Category: Stock Market

The ASX dividend stock Step One Clothing Ltd (ASX: STP) has seen its share price fall significantly over the last few months, as shown in the chart below. It’s down 28% since April 2024.  

Why valuation decline can be a good thing? When a share price falls, it boosts the dividend yield. For example, if a dividend yield was 6% and the share price fell 10%, then the yield from the ASX dividend stock would become 6.6%, assuming the dividend payout remained the same in dollar terms.

Now, I’m not purely interested in the dividend – there are other factors to like about Step One Clothing. Before I get to that, here’s what the company does. It’s a direct-to-consumer online retailer of innerwear that is “high quality, organically grown and certified, sustainable, and ethically manufactured”, which suits a broad range of body types, according to the company.

Global growth

In my opinion, one of the most important factors that can unlock potential big returns for a smaller ASX share is whether it’s growing overseas in larger markets than Australia. A large addressable market gives a stock plenty of room for growth, if a company can execute well on its plans.

Of course, short-term progress does not guarantee a company will become a multi-billion-dollar winner. But, Step One is showing good signs of growth and attracting customers.

In the FY24 first-half result, the ASX dividend stock’s total revenue increased by 25.5% to $45 million – despite challenging economic conditions. Australian revenue rose 8.9% to $26.2 million, revenue in the United Kingdom increased 38% to $14.6 million, and United States revenue jumped 256% to $4.1 million.

If the business can grow its revenue (over time) at a double-digit percentage rate, then it could deliver good returns for shareholders.

There are plenty of other countries that Step One can grow into, such as Canada.

Rising margins

When a business can grow its profit margins, profit can grow faster than revenue. Rising profit is good news for shareholders because it can encourage the market to pay more for the business and fund larger dividend payouts.

I’m not expecting profit margins to increase with every result, but the HY24 report showed that the business is capable of achieving operating leverage.

In that half-year period, it reported the gross profit margin improved by 0.5 percentage points to 81.2%, and the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin improved 1.7 percentage points to 22.5%.

The ASX dividend stock’s HY24 EBITDA jumped 35.6% to $10.1 million, and net profit after tax (NPAT) grew by 34.7%. This enabled the business to pay a dividend per share of 4 cents.  

Generous dividend payout

The payout of 4 cents per share represented a dividend payout ratio of 100%. Step One said its funding level after paying the dividend was “deemed sufficient to support future expansion and ensure ongoing financial stability”.

Step One said it’s targeting a full-year payout ratio of 100% of net profit, which demonstrates “the board’s commitment to aligning the interests of its investors with the company’s financial success”.

According to Commsec, the ASX dividend stock is expected to pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 6.3% in FY24, 6.9% in FY25, and 7.4% in FY26.

The post 1 ASX dividend stock down 28% to buy right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top ASX shares to buy in July 2024
• Overinvested in BHP shares? Here are two alternative ASX dividend stocks

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 Scott Phillips.

The uranium industry has been a great place to be over the past 12 months.

Due to supply shortages and increasing demand, the price of uranium has surged.

And with many analysts expecting these dynamics to remain for a long time to come, the price of the chemical element looks set to remain elevated for the foreseeable future.

This bodes well for ASX uranium stocks, which stand to benefit greatly from these very favourable industry conditions.

With that in mind, let’s now take a look at two ASX stocks that have been named as buys and tipped to generate big returns by analysts at Bell Potter. They are as follows:

Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE)

Bell Potter remains positive on this ASX uranium stock despite a slower than expected ramp up of the Honeymoon project. This morning, the broker has reaffirmed its buy rating with a trimmed price target of $5.90. Based on its current share price of $3.82, this implies potential upside of 54% for investors over the next 12 months.

The broker believes that its shares are great value after a recent pullback. Particularly given the low costs of the Honeymoon operation. It said:

We continue to see value in BOE given the pull back in the uranium sector. BOE maintains a stable balance sheet with sufficient liquidity to execute the ramp up of Honeymoon whilst progressing growth projects across Honeymoon and Alta Mesa. We continue to see Honeymoon as a low-cost restart operation, which has the capacity to generate strong margins in the current pricing environment.

Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)

Another ASX uranium stock that could be a top buy right now according to Bell Potter is Paladin Energy. This morning, the broker has retained its buy rating on its shares with a trimmed price target of $15.70. This implies potential upside of 21% for investors.

Unlike Boss Energy, Bell Potter notes that Paladin Energy’s ramp up appears to be ahead of schedule. It commented:

The Langer Heinrich ramp up appears to be running ahead of ours and consensus estimates. We have updated our uranium price deck ahead of the quarterly results for PDN, and adjusted our earnings to reflect updated FY25 guidance provided last week. This sees our production estimates lift for FY25 to 4.5Mlbs (PDN Guidance 4.0-4.5Mlbs) and sales to 3.9Mlbs (PDN Guidance 3.8-4.1Mlbs).

The broker also highlights that a major catalyst is on the horizon that could boost the ASX uranium stock. It adds:

The most significant catalyst will be the closure of the transaction to acquire Fission Uranium which is targeted by September. […] With the updated cost and production guidance our target price decreases 2.5% to $15.70/sh (previously $16.10/sh). Our valuation includes an estimated value for Fission Uranium under the assumption that the transaction is successfully completed in Sept-24. We maintain our Buy recommendation in-line with our ratings structure.

The post Buy these ASX uranium stocks for big returns in FY25 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• 10 ASX shares to buy in FY25
• Here’s how the ASX 200 market sectors stacked up last week
• These top 3 ASX 200 uranium shares went nuclear in FY24
• Best 5 ASX 200 energy shares for price growth in FY24

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

The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) performed soundly for investors during the 2024 financial year. This exchange-traded fund (ETF) is the biggest of the sector on the ASX, so it’s an important component for many investor portfolios.

The VAS ETF tracks the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO), an index of 300 of the biggest businesses on the ASX.

An ETF’s performance is almost entirely decided by the performance of its underlying holdings. The bigger the position weighting in an ETF’s portfolio, the more influence it will have on the fund’s overall return.

We’ll look at the fund’s overall performance and then analyse which stocks appears to have driven those returns,

Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF’s FY24 performance

The VAS ETF unit price delivered capital growth of 7.4% over the 2024 financial year.

It has also paid a distribution return of approximately 3.9% for FY24.

If we add those two elements of the return together, that would suggest a total investor return of 11.3% over the 12-month period, excluding franking credits.

Vanguard will confirm those return figures in due course when it releases its monthly update for June 2024.

How did the VAS ETF deliver a double-digit return?

The biggest ASX blue-chip shares had the most impact on the return because of their weighting in the portfolio.

During the 2024 financial year:

• The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price fell 5%
• The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price rose 27%
• The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price increased 37%
• The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price went up 28%
• The ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price climbed by 19%
• The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price lifted 32%
• The Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) share price went up by 73%

Of course, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, particularly when it comes to short-term returns. The above stocks may not perform anywhere near as well in FY25 – they could even see their share prices go down.

Another factor that helped the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF is its annual management fee of only 0.07%, which is very low compared to what an active fund manager may charge, say 1.% plus performance fees.

What next?

The VAS ETF expects to pay its latest quarterly distribution, comprising a cash distribution of 67.2 cents and franking credits of 17.1 cents, on 16 July 2024.

In FY25, ASX mining shares and ASX bank shares could have another sizeable impact on the fund’s performance because those two sectors make up around half of the fund’s weighting.

I recently covered its outlook for the 2025 financial year in another article.

The post How did the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS) perform in FY24? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Buy and hold these ASX ETFs for 10 years+
• Is the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS) outperforming your super fund?
• Why it’s a big day for ASX ETFs
• Want the latest Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF dividend? Here’s what to do
• Buy these ASX ETFs in July for passive income

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

The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price had a tough run in the financial year just past.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) oil and gas stock closed out FY 2023 trading for $34.44. On 28 June, the final trading day of FY 2024, shares closed the day changing hands for $28.21 apiece.

That saw the Woodside share price down 18.1% over the 12 months.

For some context, the ASX 200 gained 7.8% over this same period.

So, why did the ASX 200 energy stock have such a dismal year?

Why did the Woodside share price tumble in FY 2024?

Despite some courtroom successes that helped put the company’s major growth projects, like Scarborough, back on track, the Woodside share price began a marked downtrend in late October.

By then, Woodside’s record six-month net profit after tax of US$1.74 billion for the second half of FY 2023, reported on 22 August, looked to have been forgotten. Though perhaps not the 27% cut to Woodside’s interim fully franked dividend.

In December, the markets were abuzz with news of merger discussions that would have seen Woodside combine with Santos Ltd (ASX: STO). That possibility provided a big lift for Santos shares. But the Woodside share price didn’t really get a boost, with analysts speculating Santos would be the biggest beneficiary of any merger.

Indeed, on 7 February, when the companies announced that the merger would not proceed, the Santos share price closed down 5.8% while Woodside shares gained 0.5%.

Commenting on that decision at the time, Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said:

We continue to be disciplined in our approach to mergers and acquisitions and capital management to create and deliver value for shareholders.

While the discussions with Santos did not result in a transaction, Woodside considers that the global LNG sector provides significant potential for value creation.

Then, for its full 2023 calendar year results, released on 27 February, Woodside revealed that its operating revenue declined by 17% year on year to US$13.99 billion.

Impacted by higher production costs, underlying net profit after tax was down 37% to US$3.32 billion. This saw a 58% reduction in the final dividend.

And the third quarter results of FY 2024, reported on 19 April, didn’t do much to help the Woodside either.

Quarterly revenue dropped by 12% from the prior quarter, hit by lower realised prices and lower production volumes over the three months.

As for FY 2025, the Woodside share price ended the first trading week of the new financial year up 3.7% at $29.24.

The post What happened with the Woodside share price in FY 2024? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Here’s how the ASX 200 market sectors stacked up last week
• Santos share price goes red as takeover rumours turn into hot air
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why Arafura Rare Earths, Magellan, Metro Mining, and Santos shares are racing higher

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

A cost-of-living crisis doesn’t bode well for ASX retail shares. But this trio overcame the odds to rack up impressive share price gains amid difficult trading conditions in FY24.

Best 3 ASX retail shares of FY24

Here are the best retail stocks of the ASX 200 for FY24, according to data from S & P Global Market Intelligence.

Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV)

Budget jewellery retailer Lovisa led the consumer discretionary stocks in FY24 with a 70.3% share price gain. A positive trading update in late November gave the stock new momentum.

Speculation of interest rate cuts in 2024 also helped, creating an early Santa Rally for the entire ASX 200. The retail share also got a bump in February after the company released strong half-yearly results. Lovisa shares have been largely rangebound since March, trading between about $30 and $34 per share.

The Lovisa share price closed the session on Friday at $31.28, up 0.94%.

Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV)

The second top-performing ASX 200 retail share in terms of share price growth was Premier Investments, up 53.8% over the 12 months.

Legendary rag trader Solomon Lew heads up this company, which owns popular brands such as Just Jeans, Jacqui E, Smiggle, Dotti, and Peter Alexander.

Premier is also a major shareholder of Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR). In the last week of FY24, Myer proposed that the department store acquire Premier’s Apparel Brands business in exchange for new Myer shares.

The Premier Investments share price closed on Friday at $29.64, up 0.20%.

JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH)

Back in November 2022, the Motley Fool’s chief investment officer, Scott Phillips, told us JB Hi-Fi shares were great value at just under $43 with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 9x.

On Friday, the JB Hi-Fi share price closed at $62.33. The stock now has a P/E of 14.87x, according to the ASX website. The retailer was also the third best-performing stock of the retail sector in FY24, with a 39.9% share price gain.

What’s happening with retail sales?

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released new retail trade figures last Wednesday.

Retail trade turnover increased by 0.6% (seasonally adjusted) in May, a big improvement on the 0.1% gain in April and the 0.4% fall in March.

The gain was driven by consumers taking advantage of early end-of-financial-year promotions and mid-year sales, according to ABS head of business statistics, Robert Ewing.

Ewing commented:

Many retailers started end-of-financial-year sales early, offering larger discounts than usual and noted that shoppers remain price-sensitive in response to persistent cost-of-living pressures.

Retail businesses continue to rely on discounting and sales events to stimulate discretionary spending, following restrained spending in recent months.

While the May bump was positive for retailers, consumer spending is still generally weak. It’s up only 1.5% in annual trend terms despite 2.5% population growth over the 12 months ending 31 December 2023.

Looking ahead, Deloitte Access Economics partner David Rumbens said stage three tax cuts and eventual interest rate cuts would help the retail sector.

In Deloitte’s latest retail forecast report, the consultancy predicts no growth at all in retail spending for the calendar year 2024 but a 2.5% uplift in 2025.

The post Top 3 of FY24: The ASX retail shares defying the cost-of-living crisis appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• 10 ASX shares to buy in FY25
• Here’s how the ASX 200 market sectors stacked up last week
• These top 3 ASX 200 uranium shares went nuclear in FY24
• Best 5 ASX 200 energy shares for price growth in FY24

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Lovisa. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Jb Hi-Fi, Lovisa, and Premier Investments. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

At the start of each week, I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) continues its very long run as the most shorted share after its short interest increased week on week to 21.3%. Short sellers are betting on lithium prices remaining weak and weighing on the company’s profits for some time to come.
• IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) has 13.1% of its shares held short, which is down slightly since last week. This language testing and student placement company is being impacted negatively by student visa changes in a number of key markets.
• Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has 11.1% of its share held short, which is down slightly week on week. Liontown is expected to start lithium production at Kathleen Valley in the coming weeks. Prices are very different to when commissioning first commenced.
• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has seen its short interest remain flat at 10.3%. This high level of short interest appears to have been driven by concerns over weak consumer spending and revenue margin headwinds.
• Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) has short interest of 10.3%, which is up week on week. Investors have been selling off this graphite miner’s shares over the last 12 months due to weak battery material prices, production suspensions, and further cash burn.
• Australian Clinical Labs Ltd (ASX: ACL) has short interest of 9.4%, which is up since last week again. Short sellers have been increasing their positions in this health imaging company since it warned that is expecting to report another sizeable decline in profits.
• Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) has short interest of 9.4%, which is down slightly week on week. This mineral exploration company’s shares have lost almost 80% of their value over the last 12 months. It is still several years until Chalice Mining is hoping to commence mining activities.
• Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX: WGX) has short interest of 9.2%, which is down week on week. The gold miner’s proposed merger with Canada-based Karoa Resources appears to have caught the eye of short sellers.
• Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has short interest of 9.1%, which is down since last week. Short sellers have been targeting the miner due to its costs being higher than the price of its lithium.
• Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) has seen its short interest rise to 8.8%. Depressed rare earths prices have been weighing on investor sentiment.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 10 ASX shares to buy in FY25
• Here’s the earnings forecast to 2029 for Liontown shares
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 3 high-flying ASX 200 stocks leading the charge into FY 2025
• Top brokers agree that Lynas shares are ‘undervalued’

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Idp Education. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

On Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished the week with a small decline. The benchmark index fell 0.1% to 7,822.3 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to fall

The Australian share market looks set to fall on Monday despite a strong finish on Wall Street on Friday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 11 points or 0.15% lower. In the United States, the Dow Jones was up 0.2%, the S&P 500 was 0.55% higher, and the Nasdaq rose 0.9%.

Oil prices soften

ASX 200 energy shares Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) could have a subdued start to the week after oil prices pulled back on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price was down 0.85% to US$83.16 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price was down 1% to US$86.54 a barrel. This couldn’t stop US crude oil from recording its fourth consecutive weekly gain thanks to an improving demand outlook.

Buy Suncorp shares

Goldman Sachs thinks that Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) shares are in the buy zone. In response to its FY 2025 reinsurance program update, the broker has retained its buy rating on the insurance giant’s shares with an improved price target of $18.00. It said: “We have kept our underlying margin profile for SUN broadly unchanged but make small upgrades largely driven by higher NEP from lower reinsurance spend / non renewal of QS. This increases our PT to $18.”

Gold price charges higher

It could be a good start to the week for ASX 200 gold shares including Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) after the gold price stormed higher on Friday. According to CNBC, the spot gold price was up 1.2% to US$2,397.7 an ounce. Interest rate cut optimism gave the gold price a boost.

Buy Boss Energy shares

Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) shares could be undervalued according to analysts at Bell Potter. This morning, the broker has reaffirmed its buy rating on the uranium miner’s shares with a trimmed price target of $5.90. It commented: “We continue to see Honeymoon as a low-cost restart operation, which has the capacity to generate strong margins in the current pricing environment.”

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

More reading

• 10 ASX shares to buy in FY25
• Here’s how the ASX 200 market sectors stacked up last week
• These top 3 ASX 200 uranium shares went nuclear in FY24
• Will ASX gold shares again outshine the market in FY 2025?
• Best 5 ASX 200 energy shares for price growth in FY24

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Woodside Energy Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Are you looking for some new additions to your portfolio in FY 2025? If you are, then read on.

That’s because listed below are 10 ASX shares that have been named as buys for the new financial year. They are as follows:

Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE)

If you are looking for exposure to the booming uranium market, then Boss Energy could be the ASX share to do it with. Last month, Bell Potter put a buy rating and lofty $6.35 price target on its shares.

Capricorn Metals Ltd (ASX: CMM)

Bell Potter also thinks that this gold miner could be a great option for investors. This is because it “is a sector leading gold producer with a strong balance sheet, a management team with an excellent track record of delivery and clear organic growth options.” The broker has a buy rating and $6.53 price target on its shares.

CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL)

One of Australia’s highest quality companies is arguably biotherapeutics giant CSL. After a reasonably underwhelming period, Macquarie thinks that the company is about to return to form. So much so, it is forecasting mid-teen earnings growth for the next five years. Macquarie has an outperform rating and $330.00 price target on the ASX share.

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

Looking for some tech sector exposure? Morgan Stanley thinks this location technology company’s shares could be in the buy zone. The broker has an overweight rating and $17.50 price target on them.

Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV)

This fashion jewellery retailer could be an ASX share to buy in FY 2025. A number of brokers are bullish on Lovisa due to its global expansion. For example, analysts at Bell Potter have a buy rating and $36.00 price target on its shares.

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)

They say it’s best to buy ASX mining stocks at the bottom of the cycle. So, with rare earths prices at depressed levels, a number of analysts think now could be the time to pounce on this ASX share. One of those is Ord Minnett, which put a buy rating and $8.00 price target on its shares at the end of last month.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)

Goldman Sachs thinks this airline operator’s shares are so undervalued that it has them on its conviction list. The broker currently has a buy rating and $8.05 price target on the Flying Kangaroo’s shares.

Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS)

UBS thinks that this telco giant could be a top ASX share to buy now. At the end of last month, the broker put a buy rating and $4.40 price target on its shares. It also expects fully franked dividend yields of 4.9%+ this year and next.

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)

Another ASX share that Goldman Sachs is very bullish on is Woolworths. It has the supermarket giant on its conviction list with a buy rating and $40.20 price target.

Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO)

Finally, another member of Goldman’s coveted conviction list is cloud accounting platform provider Xero. The broker has a buy rating and $180.00 price target on its shares. Its analysts “see Xero as very well-placed to take advantage of the digitisation of SMBs globally.”

The post 10 ASX shares to buy in FY25 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s how the ASX 200 market sectors stacked up last week
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• These top 3 ASX 200 uranium shares went nuclear in FY24
• Forget CBA and buy these ASX dividend stocks
• Best 5 ASX 200 energy shares for price growth in FY24

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in CSL, Life360, Lovisa, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL, Goldman Sachs Group, Life360, Lovisa, Macquarie Group, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group, Telstra Group, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL and Lovisa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

ASX energy stocks led the ASX 200 market sectors last week with an impressive 4.07% gain over the five trading days. ASX materials shares also did well, with the sector lifting 3.3%.

Meantime, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) booked a 1.3% lift to finish the week at 7,822.3 points. However, only four of the 11 market sectors finished the week in the green.

Let’s review.

Energy shares led the ASX sectors last week

Among the major ASX 200 energy stocks, Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) outperformed with a 4.99% gain over the week to finish at $7.99 per share.

The stock was lifted by rumours that Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co were considering making takeover offers. Saudi Aramco debunked this on Friday.

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares gained 3.76% to finish at $29.26 on Friday. There was no news from Woodside last week but the stock has plenty of buy ratings from brokers right now.

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) shares lifted 2.56% to $1.52 apiece.

These gains follow a lift in oil commodity prices last week. At the time of writing, Brent crude oil is up 2.6% for the week and trading at US$83.16 per barrel. WTI futures are up 2.7% at US$83.75 per barrel.

Trading Economics analysts say the uplift is due to falling crude oil inventories in the United States and signs of strong seasonal demand during the US summer.

Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD) shares lifted 2.41% to $33.13 apiece. Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA) lost 0.32% to close at $3.16 on Friday.

A 2.96% lift in Newcastle coal futures to US$136.50 per tonne led to some impressive gains among the ASX 200 coal shares last week.

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) flew 13.26% higher to close at $8.97 on Friday.

Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) lifted 9.24% to $7.33 per share. New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC) shares lifted 1.01% to $5.02 apiece.

ASX 200 uranium stocks also had a good week after the commodity price lifted 2.51% to US$85.65 per pound.

Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) shares spiked 9.77% to $1.41 apiece by the close of trading on Friday.

The company announced the appointment of a coordinator to organise project financing for its flagship Tumas Project in Namibia last week.

Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) shares rose 7.43% to $13.01.

Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) shares fell 2.18% to $3.82. Last week, the company announced it was ready to send its first shipment from its Honeymoon mine in South Australia to European nuclear utilities.

ASX 200 market sector snapshot

Here’s how the 11 market sectors stacked up last week, according to CommSec data.

Over the five trading days:

S&P/ASX 200 market sector	Change last week
Energy (ASX: XEJ)	4.07%
Materials (ASX: XMJ)	3.3%
A-REIT (ASX: XPJ)	1.45%
Consumer Discretionary (ASX: XDJ)	0.22%
Healthcare (ASX: XHJ)	(0.06%)
Consumer Staples (ASX: XSJ)	(0.07%)
Communication (ASX: XTJ)	(0.4%)
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The post Here’s how the ASX 200 market sectors stacked up last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in Woodside Energy Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Late last month, we covered the latest dividend news from the VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (ASX: MOAT). MOAT’s investors would have been delighted with the announcement that this exchange-traded fund (ETF) intends to pay a dividend distribution of $9.73 per unit later this month.

Now the VanEck Wide Moat ETF only pays out one dividend distribution every year, unlike the biannual schedule that is the norm on the ASX. But even so, this latest dividend is a monster.

At market close on Friday, the MOAT unit price is sitting at $112.04, down 0.21%. At this pricing, this upcoming dividend distribution would result in a whopping dividend yield of 8.68%.

Now, this isn’t really a fair metric to use since the MOAT ETF already traded ex-dividend for this upcoming distribution on 1 July. But even if we use the closing share price of $124.47 (which is where MOAT units closed at on 30 June), we get a dividend yield of almost 8%. 7.82% to be precise.

This seems rather unusual at first glance. After all, the VanEck Wide Moat ETF isn’t some dividend-focused fund holding income heavyweight shares like Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) or Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS).

It is a US-centric ETF that specialises in holding American companies with wide economic moats.

Sure, its holdings include a few dividend payers. You’ll currently find the likes of Pfizer, Campbell Soup, Altria and Starbucks in MOAT’s portfolio. But most of these shares don’t pay substantial dividends. At least by ASX standards. In fact, US stocks, in general, are famous for their low dividend income potential compared to other stock markets around the world.

So how did the MOAT ETF just pay out a near-8% dividend yield?

How does the Wide Moat ETF have such a massive ASX dividend?

Well, passing on the dividends of its underlying holdings is only one way that an ETF can fund a dividend distribution payment. The other way is by selling off shares in its portfolio and paying out the proceeds to investors.

The Wide Moat ETF is structured as an equal-weight ETF of sorts. This means that is it designed in such a way that all of MOAT’s holdings occupy the same weighting in the ETF. This is in contrast to most index funds. These funds usually give the larger shares in the portfolio a higher weighting.

Every time VanEck rebalances MOAT’s portfolio (typically every six months), it must sell off any shares that have appreciated since the last time the ETF was rebalanced, and thus grown above their allocated weighting in the fund’s portfolio.

Let’s assume that MOAT’s portfolio has had a successful six months. Which it has. In this scenario, we might find that a lot of portfolio pruning needs to be done to return its successful holdings to their required weighting.

Over the past six months, it appears that the VanEck Wide Moat ETF has experienced a significant increase in cash due to rebalancing. As a result, the ETF was able to use this surplus to fund a substantial dividend distribution.

But MOAT’s ASX investors shouldn’t get too comfortable with receiving such a large dividend paycheque. Sure, the VanEck Wide Moat ETF can make it rain when times are good. But if its holdings don’t perform too well going forward, those monstrous dividends will quickly dry up.

The post Does the VanEck Wide Moat ETF really have an 8% dividend yield? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Buy and hold these ASX ETFs for 10 years+
• Why it’s a big day for ASX ETFs
• Own the VanEck Wide Moat ETF? Get ready for a monster ASX dividend
• $20,000 invested in the ASX MOAT ETF 5 years ago is worth how much?
• 2 of my favourite ASX ETFs for Australian investors

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Altria Group, Starbucks, Telstra Group, and VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Pfizer and Starbucks. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Starbucks and VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.