnings of $2,971 million. This compares to ANZ’s actual cash earnings of $3,113 million.

This may have been driven by the bank’s better than expected NIM. Goldman was expecting a NIM of 1.56%, whereas ANZ reported a 1.58% margin.

The broker was also forecasting a fully franked interim dividend of 72 cents per share, which is what the bank declared.

Management commentary

ANZ’s Chief Executive Officer, Shayne Elliott, appears optimistic on the future. He said:

“Looking ahead, the economic environment is likely to be very different and we will continue to adjust our risk appetite, business settings and investment priorities as required. We are already seeing increased demand from our business customers and we are well placed to continue to support them as they manage in a world of higher inflation and interest rates.

“For ANZ, we will continue to focus on the long term – investing for tomorrow and not just running today. We have made good progress in building a resilient, agile bank for the future. Our culture is strong and we have an embedded sense of purpose as an organisation – to shape a world where people and communities thrive.”

The post ANZ share price on watch amid $3.1bn half-year cash profit appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here’s how some of the biggest ASX 200 shares are responding to the RBA’s rate rise
• The ASX 200 shares that fund managers are buying and dumping
• Own ANZ shares? Here’s what to expect from the bank’s half-year results
• Can ASX 200 banks live up to the $11 billion ‘big expectation’ when they report this month?

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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Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be an effective way for investors to gain exposure to the share market while also achieving diversification.

There are some ETFs that provide exposure to a specific industry, while others can provide exposure to a globally diversified portfolio.

These two ETFs were recently rated as buys by leading investment experts:

Vanguard Diversified High Growth Index ETF (ASX: VDHG)

In a recent episode of ‘buy hold sell’, Ben Nash from Pivot Wealth rated the VDHG ETF as a buy.

He described this ETF as “rock solid” because of its nature as a diversified index fund and that it automatically rebalances for the investor. Nash said that it has a “reasonably” low cost and that people can sleep easy at night knowing that they will get the market return over time.

What is the ETF actually invested in?

Most of the ETF is invested in Australian shares and larger international shares, almost 80%. The Vanguard Diversified High Growth Index ETF is also invested in smaller international shares, ‘emerging market’ shares, global bonds, and Australian bonds. The bonds make up around 10% of the portfolio.

That means it provides underlying exposure to ASX shares like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) as well as global shares such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet.

It charges an annual management fee of 0.27%.

BetaShares Global Sustainability Leaders ETF (ASX: ETHI)

This is an ETF that is based solely on international shares. There are no bonds involved.

In a different episode of ‘buy hold sell’, both Ben Nash and Felicity Thomas from Shaw and Partners rated the ETHI ETF as a buy. It’s one of Ms Thomas’ favourite ETFs.

This ETF looks to build a portfolio of global businesses that exclude fossil fuel businesses, gambling, alcohol, and other industries that are seen as ‘unethical’. Only businesses that are seen as climate leaders in their industry, or are helping the world decarbonise, are included in the portfolio.

After the above exclusions, what remains are the 200 largest businesses in the global share market. Some of the biggest positions include: Apple, Nvidia, Visa, Home Depot, Mastercard, Toyota, ASML, Cisco Systems, and Adobe.

In terms of sector allocations, there are four sectors that had a large weighting at the end of March 2022: IT with a 40.5% allocation, healthcare with a 17.2% allocation, financials with a 15.4% allocation, and consumer discretionary with a 13.1% allocation.

Past performance is certainly not a guarantee of future performance, particularly with interest rates rising. Over the past five years, the ETHI ETF has delivered an average net return of 19.4% per annum. That includes the annual management cost of 0.59%.

The post 2 buy-rated quality ETFs for May 2022: experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 top ETFs rated as buys for May
• Here are 2 top ETFs for ASX investors to buy next 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. 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 Adobe Inc., Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, Apple, CSL Ltd., Cisco Systems, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Alphabet (C shares) and has recommended the following options: long January 2024 $420 calls on Adobe Inc., long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2024 $430 calls on Adobe Inc., and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adobe Inc., Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Mastercard, and Nvidia. 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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Medical and biotechnology ASX shares have suffered greatly the past few months as the prospect of rising interest rates scares people off future-dependent sectors.

But the team at Morgans believes there are still a couple of medical tech stocks that are big enough and profitable enough to be worth buying at the current discount.

Let’s take a look at the pair, as recommended by analyst Andrew Tang:

‘Maintains a dominant position’

The Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price has largely gone sideways over the past 12 months, gaining just 2.3%. Year-to-date is similar, showing a 1.8% rise.

The hearing device company took a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw fewer patients seeking treatments for non-respiratory issues.

There were also investors who were not fans of Cochlear’s recent acquisition of Oticon Medical.

But, for Tang, there is no reason why Cochlear won’t recover to its pre-COVID glory.

“Cochlear maintains a dominant position in the implantable hearing solutions segment,” he wrote in Morgans Best Ideas for May.

“While we continue to believe a full recovery from COVID-based disruptions still has time to play out, improving demand and strong pipeline — coupled with management’s increasing confidence — suggests an improving earnings profile.”

According to CMC Markets, eight out of 20 analysts recommend Cochlear shares as a buy, while nine rate it as a hold.

Short-term pain for long-term gains

Sleep breathing device maker Resmed CDI (ASX: RMD) has recently seen its stocks wade through far choppier waters than Cochlear.

The volatility is seen in how the share price has lost more than 21% for the year but gained 13% over the past 12 months.

Tang believes the rollercoaster ride will continue for a while yet.

“We believe the next few quarters will likely be volatile, as COVID-related demand for ventilators continues to slow and core sleep apnoea volumes gradually lift.”

But the Morgans team still has plenty of conviction in Resmed over the long term.

“Nothing changes our medium/longer term view that the company remains well-placed as it builds a unique, patient-centric, connected-care digital platform that addresses the main pinch points across the healthcare value chain.”

Goldman Sachs analysts agree with Morgans, rating Resmed as a buy with a price target of $33.70.

“The broker believes ResMed is still in a stronger position today than 12 months ago and does not believe the near term challenges should be overcapitalised,” reported The Motley Fool’s James Mickleboro last week.

Indeed, 13 out of 23 analysts surveyed in CMC Markets rate the stock as a “strong buy”, with another three labelling it a “moderate buy”.

The post 2 medical tech ASX shares Morgans loves right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Why Kogan, Reliance, ResMed, and Sandfire shares are dropping
• ASX 200 midday update: ResMed disappoints, PointsBet rockets higher

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has positions in Cochlear Ltd. and ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and ResMed Inc. 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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On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form again and dropped into the red. The benchmark index fell 0.4% to 7,316.2 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rebound

The Australian share market looks set to rebound on Wednesday following a solid night in the US. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 36 points or 0.5% lower this morning. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose 0.2%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, and the Nasdaq edged 0.2% higher.

ANZ half year results

All eyes will be on the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price this morning when the banking giant releases its half-year results. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts expect ANZ to deliver a pre-provisioning operating profit of $4,270 million and cash earnings of $2,971 million for the half. This will be down 4.2% and 7.4%, respectively, from the second half of FY 2021. As for dividends, the broker has pencilled in a fully franked interim dividend of 72 cents per share for the period.

Oil prices fall

Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a difficult day after oil prices tumbled. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 2.5% to US$102.59 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 2.3% to US$105.09 a barrel. This appears to have been driven by demand concerns amid lockdowns in China.

Woolworths shares remain a buy

The Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price is good value according to the team at Goldman Sachs. In response to the retail giant’s quarterly update, the broker has reiterated its buy rating and lifted its price target to $41.70. Goldman believes “WOW will be a defensive player vs escalating cost inflation.”

Gold price rises

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could have a decent day after the gold price pushed higher overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.2% to US$1,867.6 an ounce. The precious metal appears to be in a holding pattern ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s rate decision this week.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here’s why the Metcash share price just hit a 15-year high
• Here’s how some of the biggest ASX 200 shares are responding to the RBA’s rate rise
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• Could Polynovo shares get kicked out of the ASX 200?

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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If you’re a growth investor with room for some new portfolio additions in May, then it could be worth considering the three ASX growth shares listed below.

Here’s what you need to know about these buy-rated ASX shares:

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

The first ASX growth share to look at is this leading appliance manufacturer. Breville has been growing at a solid rate for many years thanks to the success of its product development and its global expansion. Pleasingly, both continue with Breville investing heavily in R&D and entering new markets.

Morgans is a fan of the company and has an add rating and $32.00 price target on its shares. The broker believes Breville is “positioned to deliver double-digit sales growth consistently over the next few years as it grows its market share, notably in geographies into which it has recently launched.”

Lovisa Holdings Limited (ASX: LOV)

Another ASX growth share that is rated highly is Lovisa. It is a fast-fashion jewellery retailer which has been tipped to grow very strongly in the future. This is due to the popularity of its offering and management’s bold global expansion plans.

Morgans is also very positive on Lovisa and has an add rating and $24.00 price target on its shares. It is very bullish on the company’s global expansion plans and believes “LOV may just prove to be one of the biggest success stories in Australian retail.”

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

A final growth share to look at is the global leading provider of elastic interconnection services. Megaport’s global platform allows users to rapidly connect their network to other services across the Megaport Network, which can then be directly controlled by customers via mobile devices, their computer, or its open API. This is proving to be a very popular solution given the structural shift to the cloud.

Goldman Sachs is a big fan of Megaport and has a buy rating and $13.10 price target on its shares. While the broker was disappointed with Megaport’s recent quarterly update, it notes that “the long term opportunity for MP1 is unchanged, given (1) the growth in cloud/multi-cloud demand; (2) efficiency benefits from network ‘softwarisation’; and (3) MP1’s product lead.”

The post 3 stellar ASX growth shares analysts are tipping as buys this month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in April
• 2 excellent ASX shares to buy and hold for a decade
• Is this opportunity knocking? 3 ASX shares hitting 52-week lows today
• 48% fall: Fund names 3 ASX shares to take off after heavy crash
• Top broker tips Megaport share price to rebound 45%

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 positions in and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa Holdings Ltd and MEGAPORT FPO. 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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Yesterday we looked at three ASX shares brokers have given buy ratings to this week.

Unfortunately, not all shares are in favour with brokers right now. Three that have just been given sell ratings are listed below. Here’s why these brokers are bearish on these ASX shares:

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have retained their sell rating and trimmed their price target on this mining giant’s shares to $14.90. Although Fortescue outperformed Goldman’s estimates with its record third quarter shipments, it wasn’t enough for a change of rating. The broker continues to have issues with its valuation and believes its premium to fellow large cap miners is unwarranted considering the lack of diversification and risks around future capital spend and returns. The Fortescue share price was trading at $20.61 on Tuesday.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

A note out of Credit Suisse reveals that its analysts have downgraded this ecommerce company’s shares to an underperform rating and slashed the price target on them to $3.75. Credit Suisse was disappointed with Kogan’s quarterly update and notes that its sales fell well short of its expectations during the period. And with inventory and costs high, the broker has concerns over its profits and also its cash flows. The Kogan share price has now dropped below this price target to $3.73.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)

Analysts at UBS have retained their sell rating and cut their price target on this buy now pay later provider’s shares to a lowly 90 cents. This follows the release of Zip’s third quarter update. While that update revealed solid growth in absolute terms, it was still well short of UBS’ second half growth forecasts. In addition, the broker highlights Zip’s softening transaction frequency and suspects that its active customers includes inactive customers that will soon drop off. The Zip share price was trading at $1.16 on Tuesday afternoon.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Fortescue share price down 5% on Tuesday?
• Here’s how some of the biggest ASX 200 shares are responding to the RBA’s rate rise
• Why Block, Domain, Metcash, and Zip shares are pushing higher
• Back in the green: Zip share price launches 6% on Tuesday
• How did the Fortescue share price stack up in April?

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 positions in and has recommended Kogan.com ltd and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. 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 Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) share price struggled on the ASX today.

The lithium explorer’s shares fell by 6.68% to $1.745. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slid 0.42% in today’s trade.

Let’s take a look at what is happening at Lake Resources.

Lithium explorer falls

The Lake Resources share price has sunk to its lowest level since late March today. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials (ASX: XMJ) index fell by more than 1% today while the shares of ASX lithium miner Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) also closed 4.53% lower.

In today’s news, Lake advised the market company secretary Garry Gill has resigned as joint company secretary. Peter Neilsen will remain in his role as company secretary and chief financial officer.

Commenting on the news, the company said:

The board expresses its appreciation to Mr Gill for his services to the company and wishes him well for the future.

Lake Resources is exploring lithium from multiple projects including the flagship Kachi Project in Argentina. Lake aims to produce 100,000 tonnes of lithium by 2030. Lithium is a critical component of Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries.

The lithium carbonate price has fallen 6.85% in a month to 462,500 yuan per tonne, Trading Economics data shows.

Lake Resources share price snapshot

The Lake Resources share price has soared 463% in the past 12 months and is up 73% this year to date.

In contrast, the benchmark index has returned about 4% in the past year.

Lake Resources has a market capitalisation of about $2.3 billion based on the current share price.

The post Why did the Lake Resources share price tumble 7% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Lake Resources share price beating its sector today?
• What are the 10 biggest ASX shares in the lithium space
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Lake Resources share price spikes 14% as lithium prices begin to ease
• Analysts name 3 top ASX lithium stocks to buy now

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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The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price zipped higher over the past month following positive investor sentiment.

In April, the telco provider’s shares have gained around 2%. By compassion, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell almost 1% over the same period.

It’s worth noting that Telstra shares reached a 2-month high of $4.06 on 21 April before treading lower.

At Tuesday’s market close, the company’s shares finished 0.25% lower to $3.98.

Below, we take a closer look at what fuelled the Telstra share price.

What’s drove Telstra shares higher last month?

While the company’s kept relatively quiet on the news front during April, investors continued to buy up Telstra shares.

The positive outlook on the company is stemming from the successful implementation of its transformational T22 strategy. Management sees this as a way of simplifying and digitising the business.

However, the upcoming T25 strategy which builds on the T22 strategy is posed for driving growth. Its aim is to further support dividends through a number of cost-cutting and value-adding initiatives.

In addition, the appointment of new CEO, Ms Vicki Brady appeared to excite investors.

Ms Brady is scheduled to take over the helm from outgoing CEO Andy Penn on 1 September.

They both have been working together to ensure a smooth handover.

Lastly, Telstra has been busy conducting its planned $1.35 billion buyback program. Currently, management has spent $1.15 billion so far following the partial sales of the Towers transaction.

It is expected that the sale will be completed by the end of the financial year.

Telstra share price summary

In 2022, the Telstra share price has lost around 5%, despite reaching pre-pandemic levels.

If the company’s share price can push above $4.31 this year, it will be at a multi-year high from 2017.

Telstra commands a market capitalisation of around $46.42 billion, making it the 11th largest company on the ASX.

The post Why did the Telstra share price beat the ASX 200 in April? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• Rates are up! Expert names 2 ASX shares for a global downturn
• The ASX 200 shares that fund managers are buying and dumping
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Monday
• Best ASX shares to buy in May 2022

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has positions in Telstra Corporation Limited. 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 Corporation Limited. 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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