Category: Stock Market

The S&P/ASX 50 index is home to 50 of the largest listed companies on the Australian share market.

This means the index is home to many of the highest quality and most well-known companies that the ANZ region has to offer. While there are a number of quality options, two that could be standouts are listed below. Here’s why they are rated as buys:

NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

NEXTDC is a leading data centre operator with a portfolio of nine world-class centres in key locations across the country. It may also be adding to this network in the near future after announcing provisional plans to expand into both Singapore and Tokyo.

While this expansion could provide NEXTDC with a huge runway for growth in the future, its long term prospects in Australia are also very positive. Thanks to the structural shift to the cloud, demand for data centre capacity is growing quickly and underpinning strong revenue and earnings growth.

For example, during the first half of FY 2021, NEXTDC posted a 27% increase in data centre services revenue to a record $121.6 million and a 29% increase in EBITDA to $65.7 million. This was driven by a 33% lift in contracted utilisation to 71MW, a 16% lift in customers, and a 16% rise in interconnections.

Macquarie is a fan of NEXTDC. It currently has an outperform rating and $13.95 price target on its shares.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is a leading cloud-based business and accounting software provider. Its platform provides businesses and their advisors with a solution that offers deep cloud accounting functionality and an ecosystem of over 800 third-party app partners.

Demand for its platform has been growing strongly over the last few years. This is being driven by the ongoing shift to cloud accounting solutions and its international expansion.

The good news is that its growth doesn’t appear likely to end any time soon. For example, in FY 2021, Xero reported operating revenue of NZ$848.8 million. This represents just 1.9% of its total addressable market which is estimated to be worth NZ$45 billion at present.

Goldman Sachs is positive on Xero and believes it is well-positioned for long term growth. This is due to the quality of its offering, the ongoing shift to cloud-based solutions, its global market opportunity, and burgeoning app ecosystem. Goldman has a buy rating and $153.00 price target on its shares.

The post 2 fantastic ASX 50 shares rated as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Xero. 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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Stock investors have put ASX 200 company boards on notice to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment in workplaces.

An Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) study released Thursday showed just 19% of S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) companies accepted that the board has primary accountability for fighting sexual harassment.

The research, commissioned by investor advocacy group Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), also showed just 19% of surveyed companies require directors to receive training on good governance and sexual harassment.

The shocking findings come after a rough 12 months among ASX 200 companies for their cultural response to sexual misbehaviour allegations.

AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) infamously lost 2 board members over its handling of accusations against Boe Pahari, who was promoted to AMP Capital boss despite the cloud.

In September, QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) suddenly sacked its chief executive after a complaint from a female employee.

Transparency was also a concern coming out of the study. Less than one-third of ASX 200 companies comply with ASX Corporate Governance Principles by reporting sexual harassment incidents to the market.

And 14% of them don’t ever report to any external party.

Companies that ignore harassment risk long-term damage

Harassment incidents are obviously traumatic for those involved. 

But there is also a massive cost to the company and its shareholders, according to ACSI chief Louise Davidson.

“There is plenty of evidence over recent times that companies that fail to appropriately manage this issue do significant damage,” she said. 

“Long term investors have an interest in ensuring the companies they invest in are well run, safe for their employees, and have culture that prevents and addresses workplace sexual harassment when it occurs.”

Workplace sexual harassment cost the Australian economy an estimated $3.8 billion in 2018, said AHRC sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins.

“Workplace sexual harassment causes immense social and economic harm.

“I welcome ACSI’s initiative in commissioning this survey and report, and their recognition of the critical role that ASX 200 boards and executive management have in preventing and responding to workplace sexual harassment.”

8 ways companies and shareholders can all improve

The research identified 8 actions ASX 200 companies and investors could take to improve treatment of sexual harassment cases:

• Ensure board has primary responsibility and accountability for harassment issues
• Ensure companies have skills and experience to prevent and respond to incidents
• Make gender equality a priority and set targets
• Ensure systems and frameworks are in place to manage risks
• Align appointment, expertise and performance management of CEO and executive team for leadership on sexual harassment issues
• Report internally and externally
• Investors should demand information on a company’s systems and processes
• Investors should advocate for improved transparency on sexual harassment

The post Investors warn ASX 200 boards to stamp out sexual harassment appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Are crashing ASX mining shares an opportunity or a disaster to run from?
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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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Fans of Australia’s superannuation retirement scheme often love to complain about governments ‘fiddling with the rules’ when it comes to super. It’s not a good day for those fans.

The federal government announced a range of proposed changes to how superannuation works in the last federal budget, which was delivered last month. These changes have been subject to the usual massaging and tinkering that can be necessary for proposed laws to pass both houses of our Parliament. But today, we have news that the tinkering is over. We now have a new and imminent set of rules and regulations when it comes to super.

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today, the government’s Your Future, Your Super legislative package has just passed the Senate. The government was able to get One Nation and independent senators on board with a 34-30 vote in the Senate.  This means it will almost certainly become the law of the land very shortly.

So what’s in these new rules and regs that we ought to know about?

New superannuation rules for Aussie workers

The bill’s flagship change (and that has seemingly attracted the most controversy) is a ‘stapling’ mechanism. Presently, an employee can be automatically enrolled in a workplace’s default superannuation fund. This process can potentially repeat for every new job said employee moves on to. No longer. This reform will require a worker’s first super fund to automatically ‘follow’ them when they change jobs. The workers can still choose to change out their superannuation fund if they wish.

The government says this is designed to reduce the prevalence of multiple super accounts for workers. This stapling mechanism will come into effect on 1 November this year. The Labor opposition has said that this stapling might risk locking Aussie workers into underperforming funds. But the government clearly thinks the potential benefits outweigh these risks.

Other measures in this super package include a super fund annual performance test. As well as a public ranking system of super funds to be run by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). It also includes a requirement for super funds to act in the “best financial interests” of their members’ funds for all expenditures.

Other measures that were proposed by the government have been knocked back following the Senate negotiations. Most prominently was a regulation that would have allowed the government authority to prohibit investments by super funds that the government judged were against the national interest. That didn’t make the final cut.

With these new rules, it might be a good time to check your own super fund, and make sure everything is going to plan!

The post New superannuation rules just passed the Senate. Here’s a breakdown appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These ASX shares are growing their dividends at a solid rate
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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 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 World Bank has reportedly refused to help El Salvador instate Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) as a legal tender.

The South American country committed to instate the cryptocurrency as legal tender last week.

World Bank’s refusal

According to reporting by Reuters, the World Bank has declined El Salvador’s requests for assistance on implementing the cryptocurrency as legal tender due to environmental concerns and transparency issues.

Bitcoin has recently been plagued with environmental concerns. The same concerns saw Telsa Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) drop the coin as a payment option last month.

The cryptocurrency relies on the process of Bitcoin mining to verify transactions. As Bitcoin mining is extremely complicated, miners use supercomputers to do much of the hard work.

These super computers use a huge amount of energy and often rely on electricity from burning coal.

Additionally, Bitcoin can be used anonymously, although not as anonymously as cash. Still, this can hinder financial transparency.

The World Bank isn’t the only international financial organisation concerned with the country’s newest currency.

IMF communication department director Gerry Rice told a press conference last week that the IMF has concerns about El Salvador’s adoption of the cryptocurrency as legal tender. He said:

[The] adoption of bitcoin as legal tender raises a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues that require very careful analysis. So we are following developments closely and will continue our consultations with the authorities.

El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly voted in favour of recognising the cryptocurrency as legal tender on 10 June.

The nation’s president, Nayib Bukele, said the cryptocurrency’s adoption will give Salvadorians more financial freedoms and allow them to dodge fees when receiving remittances from family members living abroad.

Bitcoin price

Currently, a single Bitcoin is worth $50,790.43. The cryptocurrency’s price has fallen 3.8% over the last 24 hours.

It has gained 5.6% since El Salvador recognised the cryptocurrency as legal tender.

The post World Bank won’t support El Salvador’s Bitcoin ambitions 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. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin. 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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ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO) has been a popular tech stock for investors over the years. But it’s been a different story in the last 12 months with the Elmo share price taking a beating, down 35%.

ELMO is a cloud-based human resources and payroll software company that provides businesses in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom with a unified platform that streamlines a range of everyday processes.

Let’s take a closer look at what might be affecting the ELMO share price.

Why the drop?

We can turn to share price dilution as one possible explanation for the decline. In May 2020, the company announced it was planning to raise $70 million through an institutional placement, and a further $20 million through a share purchase plan offered to existing shareholders.

As typical with capital raising, these shares are usually offered at a discount, putting downward pressure on a company’s share price. This is possibly what happened to the ELMO share price after it dropped from its May high.

In addition, ELMO declared in its FY20 report that it made $50.1 million in revenue. All good, except the expectation for its previous guidance was between $50 million and $52 million.   

Also in May, the Australian Financial Review reported that James Dougherty from Lennox Partners believed that ELMO operated in a very competitive part of the market, and although revenue had been growing organically, cash flow losses were growing steadily every year.

More recent results

ELMO’s first-half FY21 results were more encouraging. Total revenues came in at $30.6 million for the half, an increase of almost 30% over first-half FY20. Annualised recurring revenue was $74.2 million, an uplift of 43%, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation expenses (EBITDA) was close to breakeven at -$0.8 million.

Last month, Elmo announced its FY21 guidance. The company projected its annualised recurring revenue (ARR) to come in at $83 million to $85 million. The market appeared to be disappointed as this result was within the mid-range of the previous $81.5 million to $88.5 million indicated.

Similarly, revenue was set to increase between $68 million to $70 million. Previously, the company had revenue set at $65 million to $71 million for FY21. 

So according to the FY21 update, ELO upgraded revenues by 1% ($65m – $71m upgrade $68m – $70m) and downgraded ARR by 1% ($81m – $88m upgrade $83m – $85m). 

Brokers say heaps of growth left

It seems that brokers like ELMO’s recent acquisitions of complementary businesses Breathe and Webexpenses.

One such broker is Shaw and Partners, which maintained a buy on the stock after attending ELMO’s recent FY21 virtual investor technology day. The day was based around demonstrating ELMO’s recently acquired Webexpenses product. 

The broker’s takeaways from the conference were that Webexpenses has continued to grow in the UK, and despite the recent start, it was already making sales in Australia and New Zealand. The broker was also buoyed by the Breathe hard launch which remains on track for July in ANZ. Shaw and Partners’ price target is $8.85.

Morgan Stanley also stands by the company, in May, it retained its overweight rating and $9.70 price target on its shares.   

Foolish takeaway

The ELMO share price has lost almost 35% over the past year. The company’s shares hit a 52-week high of $7.86 last June. At the time of writing, shares in the company are down 1.24% trading at $4.78.  

The good news is that brokers are still bullish on the stock and, according to their price targets, believe there are great margins to be made on the current ELMO share price.

The post ELMO (ASX: ELO) share price has taken a beating, down 35% in 12 months appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Frank Tzimas has no position in the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Elmo Software. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Elmo Software. 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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Cast your mind back to early 2020 (if you can bear it).

In the weeks following the pandemic outbreak, there were grave fears about unemployment in Australia. With a severe (albeit in hindsight, short-lived) recession looming, economic commentators were warning us to prepare for unemployment levels not seen in decades.

What was even scarier was the prospect of a ‘scarred labour market’ – the result of sustained low job levels pushing retrenched workers into permanent retirement.

Well, those fears appear to be well and truly behind us, judging by the latest labour and employment figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released this morning. The figures are for the month of May and make for some encouraging reading.

According to the ABS, the unemployment rate fell substantially over May, dropping from April’s 5.5% to 5.1% for the month. That makes May the seventh consecutive month of falling unemployment.

May’s numbers were the result of employment increasing by 115,000 jobs. This puts Australian employment 1% higher than where it was before the start of the pandemic.

Female jobs increased by 69,000 over the month and are now 1.6% above where they were at the start of the pandemic. That’s looking good against an 0.5% increase in jobs for men at 46,000.

Economy goes full steam ahead on jobs

The head of labour statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis, said:

The increase in female employment in May means that a higher percentage of women were in paid work than ever before – 58.8 per cent, 0.7 percentage points higher than the start of the pandemic. The difference was even greater for women aged 15 to 64, whose employment-to-population ratio in May was 1.5 percentage points above March 2020.

Hours worked also rose over May, increasing by 1.4%. This means that the total hours worked was 2.9% higher than at the start of the pandemic.

Labour force participation is also on the up, rising 0.3% to 66.2%, just a whisker below its all-time high of 66.3%, which we saw in March 2021.

Underemployment (people who are working but want to work more) decreased 0.3% to 7.4%, the lowest level since 2014. It’s also 1.4% below where it was at the start of the pandemic.

The post What pandemic? Unemployment is now below pre-COVID levels at 5.1% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Are crashing ASX mining shares an opportunity or a disaster to run from?
• Here are the 3 most active ASX 200 shares today
• Why the Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price is racing 7% higher today

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 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 looking for dividend shares that could grow strongly in the future, then you might want to check out the ones listed below.

While they may not offer the largest yields on the share market, they have the potential to grow materially over the 2020s. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is the Asia Pacific’s leading provider of vehicle parts, accessories, equipment, service and solutions. It has a growing network of stores across the region under brands such as Autobarn, Burson Auto Parts and Midas.

The company has been a very positive performer in recent years and has continued this strong form in FY 2021 thanks to strong demand for used cars. And with semiconductor shortages unlikely to be resolved any time soon, the supply of new vehicles looks set to remain tight for some time to come. This bodes well for its near term growth.

Pleasingly, thanks to its strong market position and its international expansion plans, its longer term growth looks positive as well. This appears to have put Bapcor in a position to continue growing its dividend for the foreseeable future.

Citi is positive on the company and currently has a buy rating and $9.50 price target on its shares.

The broker is forecasting fully franked dividends of 19 cents per share in FY 2021 and then 22 cents per share in FY 2022. Based on the current Bapcor share price of $8.25, this will mean yields of 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively.

Integral Diagnostics Ltd (ASX: IDX)

Integral Diagnostics is a medical imaging service provider that operates from a total of 72 radiology clinics. This includes 26 comprehensive sites.

As with Bapcor, Integral Diagnostics has been a solid performer in FY 2021. For example, during the first half of FY 2021, it reported a 29.5% increase in revenue to $170.7 million and a sizeable 61.1% jump in net profit after tax to $23.2 million.

Goldman Sachs appears confident that it still has a long runway for growth. This is expected to lead to increasing dividend payments in the coming years.

The broker is forecasting dividends per share of 11 cents in FY 2021, 14 cents in FY 2022, and 15 cents in FY 2023. Based on the latest Integral Diagnostics share price of $5.09, this will mean fully franked yields of 2.15%, 2.75%, and 2.95%, respectively.

Goldman has a buy rating and $5.50 price target on the company’s shares.

The post These ASX shares are growing their dividends at a solid rate appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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James Mickleboro does not own any shares 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 shares of and has recommended Bapcor. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Integral Diagnostics 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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Is the brutal sell-off in ASX mining shares the best buying opportunity of 2021 or warning that investors should run for cover?

The S&P/ASX 300 Metal & Mining (INDEXASX: XMM) index collapsed around 8% since hitting a record high last month.

Euphoria turned to gloom as the market fretted over concerns that commodity prices have past their peak. The bearish sentiment was even more pronounced after China said it will release a range of metals from its strategic reserves to curtain rising prices.

Why ASX mining shares are crashing

This triggered a big bout of profit taking on the likes of the IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price, OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price and Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) share price.

While iron ore isn’t on the list of commodities that China is selling, the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price have also been caught up in the sell-off.

Use crash as buying opportunity for ASX miners

However, a number of experts have commented that China can only have a short-term impact on commodity prices at best.

This is because, unlike the last commodity supercycle, demand for metals is coming from other major economies as well.

Further, ASX miners are starting to look cheap, according to the analysts at Morgan Stanley.

ASX mining shares looking cheap vs. other sectors

Using its proprietary bottom-up data, the broker found that ASX miners have traded around 6 times EV/EBITDA over the last decade.

With the underperformance of the sector, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) excluding ASX banks and miners has risen to around 14 times.

“The mean ratio of mining EV/EBITDA vs this other group over the past decade is 0.55x,” said Morgan Stanley.

“Mining relative value now sits 2.2 standard deviations below mean, suggesting compelling value on this metric.”

ASX mining shares to buy today

ASX miners also look undervalued on a comparative EV/revenue and P/E basis to the ASX 200 ex banks and miners.

For this reason, the broker is urging investors to use the sell-off as a buying opportunity and to go overweight on the sector.

Some of its key ASX mining picks are the South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price, the Alumina share price and Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) share price.

The post Are crashing ASX mining shares an opportunity or a disaster to run from? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Brendon Lau owns shares of Fortescue Metals Group Limited, Newcrest Mining Limited, OZ Minerals Limited, Rio Tinto Limited, and South32 Ltd. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

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 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has gone up 27% in 2021 alone, can it still be counted as a buy?

Just like the other big banks of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), ANZ is seeing a recovery of economic conditions.

In the first half of FY21, for the six months to 31 March 2021, ANZ experienced a credit provision release of $491 million.

Statutory profit after tax for the half-year was $2.9 billion, up 45% on the previous half. Continuing cash profit was up 28% to $2.99 billion. However, cash profit for continuing operations before credit impairments and tax was down 10% to $3.94 billion.

The ANZ balance sheet continues to strengthen, with the APRA common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio increasing to 12.4% at the end of the first half. That’s an increase from 11.3% at September 2020 and 10.8% at March 2020.

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliot said:

Following the trends of the first quarter, all parts of our business performed well. Costs were down 2% and we also increased investment in new digital capability that will provide ongoing productivity improvements and better customer outcomes.

Australia retail and commercial had another good half, becoming the third largest home lender in the market. Deposits performed well, with retail and small business customers behaving prudently by building solid savings and offset balances through the half.

Improving credit conditions resulted in a release of almost $500 million during the half. While the pandemic hasn’t resulted in large credit losses to date, we still have almost $4.3 billion in reserve if conditions deteriorate.

Capital generation was a feature which, along with our already strong balance sheet and prudent management through an incredibly volatile period, meant we were able to return our dividend to a level more in line with our target and sustainable payout ratio.

ANZ’s board decided to double the dividend to $0.70 per share.

But is the ANZ share price a buy now?

The broker Morgans is still bullish on the ANZ share price with a price target of $34.50 over the next 12 months. Both the dividend and profit were larger than expected. The broker thinks that the bank is doing the right things to lower its cost base.

On Morgans’ numbers, ANZ is valued at 13x FY21’s estimated earnings with a projected grossed-up dividend yield of 7.1%.

However, Morgan Stanley only rates ANZ shares as a hold, with a target price of $28 over the next 12 months. On the broker’s numbers, ANZ shares are trading at close to 15x FY21’s estimated earnings.

The post Up 27% this year, is the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price still a buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) isn’t having a great day this Thursday so far. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down 0.27% to 7,366 points after falling as low as 7,341 points earlier this morning.

So let’s take a look at the ASX 200 shares that are being the most actively traded today:

The 3 most active ASX 200 shares today

South32 Ltd (ASX :S32)

Fresh from making the most traded shares on Tuesday, diversified ASX 200 miner South32 is once again finding itself being heavily traded today as well. At the time of writing, a hefty 14.46 million shares have swapped hands today. This follows a not-insignificant fall in the South32 share price – it’s down 1.4% today to $2.82 a share.

As we noted earlier in the week, South32 has been buying back its own shares quite consistently in recent times. So there is a chance that some of these 14.46 million shares were picked up by the company itself today.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Telstra is another ASX blue-chip share that is bouncing around the ASX 200 boards today. It actually makes this list for the fourth trading day in a row. In fact, a substantial 16.94 million Telstra shares have changed hands this Thursday. That may be the result of the Telstra share price retreating somewhat away from its recent new 52-week high during intra-day trading.

Telstra is currently down 0.98% to $3.54 after hitting $3.61 for the first time in over a year last week. There is no other major news or announcements out of Telstra as of this afternoon.

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)

Whitehaven Coal is easily the ASX 200’s most active share today, with 19.91 million shares swapping owners so far. We can probably point to the coal miner’s substantial 11.18% loss today to $1.81 a share as the catalyst behind this trading activity.

As my Fool colleague Brooke covered earlier this morning, Whitehaven has seemingly disappointed investors with the production guidance it released this morning before market open. Whitehaven now expects its Narrabri mine to produce 4.1 million tonnes of coal in FY21. That’s down from the previously flagged 6-6.7 million tonnes. Evidently, investors were not too impressed.

The post Here are the 3 most active ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX share market fears ease as RBA’s inflation target proves difficult to hit
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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of 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 owns shares of 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 Bruce Jackson.

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