Category: Stock Market

The BWX Ltd (ASX: BWX) share price is plummeting this morning after the beauty and wellness brand announced a leadership change.

At the time of writing, the BWX share price is down 14.22% trading at $3.74. Let’s take a look at the news.

New leadership for BWX

In this morning’s release, BWX advised that its group chief operations officer Rory Gration will take over the position of group CEO and managing director from 1 March.

Gration will replace Dave Fenlon, who will remain on the board as a non-executive director.

With 25 years of experience in consumer goods and executive positions before joining BWX, the board is confident in the transition.

BWX chair Ian Campbell said:

Rory has been with BWX since August 2018 and has played a pivotal role in executive BWX’s global expansion strategy.

With our new operations and manufacturing facility opening in March 2022, the Board and Dave believe that now is the appropriate time for him to step into the Group CEO role.

Both regional operations managers — Doug Hosking (president, Americas) and Stephen Brown (managing director of APAC & EMEA) — will report to Gration.

A busy year for BWX in 2021

The appointment sets a fresh leadership agenda moving forward after a busy 2021 for the company. BWX’s share price gained a boost in February and was at its highest in the middle of the year, coinciding with a landslide of news.

The company announced a five-year strategic partnership with Chemist Warehouse in February, coinciding with a share price jump of 11%.

Under the partnership, BWX’s entire line of products will be carried through the chemist’s Australian, New Zealand and Ireland online stores.

In May, the company announced it would acquire vegan retailer Flora & Fauna, and finalised the deal in July. A few days later, BWX confirmed the Chemist Warehouse collaboration.

In August, the company announced a 50.1% controlling stake in Go-To Skincare — a beauty brand founded by Australian personality, Zoë Foster Blake.

The BWX share price rose slightly on Christmas Eve as it paid its final consideration of $89.49 million for Go-To Skincare (after completing the customary post completion working capital adjustments), before falling again before the new year.

In today’s announcement, BWX said it expects “strong revenue growth, including acquisitions, for the financial year ending December 2021” and anticipates this trend to continue into the full year FY22, providing the retail market continued to recover.

BWX share price snapshot

Despite its busy year of collaborations, the BWX share price has dropped by 26% in the last six months.

The company currently has a market capitalisation of around $605 million and a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 21.9.

The post BWX (ASX:BWX) share price sinks 14% on leadership news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Top broker tips BWX (BWX) share price to leap 42% in 2022

Motley Fool contributor Alice de Bruin 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 BWX 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 Global Lithium Resources Ltd (ASX: GL1) share price is charging higher today, up 12.69% at $1.46.

It marks a new record high for the company that began trading after being listed on the ASX in May last year.

The price rise comes after an announcement from Global Lithium regarding new appointments on its board. Here are the details.

What did Global Lithium announce?

The Global Lithium share price is surging after the company advised it has appointed two new members to its directorship. Specifically, it has appointed Ronald Mitchell as executive director markets and growth, and Greg Lilleyman as a non-executive director.

Global Lithium says Lilleyman comes with more than 30 years of international experience in the mining sector. He was formerly chief operating officer and director of operations at Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and had 26 years at Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) prior to that.

Meanwhile, Mitchell has more than 25 years of experience in senior roles. This includes more than 10 years in the lithium and battery metals industry, according to the company.

Mitchell, who is also the inaugural chairman of the London Metal Exchange (LME) Lithium Committee, will step into the role from 1 March.

Global Lithium also advised that managing director Jamie Wright has stepped down from the board and his role. Wright, who is moving back to his home state of South Australia, will remain as a director until 1 March.

Aside from that, the Western Australia-based company has engaged mining consultancy CSA Global to manage the exploration of its Marble Bar lithium project.

CSA Global is a “worldwide geological consultancy business with deep experience in managing drilling and exploration campaigns across a wide range of commodities”. CSA will act as program manager for the 60,000m drilling program due to commence this quarter.

With the “combination of CSA Global, Orlando Drilling, and Resource Potentials”, Global Lithium is “confident of successful campaigns across both the Marble Bar and Manna projects”.

Management commentary

Speaking on the announcement driving the Global Lithium share price, chairman Warrick Hazeldine said:

In his tenure as managing director, Jamie has overseen a significant period of growth, both in terms of tenement holdings and market capitalisation. Importantly, the Board and he are fully aligned in the belief that the company would continue to benefit from a WA-based management team. On behalf of the Board and our shareholders, I thank him for his tireless efforts over the past year.

We welcome Ron Mitchell and Greg Lilleyman to the Board.

Incoming board member Lilleyman said:

It’s great to have the opportunity to use my extensive experience and history in the Pilbara to assist Global Lithium in converting the exciting exploration potential of the Marble Bar Lithium Project into a world-class operation to support the clean energy transition.

Global Lithium share price snapshot

It’s been a fantastic start on the ASX for the Global Lithium share price. It is now up 620% from its IPO listing price of 20 cents in May 2021.

The share price was climbing steadily until late December when the company revealed significant lithium assay results from its exploration program at the Marble Bar project. Since then it has rocketed 128%.

The post Global Lithium (ASX:GL1) share price soars 13% to record highs appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author has no positions 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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At lunch on Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on form again and pushing higher. The benchmark index is currently up 0.5% to 7,477.5 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

Crown shares jump on improved Blackstone offer

The Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) share price is surging higher today after receiving an improved takeover offer from Blackstone. The private equity firm has lifted its offer from $12.50 cash per share to $13.10 cash per share. While the previous offer did “not represent compelling value for Crown shareholders” this time around the Crown Board believe it would be acceptable if it becomes binding. All eyes are now on Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR), which has been interested in a merger with Crown.

Sonic shares sink

The Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) share price is sinking today despite there being no news out of the healthcare company. However, as Sonic has been a huge winner from COVID testing, the shift to rapid antigen testing looks set to weigh on its performance in the coming months. There appear to be concerns that this could see it fall short of the market’s lofty expectations.

Mining shares rally

The mining sector has been on fire on Thursday thanks partly to a broker note out of Goldman Sachs. Its analysts spoke very positively about the sector’s outlook and shares including South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) (here) and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) (here). Both mining shares are charging notably higher at lunch.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Thursday has been the Crown share price with an 8% gain following Blackstone’s takeover offer. Going the other way, the PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price is the worst performer with a 6.5% decline. This appears to have been driven by profit taking after a very strong gain on Wednesday following the release of a trading update.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Crown jumps, miners rally, Sonic sinks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Goldman tips Whitehaven (ASX:WHC) share price to jump 25%
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• Here are the top 10 ASX shares 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 POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sonic Healthcare 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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When it comes to ASX exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Aussie investors are spoilt for choice. In addition to your typical (and popular) index funds like the iShares Core S&P/ASx 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ), the ASX is home to a variety of thematic ETFs. There are funds covering bank shares, silver bullion, mining shares, and even companies involved in the cryptocurrency space. But an often underlooked area on the ETF market is the dividend-focused ETF. Yes, the ASX is home to a number of ETFs that purely focus on maximising dividend income for their investors. And one such fund is the SPDR MSCI Australia Select High Dividend Yield Fund (ASX: SYI).

This ETF prom provider SPDR aims to track the MSCI Australia Select High Dividend Yield Index. According to the provider, this index is designed to “reflect the performance of listed Australian companies with relatively high dividend income and quality characteristics with the potential for franked dividend income”.

How does the SPDR MSCI Australia Select High Dividend Yield Fund invest?

It currently holds just 32 shares, a far cry from an ASX 200 index fund with its 200 holdings. The top five of these holdings are as follows:

1. Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) with an 11.37% portfolio weighting
2. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) with a weighting of 10.45%
3. Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) with a weighting of 10.01%
4. Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) with a weighting of 8.03%
5. Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) with a weighting of 6.52%

Currently, SYI’s portfolio offers a dividend distribution yield of 7.48%. This yield comes with franking credits too, which gives this yield an additional kick.

So let’s see how this translates into performance. After all, the conventional wisdom dictates that investors usually take an overall performance hit if they want to maximise dividend income.

So SYI has returned 13.15% over the past 12 months (as of 31 December). It has also averaged a return of 11.19% per annum over the past 3 years, and 6.41% over the past 5.

In contrast, the iShares ASX 200 ETF that we discussed earlier has given investors a return of 17.11% over the past year. It has also averaged a return of 13.51% over the past 3 years, and 9.62% over the past 5.

So investors have indeed sacrificed some overall returns with this particular ETF compared to the ASX 200, in exchange for larger dividend distributions. But given we all have different investing goals and needs, this might suit some investors.

The SPDR MSCI Australia Select High Dividend Yield Fund charges a management fee of 0.35% per annum (or $35 a year for every $10,000 invested).

The post The SPDR MSCI Australia Select High Dividend Yield Fund (ASX:SYI) explained appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 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 fund manager Naos Asset Management has revealed two unloved ASX growth shares in its portfolio that it believes have compelling bull cases.

There are a number of things that the investors at Naos look for when deciding on a potential opportunity.

It’s looking for businesses that are good value with long-term growth potential.

The portfolio is about finding quality over quantity. Naos’ strategy is to invest for the long-term, it isn’t a short-term trader. It doesn’t mind holding fairly illiquid ASX shares as long as they can generate good performance.

Naos ignores the index – it invests in whichever investments that look promising. The fund manager provides pure exposure to ‘industrial’ businesses, though this is a wide category. It invests with an ESG overlay. That means investments need to be satisfactory when it comes to environmental, social and governance factors.

Every month the listed investment company (LIC) NAOS Ex-50 Opportunities Company Ltd (ASX: NAC) releases an update about how its portfolio is going and some thoughts on some of the ASX growth shares.

Here are two that featured this month:

Step One Clothing Ltd (ASX: STP)

Step One describes itself as a leading direct-to-consumer pure online retailer for men’s underwear. That underwear is a range of high quality, organically grown and certified, and ethically produced products.

The Step One product is one that the Naos team have been using because they believe it’s best of breed. It’s one of the few on the ASX that Naos could say that about. Naos has been analysing the business in detail since it listed half a year ago.

Naos noted that within the last five years, Step One has gone from essentially $0 in revenue to potentially around $75 million in annual sales of men’s underwear, mainly in Austrlaia and the UK.

The ASX growth share’s initial public offering (IPO) price was $1.53 and Naos bought some shares at $2.25 in early December.

However, a business update in December said that revenue growth would be 1% to 5% higher than the prospectus forecast of 19.9% for FY22. After that update, the shares fell back to the IPO price.

Naos suggested the heavy share price reaction showed the update was well below the markets’ “very bullish expectations” with some shareholders perhaps selling until they see more evidence of consistent growth again.

The fund manager added to its Step One investment after the trading update. Regarding the bull case, Naos said that the business can continue to grow at a reasonable rate over the coming years thanks to geographic and product expansion.

Urbanise.com Ltd (ASX: UBN)

This ASX growth share is another that has seen its share price fall. Over the last month, it’s down by more than 20%.

Naos explained that Urbanise.com fell sharply after what some considered to be an abrupt exit of the CEO and the search for a replacement.

The fund manager believes that what has most likely unnerved the market is the risk that the company doesn’t convert on its immediate sales pipeline and subsequently requires a capital raising. Naos doesn’t think it would be a major issue if that happened.

The reason for that confidence is the assumption that growth rates (especially in the strata division) continue to be at least 20% per annum.

Naos thinks that company needs to focus on its strengths and uses a strategy that produce tangible results.

It is the fund manager’s view that Urbanise.com has a dominant position within the strata space and must focus on achieving a market share of more than 65% of a market that has recurring revenue of around $40 million per annum in the shortest time possible.

The current valuation of annual recurring revenue (ARR) to the market capitalisation of “just” five times suggests to Naos that there is little faith from the market that the company can grow in the medium-term.

But, in the fund manager’s opinion, if the company can demonstrate it can grow at around 20% per annum then the multiples applied to a business to business (B2B) enterprise software as a service (SaaS) business is likely to be significantly higher.

The post 2 unloved ASX growth shares that have good potential: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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

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Last year proved to be a bleak time for the AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price. Shareholders of the energy company were confronted with a debilitating 48% fall in the value of shares in 2021.

The substantial move to the downside is atypical for a blue-chip investment with the stature of AGL Energy. It would require some unnerving news to move a company that far into the negative. Unfortunately, there were a few events throughout the year that put investors on the edge.

Let’s take a closer look at three reasons the AGL share price continued to tumble in 2021.

Off on the wrong foot for AGL share price

Shares in the energy generator and retailer ushered in last year at a price of $11.95. On 4 February, the company commenced a swift descent following news pertaining to the recognition of charges. These charges reflected provisions mainly for legacy wind farm offtake agreements.

It appears investors were not fond of AGL recognising $2,686 million (post-tax) in charges during the first half of FY2021. As a result, the AGL share price sank 18% between 5 February and 26 February. In hindsight, this set the pace for what would be a disappointing year.

Throwing a breakup into the mix

Amid growing environmental pressures, AGL made the call on 30 March to split the company into two. These separate entities were defined as ‘New AGL’ and ‘PrimeCo’.

In addition, New AGL would be focused on the energy retailing business for Australian households. Furthermore, this de-merged company would have plans for carbon-neutral operations. Whereas, PrimeCo would be an electricity generator for the National Electricity Market.

Initially, the market reacted with positivity. However, sentiment soured as a clearer picture of the costs associated with separating the company surfaced. The split is expected to be finalised in the last quarter of FY2022.

Widening losses take a toll on AGL’s dividends

By the time August came around, things weren’t looking much brighter for the AGL share price. On 12 August the company reported its full-year results for FY2021.

To the disappointment of shareholders, revenues fell 10% year on year to $10.9 billion. Similarly, the bottom line felt the pinch as losses widened to $2.06 billion. For comparison, 12-month trailing earnings for the company at the end of December 2020 were $1.60 billion in losses.

The steep losses also forced management’s hand to reduce dividends paid to their shareholders. In turn, AGL’s full-year dividend fell 23.5% to 75 cents per share.

For reference, management attributed the undesirable result to lower wholesale electricity prices and reduced generation output.

The post 3 reasons the AGL Energy (ASX: AGL) share price failed to illuminate in 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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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Shares in Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) have started the new year well and are now up more than 7% since January 1.

Suncorp shares are set to open the session at $11.60 today after pre-market activity, having climbed from a low of $10.65 back in December. However, the bank still has some headroom before touching 52-week highs of $12.94 back in October last year.

But the macro-narrative is shifting in 2022 to one of inflation, interest rates, and how this impulse will direct fund flows in financial markets.

The market is pricing in 3 to 4 rate hikes from the US Fed in 2022 according to market data, spurred on by language from US Fed chair Jerome Powell and minutes from the most recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

As such, the market looks as if it’s pricing in the impact of these rate hikes, and there’s been a corresponding rotation out of tech and high-growth into sectors that have the highest correlation to US Treasury yields this year.

The top segment in this regard according to research from JP Morgan is the financials sector, which, unsurprisingly, has seen the largest fund flows since we rolled into 2022.

For instance, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLF) recorded the highest net inflows of any listed product last week, reaching a total of $2.34 billion.

Moreover, the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (XFJ) has climbed 1.5% this year to date after rallying 3% in the past month.

So investors are starting to park their hard earned capital into the more defensible pockets of the market. How does this bode in for the Suncorp share price? Here’s what Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan had to say in recent notes to investors.

What’s the chatter from analysts?

The team at JP Morgan are neutral on Suncorp, although reckon that the bank could benefit from macroeconomic factors currently impacting the industry, such as reduced motor claims from COVID-19 lockdowns.

Aside from that, the broker says Suncorp’s margins are likely to benefit in 3 to 4 core areas going forward. It reckons Suncorp will see margin expansion in home personal and commercial lines, alongside incremental benefits from perils allowances and expenses.

Given the talk on industry-wide pressures to net interest margins (NIMs) in 2022 for the ASX banking sector, JP Morgan notes this is a positive to Suncorp’s investment debate.

However, it views these positive trends alongside “some margin degradation in CTP [compulsory third party insurance]”.

The firm is also cautious on Suncorp’s Australian personal lines business, and questions if the bank’s cost-to-income targets are a little too optimistic.

Although it remains neutral on Suncorp, it values the bank at $13.30 per share, after applying a risk adjustment to its discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation of $14.32 and franking credits at 70%.

It applies this discount to “reflect adverse events such as heavy rains and flooding in NSW that pose some downside risk and may cause the market some concerns about [Suncorp’s] exposure”.

Meanwhile, the team at Morgan Stanley are also neutral on Suncorp shares. However, the investment bank just completed its analysis of 2021 home and motor new business pricing for Q4 2021, noting Suncorp’s more competitive pricing versus competitors.

Yet, Morgan Stanley also reckons the savings pool from Suncorp’s motor savings may have largely dried up, and as such, it sees “margin risks from higher claims and input costs, unless pricing improves or Suncorp achieves larger cost savings”.

It values the company at $11.90 per share and joins the likes of Morgans and Barclay Pearce Capital in its neutral stance.

Consensus is stil bullish

Despite the neutral sentiment, Macquarie, Jarden and Credit Suisse still tip the Suncorp share price to outperform in 2022.

In fact, the overall sentiment appears to be bullish, according to a list of analysts provided by Bloomberg Intelligence. For instance, 61.8% of coverage has it as a buy, whereas the other 38.5% has it as a hold.

There are no services recommending that their clients sell Suncorp in the list of analysts utilised for this report.

As such, the group has a consensus price target of $13.05, which still sees an 11.5% upside potential from the open today.

In the past 12 months, the Suncorp share price has climbed almost 9% after rallying more than 7% in the last month.

The post Own Suncorp (ASX:SUN) shares? Here’s what top analysts are saying appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author has no positions 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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The Objective Corporation Limited (ASX: OCL) share price has rebounded from an early decline.

Shortly after the open, the content, collaboration and process management software solutions company’s shares were down as much as 5% to $16.14.

However, at the time of writing, the Objective Corp share price is up 2.5% to $17.39.

Why is the Objective Corp share price rebounding?

The catalyst for the rise in the Objective Corp share price on Thursday was the release of a trading update shortly after the market open.

According to the release, the company expects to report revenue of $52.7 million and EBITDA of $15.1 million for the first half of FY 2022. This represents an increase of 13.3% and 28%, respectively, over the prior corresponding period.

Also growing strongly was Objective Corp’s Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). At the end of December, it stood at $79.5 million, which is an increase of 13.4% from $70.1 million a year earlier.

Management also revealed that it continues to invest in innovation. During the half, the company invested $12.8 million in research and development. This was up 14% year on year and represents 24% of revenue.

A final positive was the company’s strong balance sheet. At the end of the period, Objective Corp had cash of $44 million. This was up 59% year on year despite paying fully franked dividends totalling $8.5 million.

Management commentary

Objective Corp’s CEO, Tony Walls, was pleased with the half.

He commented: “The strong financial performance in 1HY2022 reflects the on-going dedication of every member of the Objective team to deliver outstanding results, the enduring resilience of our business model and the strength of the Objective brand in our target markets.”

“During 1HY2022, we again increased our substantial investment in innovation across our product portfolio with numerous important products to be released in 2HY2022 including Objective Build, Objective Nexus and Objective Regworks IQ. Our commitment to this investment is strongly supported by existing and evolving opportunities, driven by the demands of digital government, remote working and process automation, all of which have been accelerated by the impacts of COVID-19.”

“Our products remain central to supporting our customer’s digital transformation journey and, in many cases, we are only in the early stages of seeing the positive impact on customers and our resulting revenue,” he added.

Outlook

Mr Walls’ comments on the remainder of the half also appear to have boosted the Objective Corp share price today.

He said: “The outlook for the remainder of FY2022 remains very positive, reflecting the progress we made in 1HY2022 and the momentum we have carried into 2HY2022. Objective Regtech continues to perform particularly strongly as we realise the results of our sustained investment in product innovation and go-to market capacity since the team joined the Objective family.”

The post Why the Objective Corp (ASX:OCL) share price is charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Own Suncorp (ASX:SUN) shares? Here’s what top analysts are saying
• Here’s why the Carnaby (ASX:CNB) share price is rocketing 33% today
• Neck and neck: Macquarie (ASX:MQG) bumps Westpac to become third-largest Aussie bank
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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. owns and has recommended Objective Corporation Limited. 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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The strong performance of Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) has seen it solidify its position as one of Australia’s big four banks.

As of Wednesday’s close the investment bank is worth more than Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC).

It comes just months after the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) giant’s valuation shocked some market watchers by surpassing that of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), disrupting the once untouchable valuations of the banking heavyweights.

So, what’s boosted Macquarie into the big bank cult? Let’s take a look.

Macquarie outgrows another Aussie big four

Despite a slight tumble into the new year, the Macquarie share price has positioned the company as Australia’s third-largest bank.

It closed yesterday’s session at $208.39, leaving the bank with a market capitalisation of $79.94 billion, according to the ASX.

At the same time, that of Westpac was sitting at $79.49 billion while ANZ had a valuation of $78.92 billion.

Those paying attention to Macquarie’s recent performance will likely be unsurprised the investment bank has overtaken its smaller ASX 200 competitors.

Over the past 12 months, its share price has boomed a whopping 52%. For context, the ASX 200 has gained around 11.5% while the Westpac share price is up just 5%.

Perennial Value Management portfolio management director Stephen Bruce recently told The Motley Fool Australia’s Tony Yoo Macquarie’s success is born from, and will likely continue to lie with, its ability to adapt to new investment trends. Yoo quoted Bruce as saying:

[Macqaurie] were the leaders in infrastructure as pioneers of infrastructure-as-an-asset class. And now that’s obviously becoming a very crowded space, but they’ve proactively moved down the value chain into greenfield developments and actually creating the assets rather than just buying them.

Could the investment bank overtake more big fours?

Whether it can overtake the final 2 ASX big banks is probably the question now facing Macquarie fans. But the bank has a bit to go before we can call that a likelihood.

As of yesterday’s close, the market capitalisation of National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) was head and shoulders above Westpac’s. It boasted a $95.41 billion valuation.

The Motley Fool Australia’s Zach Bristow recently crunched the numbers, finding the Macquarie share price would need to trade at around $249 before the bank could take out second position. That’s 19% higher than it currently sits.

For those wondering, it would be a massive ask for Macquarie to overtake Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA). CBA’s $173.33 billion market capitalisation makes it the largest company on the ASX 200.

At the time of writing, the Macquarie share price is up 0.56% at $209.56.

The post Neck and neck: Macquarie (ASX:MQG) bumps Westpac to become third-largest Aussie bank appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 Macquarie Group Limited and Westpac Banking Corporation. 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 Carnaby Resources Ltd (ASX: CNB) share price is having a day out today. This comes after the company announced strong drill results within the Greater Duchess Copper Gold Project in Mt Isa, Queensland.

At the time of writing, the mineral exploration company’s shares are trading 33.33% higher to an all-time high of $1.66.

Carnaby untaps huge high-grade discovery

In today’s statement, Carnaby advised it has received exceptional assay results from the first five holes drilled at the Lady Fanny Prospect. These highlighted high-grade copper and high-grade gold results, which included:

• 27 metres at 2.8% Cu, 0.8 g/t Au from 61 metres (drill hole LFRC009)
• 20 metres at 2.8% Cu, 0.8 g/t Au from 30 metres (drill hole LFRC013)
• 17 metres at 2.8% Cu, 0.8 g/t Au from 74 metres (drill hole LFRC012)

While the assay is extremely encouraging, the company will move ahead with a major program at the Lady Fanny discovery. It noted that the area along with the Burke & Wills prospects will be targeted with ground Induced Polarisation (IP) surveys. This will aid further drilling to explore for mineralisation that may exist beneath the historical drill results.

Carnaby managing director, Rob Watkins commented:

These stunning first pass drill results from Lady Fanny just 3 km north of the spectacular Nil Desperandum high grade discovery really demonstrate the untapped potential of the greater than 5km long IOCG corridor that is rapidly emerging within the Greater Duchess Copper Gold Project.

Investors have been fighting to get a hold of Carnaby shares following the impressive assay results. Notably, Lady Fanny remains completely open and undrilled to the north of the high-grade result. If RC drilling uncovers additional mineralisation, this could potentially lead to the company’s shares further moving into uncharted territory.

Carnaby share price snapshot

Over the last 12 months, the Carnaby share price has jumped by more than 370% for shareholders. The company’s shares reached an all-time high today of $1.66.

Based on today’s price, Carnaby commands a market capitalisation of around $1.35 billion with approximately 131.61 million shares on issue.

The post Here’s why the Carnaby (ASX:CNB) share price is rocketing 33% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why is the Carnaby Resources (ASX:CNB) share price melting 22% today?
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• Why is the Carnaby Resources (ASX:CNB) share price up 66% today?
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• Carnaby Resources (ASX:CNB) share price explodes 46% on ‘spectacular’ copper find

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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