Category: Stock Market

Shares in hydrocarbons giant Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) are now trading back near 52-week highs at the open on Tuesday after regaining strength over the last 2 months.

Santos shares have rallied since December in synch with underlying commodity prices that are now floating above their single-year highs.

The Brent crude oil contract – of which more than 90% of oil pricing in the market is based off – is now thrusting towards $93 per barrel, levels not seen since September 2014. It’s bounced from a low of $60 a barrel in February last year and is now up more than 53% in that time.

Hence, Santos is now in favour of the experts once more, with the prospects of record free cash flow yields and superior profit generation cemented on the horizon. Here’s what one portfolio manager thinks about the company.

A bullish backdrop

According to Bruce Williams, portfolio manager at Elston Asset Management, ASX energy shares like Santos look set to benefit from a sector rotation into energy and mining that’s been gradually occurring over the last two years.

Speaking to an episode of “Buy Hold Sell” on Livewire recently, Williams noted that energy shares have absorbed record high commodity prices and Australia’s soaring energy needs quite well in recent times.

“We think with the energy transition dominating headlines, there’s been a real focus on the reduction in long-term demand for your traditional energy companies”, the portfolio manager said.

The proof’s in the pudding too – the S&P/ASX 200 Energy index (ASX: XEJ) is up more than 14% this year to date, whereas the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 3% in the same time.

Although the more immediate issue in Williams’ eyes is the short-term lack of supply. Over the last 3–4 years, both capital and operating expenditures have lagged behind due to “very low prices”, he notes. However, this has changed in recent times, given the mismatch in demand and supply that’s stemmed from COVID-19 lockdowns.

“Basically, there is a supply shortfall given the energy needs of the country. We think they will be sensible going forward in terms of how they spend their money. We think they’ll run them very lean”.

What does this mean for Santos shares?

Given the sensitivity of Santos’ stock to fluctuations in the energy markets, the recent commodities rally has meant Williams has taken notice of the sector’s cash-generating power.

“The commodity price that drives them is very good, so excellent cash generation. And we think on undemanding multiples it’s a really good spot to be at the moment”, he said.

Regarding the company itself, Williams likes the runway Santos has over the coming periods, filled with “reasonably low-risk opportunities” in his eyes.

Nevertheless, Santos aligns with the portfolio manager’s current search for companies with robust balance sheets and generating sticky cash flow, giving the investor a healthy risk to reward calculus.

“Obviously, the underlying price for oil and gas is very supportive. Lots of free cash generation” he said, regarding Santos. “Post their merger with Oil Search, they’re looking at getting rid of non-core operations and also palming down some assets” he added.

“So the balance sheet is really strong as well. We think it’s a great place to be at the moment”.

Santos closed Tuesday at a price to earnings ratio (P/E) of almost 40x and a trailing earnings yield of roughly 2.6%.

Over the last 12 months, shares have held gains and are 8%, however are soaring this year to date and have gained 20% in that time.

The post ‘A lot of opportunities’: Why this broker is bullish on Santos (ASX:STO) shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Own ASX energy shares? Citi issues stark oil production warning
• Is now the time to rid your ASX share portfolio of COVID losers?
• ‘100 million tonnes’: Santos (ASX:STO) share price steady on world-first carbon storage deal
• These ASX 200 shares can beat inflation: expert
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no positions in Santos Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The ASX 200 is home to some high quality companies that have significant long term potential.

Two that have recently been rated as buys are listed below. Here’s why these ASX 200 shares could be in the buy zone:

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

The first ASX 200 share to look at is biotherapeutics giant CSL. Its CSL Behring and Seqirus businesses have a portfolio of life-saving and lucrative therapies and vaccines which are generating billions of dollars in sales each year.

But management never rests on its laurels. Each year it invests in the region of 10% to 11% of its sales back into research and development (R&D) activities. This means that CSL will be investing around US$1 billion into its R&D this year. This ensures that the company has pipeline of therapies under development that could drive its future growth.

In addition, CSL is in the process of acquiring Vifor Pharma for ~$17 billion. Management notes that the deal expands its leadership across an attractive portfolio focused on renal disease and iron deficiency. It also highlights that Vifor has a high quality pipeline and complements CSL’s existing therapeutic focus areas including Haematology, Thrombosis, Cardiovascular, and Transplant.

Citi is bullish on CSL and has a buy rating and $340.00 price target on its shares.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

Another ASX 200 share to look at is ResMed. It is a leading sleep treatment-focused medical device company with a portfolio of products improving the lives of sufferers of conditions such as sleep apnoea.

ResMed has been growing at a solid rate for well over a decade and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. This is due to its leadership position in a market which continues to grow as education around sleep disorders improves.

In addition, with one of its key competitors continuing to work its way through a massive product recall, ResMed looks well-placed to win market share. This, combined with its patient-centric, connected-care digital platform, bodes well for its growth in the coming years.

Morgans is a big fan of the company and has an add rating and $40.46 price target on its shares.

The post 2 highly rated ASX 200 shares to buy immediately appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 2 ASX shares at a golden buying opportunity right now
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• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

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. owns and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are a select group of ASX dividend shares that may be able to give investors steady payments during retirement.

During 2020, there were plenty of businesses that cut their dividend payouts to shareholders. However, there were others that did increase dividends to shareholders and have an intention to grow the dividend where possible. These two could be ones that can be reliable:

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Wesfarmers is one of the oldest businesses on the ASX. It now resembles a quality retail business. The company has a number of businesses including Bunnings, Officeworks, Kmart and Catch.

During 2020 and the first half of 2021, the business experienced strong demand for DIY home project supplies, home office supplies and home entertainment products.

Wesfarmers’ total FY21 dividend increased by 17.1% to $1.78. The company is committed to providing investors with attractive returns.

The ASX dividend share is working on growing its earnings through diversification and acquisitions. Bunnings recently bought Beaumont Tiles. Wesfarmers is working on the lithium Mt Holland project, which could benefit from the rapid rise of the lithium price. It’s seemingly on track to win the battle to buy the Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API) business which will be the start of a health division.

Bunnings continues to perform, though Kmart and Target sales are expected to be down around 10.3% in the half-year to 31 December 2021.

It’s currently rated as a buy by Morgans, with a price target of $60.80. For HY22, Wesfarmers is expecting to generate net profit after tax (NPAT) of $1.18 billion to $1.24 billion.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

This is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a diversified portfolio across a number of different property sectors. Some of those include: long WALE retail and hospitality, industrial and logistics, office, social infrastructure and agri-logistics,

The portfolio is now worth a total of $7 billion across 549 properties, with around 80% of that total on the eastern seaboard. This ASX dividend share has a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 12.2 years, providing long-term income security. The REIT says that this provides insulation from market shocks.

The ASX dividend share says that 99% of its tenants are either an Australian government entity, ASX-listed, multinational or national tenants. It calls these ‘blue chip’ tenants.

In the recent FY22 half-year result, the distribution was increased by 5.1% to 15.24 cents per unit, whilst the net tangible assets (NTA) per unit grew 12.8% from June 2021 to $5.22.

Before this week, the broker Macquarie rated it as a buy. It was expecting the FY22 distribution to translate into a yield of 6.1% at the current Charter Hall Long WALE REIT share price.

The post 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide steady income in retirement appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price in the buy zone after recent weakness?
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• Do any ASX lithium shares pay dividends?

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 owns and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price will be on watch this morning.

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

CBA share price on watch after outperforming expectations

• Statutory net profit after tax up 26% to $4,741 million
• Cash net profit after tax up 23% to $4,746 million
• Operating expenses down 0.1% to $5,591 million
• Fully franked interim dividend up 17% to $1.75 per share
• Net interest margin (NIM) down 14 basis points to 1.92%
• CET1 ratio of 11.8%
• On-market buyback of up to $2 billion

What happened during the half?

For the six months ended 31 December, Commonwealth Bank reported a 23% increase in cash profit after tax to $4,746 million. Management advised that its profits were supported by strong business outcomes, reduced remediation costs, and lower loan loss provisions due to an improved economic outlook.

One thing that did weigh on its profits was its NIM, which fell 14 basis points over the prior corresponding period to 1.92%. CBA’s NIM was impacted by increased switching to lower margin fixed home loans, the impact of the rising swap rates due to market expectations of higher interest rates, and continued pressure from home loan competition.

Nevertheless, this couldn’t stop Australia’s largest bank from delivering a half year profit ahead of the consensus estimate of approximately $4,500 million. This could bode well for the CBA share price today.

In light of this strong form, the CBA board declared a fully franked interim dividend of $1.75 per share. This was up 17% from the same period last year but slightly below the market consensus estimate of $1.813 per share.

But offsetting the slight dividend disappointment is news that CBA plans to follow up its $6 billion off-market share buyback with an additional $2 billion on-market buyback. The bank revealed that this reflects its strong capital position, which creates flexibility to support customers and manage ongoing uncertainties, while continuing to return surplus capital to shareholders. This buyback is expected to reduce CBA’s CET1 capital ratio by approximately 42 basis points to 11.4%.

Management commentary

CBA’s Chief Executive Officer, Matt Comyn, commented: “The Bank has delivered a strong financial result in a low rate environment. This has been achieved through continued customer focus and disciplined operational execution. Higher cash profits were a result of continued volume growth across the business in home lending, business lending and deposits, flat operating costs and significantly lower loan impairment expense due to the improving economic outlook.”

“A highlight of the result is our continued capital and balance sheet strength. Our disciplined and balanced approach to capital optimises growth, reinvestment and shareholder returns. This has allowed us to return excess capital to our shareholders and lower our share count while remaining strongly capitalised and provisioned. We retain flexibility to provide further support to our customers and communities,” he added.

While no guidance has been given for the second half, Mr Comyn appears cautiously optimistic on the future.

He said: “We expect the Australian economy to have a strong year in 2022 despite early challenges from the Omicron strain of COVID-19. Both the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate are at the lowest since 2008, with high participation rates.”

The post CBA (ASX:CBA) share price on watch after smashing first half estimates appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Bruce Jackson.

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If you own ASX shares in the technology and healthcare sectors, your portfolio is likely looking green around the gills at the moment.

While the general S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down more than 6% this year, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has plunged a shocking 18% while the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) has lost 14%.

And to rub it in, the S&P/ASX 200 Resources Index (ASX: XJR) is actually 4% higher now than when 2022 started!

Now, we know that the brutal falls in January were triggered by fears that interest rates in the US and Australia would head up.

But why is the market picking on specific sectors? Wouldn’t interest rate rises be detrimental for everyone?

When money is more expensive, it’s harder to keep it locked up 

Shaw and Partners portfolio manager James Gerrish this week explained why tech and health have been hit so hard in the recent dip.

Because they are industries that heavily involve innovation, tech and health sectors tend to host growth stocks rather than the more conventional value shares.

And the worth of a growth stock is very much dependent on its future outlook.

“Because they are growing strongly, investors are prepared to pay a higher price for the earnings stream against a company that has solid earnings now but with little growth,” Gerrish told his Market Matters newsletter.

“With specific reference to high-value growth type stocks, the easiest way to think about it is that we are investing a dollar now on the expectation that earnings will grow strongly in the future.”

Therefore, when borrowing costs are low, the opportunity cost of having investors’ money locked up in a company for years is cheap.

“But when rates rise, the opportunity cost also goes up — making it less appealing.”

Snap up those bargains while they’re cheap though

Despite the recent hammering of growth shares, Montgomery Investment Management chief investment officer Roger Montgomery reminded investors that, over the longer term, rising rates have not historically prevented shares from trending upwards.

As an example, he referred to how the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) moved from 2015 and 2018.

“Short-term rates were lifted 9 times and yet the market rallied,” Montgomery said in his blog.

“Provided… you own companies that are high quality, growing and increasing their intrinsic value, then even rising rates won’t be enough to keep the share price from eventually reflecting its worth.”

This is all to say that he reckons it’s time to buy up bargain ASX shares, even though no one knows whether the carnage has finished.

Inflation would not be persistent, according to Montgomery.

“Wages will eventually be under pressure again,” he said.

“And given the very high levels of household debt, a few short and sharp rate hikes may be all that is necessary to put the inflation genie back in its bottle.”

The post Why 2 specific ASX share sectors are taking such a beating in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
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• Is the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price a smart buy for dividends?

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 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 Bruce Jackson.

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There are some very compelling ASX shares to consider which have plenty of potential.

The ASX share market sell-off over the last several weeks has opened up the possibility to be able to jump on these companies at better value.

Businesses with significant plans for future operational growth give themselves a better chance of profit growth.

Here are two strong contenders:

Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB)

Bubs specialises as an infant formula business, particularly goat milk infant formula. It also offers goat milk products for adults and organic, grass-fed cow milk infant formula.

The ASX share said has said that it’s aiming to become the leading global family nutrition brand from Australia and it’s leading the return to growth for its category.

Bubs recently reported its quarter for the three months to 31 December 2021. Gross revenue of $19.9 million was up 56% year on year and 8% quarter on quarter. The half-year revenue to December 2021 was $38.5 million, up 73% year on year and 57% half-on-half.

The Bubs infant formula segment earns a much higher profit margin than the adult goat products. In the latest quarter, the Bubs infant formula revenue rose 83% year on year.

There were concerns about Chinese demand in 2021. But Chinese demand is now returning in a big way for the ASX share. Chinese gross revenue in the quarter was up 121% year on year and up 21% quarter on quarter.

The ASX share is steadily expanding its geographic reach and planting seeds for future growth. Bubs product sales to international markets outside of China were up 66% year on year and up 141% quarter on quarter. The Bubs family nutrition new product portfolio has been shipped to Africa, China, Singapore and ‘Pacific Islands’.

Another positive from the quarterly update was $2.4 million of operating cashflow.

It’s currently rated as a buy by Citi, with a price target of $0.68.

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

Accent is a large shoe retailer in Australia. It owns some retailing brands, like Stylerunner, The Athlete’s Foot and Glue Store. It’s also the distributor for some international brands like VANS, Skechers, Dr Martens and Reebok.

The ASX share has a dual strategy of growing its online sales whilst also growing its store network.

Lockdowns and COVID-19 have impacted sales and profitability in the first half of FY22, but management were pleased with the gross profit margin improvement in December, which was stronger than expected.

Over the longer-term it’s expecting growth to be funded by various tactics including growing its owned brands, expanding with new businesses as well as its ‘exclusive distribution agreement’ brands.

In FY21 it opened 90 stores. During FY22 it’s expecting the store network to grow to more than 700 stores across Australia and New Zealand.

It’s currently rated as a buy by UBS, with a price target of $2.75. Looking at the FY23 projections, UBS thinks the Accent share price is valued at 13x FY23’s estimated earnings with a forecast grossed-up dividend yield of 9%.

The post Potential buys: 2 compelling ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Analysts rate these ASX dividend shares as buys
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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 Accent Group and BUBS AUST FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Ask A Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with fund managers so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In this edition, SG Hiscock portfolio manager Rory Hunter explains why he’s so pumped about one possible IPO later this year.

The ASX share for a comfortable night’s sleep

The Motley Fool: If the market closed tomorrow for four years, which stock would you want to hold?

RH: Okay, a slightly different one here, in the sense that it’s not actually a listed position, but a position that will soon be listed — so I think it will be of quite a lot of interest to readers — is a company called Planet Innovation. 

[Editor’s note: Planet Innovation is a public company but is unlisted. This means investors have access to buy shares for it off-market from time to time.]

They’re actually the parent company of Lumos Diagnostics Holdings Ltd (ASX: LDX). They’ve recently been in the press a bit, because Anthony Albanese gave a press conference from their headquarters in Box Hill, talking about the fact that there was a need for more local manufacturing of, not for rapid diagnostics, but medical devices. Pretty much giving the public commitment to fund businesses in this space. 

This is, first of all, fantastic for a fund like ours, because you’re going to see a lot of government funding and broader funding in the sector. But also great for Planet Innovation. 

I actually just think that the Planet Innovation business is just a strategically brilliantly set up business. They’ve got two sides to the business. One side is a services business and the other side is a ventures business — the cost of all the specialising in medical devices. 

The way the business model works, the way it’s worked historically, is that the ventures businesses as they mature, Planet Innovation actually harvests their investments in the ventures businesses in order to fund the more capital-intensive services business.

In terms of the services business, PI are now generating 70% of their revenue from the US. And they’ve built quite an incredible track record there with some of the world’s largest medical device companies in the US.

The interesting bit is there’s a bit of competition in this space. And this space in the US is worth about $25 billion at the moment. That market is expected to double by 2025, which I think is quite an extraordinary stat. It tells you a lot about the tailwinds in this space. 

PI actually have a competitive advantage over their competition, in the sense they do a lot of the design before they actually win manufacturing contracts. What that means is that they’re actually at the front of the queue when it comes to the manufacturing contracts now. I think what will be the case for the business when it comes to [the share] market, is that sell-side analysts will always undervalue the service business, because they’ll look at it and they’ll say, “Manufacturing business, short-term contracts. Not a very sticky customer base.”

But actually, I think potentially they’ll undervalue it, just simply because the nature of the contracts is with the large medical device companies. They’ll win contracts over and over again, because of that strong execution.

It’s a fantastic management team. It’s the old management team from Vision Biosystems, that actually spun out when Vision Biosystems was acquired by Danaher back in, I think it was, 2008 or 2009. So that’s Sam Lanyon and Stuart Elliott. They had incredible success with Vision Biosystems and they’re replicating that now with Planet Innovation. 

We expect Planet Innovation to come to market in the shape of an IPO at some point this year.

The post Expert reveals one IPO he’s absolutely pumped about. When will it hit the ASX? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 2 small-cap ASX shares to handsomely reward patient investors
• Why are ASX COVID test shares climbing today?
• The Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) share price is soaring another 8% today. Here’s why
• Why the Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) share price is up 15% today
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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 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 Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re wanting to add some new dividend shares to your income portfolio, then the two listed below could be worth considering.

Here’s what analysts are saying about these dividend shares right now:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is this footwear focused retailer. It owns a large (and growing) stable of store brands including Glue, HYPEDC, Pivot, Platypus, Sneaker Lab, and Stylerunner.

Accent’s shares have fallen heavily in recent months after lockdowns weighed on its performance. However, the team at Bell Potter appear confident that this is a short term blip and are expecting its earnings and dividends to rebound in FY 2023.

In light of this, while it is now only forecasting a fully franked dividend of 5.4 cents per share in FY 2022, it expects this to double to 11 cents per share in FY 2023. Based on the current Accent share price of $2.06, this will mean yields of 2.6% and 5.3%, respectively.

Bell Potter has a buy rating and $2.75 price target on Accent’s shares.

Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Woodside. Unlike Accent, this energy producer’s shares have been on fire in recent months. This has been driven by oil prices hitting seven-year highs and optimism over its upcoming merger with the petroleum assets of BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).

This merger will be transformative for Woodside, making it a top ten global producer with a collection of world class operations and numerous growth options.

Morgans is very positive on the company and is expecting generous dividend payments in the coming years. The broker has pencilled in dividends per share of $1.26 in FY 2021 and then $1.29 in FY 2022. Based on the current Woodside share price of $27.03, this will mean yields of 4.65% and 4.8%, respectively.

The broker has an add rating and $30.55 price target on its shares.

The post Analysts rate these ASX dividend shares as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Own ASX energy shares? Citi issues stark oil production warning
• These 3 ASX energy shares just hit 52-week highs
• Is the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price a smart buy for dividends?
• ASX retail shares have slumped in 2022. Could there be more pain to come?

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 recommended Accent Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was in fine form and charged notably higher. The benchmark index rose 1.1% to 7,186.7 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to edge higher

The Australian share market looks set to rise slightly on Wednesday following a positive night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 5 points higher this morning. In late trade in the United States, the Dow Jones is up 0.9%, the S&P 500 is up 0.7%, and the Nasdaq is up 0.95%.

CBA half year results

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price will be one to watch this morning when it releases its half year results. According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts are expecting Australia’s largest bank to deliver cash earnings of $4.320 billion and a fully franked interim dividend of $1.74 per share.

Oil prices tumble

Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could have a difficult day after oil prices tumbled. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 1.6% to US$89.82 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 1.7% to US$91.07 a barrel. Oil prices tumbled amid talks between the US and Iran relating to sanctions

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. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.45% to US$1,829.7 an ounce. An unstable environment in the markets is believed to be supporting demand for the safe haven asset.

Mineral Resources half year results

The Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price will be in focus today when it release sits half year results. Over at Citi, its analysts are forecasting a net profit after tax of $262.4 million for the half. Goldman Sachs is less positive and has tipped the mining and mining services company to negatively surprise. It is forecasting a result “-5%/-16% below VA consensus 1H FY22 EBITDA/NPAT respectively.”

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

More reading

• Own ASX energy shares? Citi issues stark oil production warning
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• These 3 ASX energy shares just hit 52-week highs
• Why are Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) shares such hot property today?
• Forget toilet paper, now we’re ‘panic buying’ lithium! Here’s how ASX lithium shares are tracking

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 Bruce Jackson.

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Are you wanting to add some ASX growth shares to your portfolio in February? If you are, you may want to look at the ones listed below.

Here’s what you need to know about these growth shares:

Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Aristocrat Leisure. It is one of the world’s leading gaming technology companies. It has been growing at a rapid rate over the last decade thanks to strong demand for its best in class pokie machines and its lucrative digital business. The latter is generating significant recurring revenues from highly popular games such as RAID. And while it has just missed out on the major acquisition of real money gaming company Playtech, that is unlikely to be the end of its real money gaming aspirations. Particularly given its balance sheet strength following its capital raising. Morgans is bullish on Aristocrat and has an add rating and $48.00 price target on its shares.

BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

Another option for investors to consider is an ETF that provides easy access to a group of quality growth shares. By buying the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF, investors will be owning a slice of around 50 outstanding companies that are leading Asia’s technological revolution. Among the companies included in the fund are the likes of Alibaba, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor, and Tencent.

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

A final ASX growth share to look at is Breville. It is the leading appliance manufacturer behind the Baratza, Kambrook, Sage, and Breville brands. Thanks to its investment in research and development, these brands have been popular with consumers for many years, which has underpinned solid sales and earnings growth. And thanks to favourable consumer trends and its international expansion, brokers are expecting this growth to continue. One of those brokers is Morgan Stanley, which has an overweight rating and $36.00 price target on its shares.

The post Here are 3 excellent ASX growth shares for investors in February appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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 recommended BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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