Category: Stock Market

It can be a good idea for investors to keep an eye on which shares have experienced meaningful insider buying.

This is because insider buying is often regarded as a bullish signal, as few people know a company and its intrinsic value better than its own directors.

So, if they are buying shares on-market, it suggests that they are confident in the direction the company is heading and feel its shares are good value.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at an ASX 200 dividend stock that insiders have been buying up big this month.

Which ASX 200 dividend stock are insiders buying?

The stock in question is coal miner New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC).

According to a change of director’s interests notice, the company’s chair, Robert Millner AO, and non-executive director, Tom Millner, have topped up their collective holding.

The notice reveals that 100,000 shares were bought through an on-market trade on 22 March.

The Millners paid an average of $4.6924 per share, which equates to a total consideration of $469,240.

This boosted Tom Millner’s holding to 21,153 direct shares and 5,853,215 indirect shares, and Robert Millner’s holding to 279,559 direct shares and 5,943,215 million indirect shares.

What dividends would those 100,000 shares generate?

As one of the more generous dividend payers on the Australian share market, the shares that these insiders have bought are likely to provide them with some bumper dividends.

For example, according to a note out of Morgans from last week, its analysts are forecasting dividends per share of 35 cents in FY 2024 and 34 cents in FY 2025.

So, with the ASX 200 dividend stock currently trading at $4.36, this means 8% and 7.8% dividend yields, respectively.

It also means that those 100,000 shares would yield $35,000 and $34,000 in dividend payments over the next couple of years if Morgans is accurate with its estimates.

The post The 8% yield ASX 200 dividend stock insiders are buying up big appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Could this development out of China reignite ASX 200 coal shares?

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

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As we covered just this morning, it’s a big week on the ASX for almost every dividend investor. And that includes owners of Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD) shares.

This week will see dividends from the likes of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) doled out to grateful shareholders. But quite possibly the largest shareholder payment will flow to the owners of Ampol shares.

Last month, Ampol delivered its latest half-year results for the six months ending 31 December. Investors were cheering Ampol’s record fuel sales, to be sure. But it was what the company announced in the dividend department that really got chins a-wagging.

Ampol announced a record final dividend of $1.20 a share, fully franked. But it didn’t end there. The company also revealed a special dividend payment on top of that (also fully franked), worth an additional 60 cents per share.

That takes Ampol’s payout to a whopping $1.80 per share, which is easily the highest payout shareholders have ever enjoyed from the fuel refiner, distributor and retailer.

It certainly beats out last year’s final and special dividends, which were worth a combined $1.55 per share. The interim dividend investors received in September last year was worth just 95 cents per share, fully franked.

Unfortunately for anyone just cottoning on to this news, eligibility for new investors for this dividend has now closed. As we warned last month, the ex-dividend date for these payouts came and went on 1 March.

But for eligible shareholders, dividend payday is today. So expect to see that chunky payout arrive in your bank accounts imminently.

Someone with $10,000 worth of Ampol shares today (around 254 shares) can expect to receive approximately $457 in dividend income when this shareholder payment gets cleared.

Ampol shares snapshot

Ampol shares have been excellent performers in recent months. The company may be down 0.88% so far this Wednesday to $39.41 a share. But year to date in 2024, the Ampol share price remains up a healthy 7.6%. That share price gain stretches to 32% over the past 12 months and to 50.4% over the last five years.

At the current Ampol share price, this ASX 200 energy stock has a market capitalisation of $9.4 billion, with a trailing dividend yield of 6.97% (including special dividends).

The post Own Ampol shares? Get ready for your monster dividend payment appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF) share price is down more than 1% after the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) share went ex-distribution.

This comes at a time when the ASX 300 is currently up 0.1%.

Ex-distribution date

Rural Funds pays a distribution every three months and the latest payment will soon be allocated to investors.

The ex-distribution date tells us when new investors miss out on the payment – there has to be a cut-off point for the upcoming payment.

For Rural Funds, today (27 March 2024) is the ex-distribution date. Anyone buying Rural Funds shares won’t receive the upcoming distribution of 2.93 cents per unit. So, investors aren’t getting as much short-term value today as yesterday.

At yesterday’s Rural Funds share price, the upcoming quarterly payment translates into a distribution yield of 1.4%.

When is the Rural Funds distribution being paid?

Rural Funds is planning to pay this quarterly distribution on 30 April 2024.

If investors want to receive more Rural Funds units rather than cash, they can take part in the distribution reinvestment plan (DRP). The DRP election date is Tuesday 2 April 2024, with 5 pm being the cut-off time.

What is the FY24 distribution yield?

In the recent FY24 first-half result, Rural Funds confirmed it’s planning to pay an annual distribution of 11.73 cents per unit, which is a current distribution yield of 5.7%.

This is mostly being paid for by an expected adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) – which is essentially net rental profit – of 11.2 cents per unit.

The business is investing in some farms, and converting a few to macadamia farms, which will hopefully lead to improved rental income.

Rural Funds share price snapshot

Despite everything that has happened over the past 12 months, the Rural Funds share price is virtually where it was a year ago.

The post Why is the Rural Funds share dropping today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Rural Funds 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 positions in and has recommended Rural Funds Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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If you’re lucky enough to have $8,000 burning a hole in your pocket, then it could be worth looking at putting it to work in the share market.

After all, history shows that you could turn it into something significant over the long-term.

For example, based on an average total return of 10% per annum, a single $8,000 investment would turn into approximately $21,000 in 10 years.

And if you’re able to keep adding to your investments, you could really supercharge your returns thanks to the power of compounding.

Starting with an $8,000 investment and then adding $500 per month would grow to a massive $121,000 in 10 years, all else equal.

But where could be a good place to invest that first $8,000? Listed below are three ASX shares to consider:

Where to invest $8,000?

The first ASX share to look at putting some of the money into is ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD). It is the world’s leading sleep disorder treatment company with industry-leading hardware and software.

Citi is very bullish on its long-term outlook and has put a buy rating and $34.00 price target on its shares. This implies almost 15% upside for investors.

Where else could investors put their money to get good returns? Well, the team at Goldman Sachs sees plenty of value in Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares at current levels.

The broker has a conviction buy rating and $40.40 price target, which suggests potential upside of 23% for investors.

Finally, another ASX share that could be a good option for investors is Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN).

Analysts at Morgans think that Australia’s flag carrier airline is severely undervalued at the current level. Last month the broker put an add rating and $6.75 price target on its shares. This implies potential upside of 26% for investors over the next 12 months.

The post Where to invest $8,000 in April 2024 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Goldman Sachs Group and ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The APM Human Services International Ltd (ASX: APM) share price has become an immovable object today as shares enter a trading halt.

Stationary at $1.63 apiece, the employment and health services provider’s shares are locked down until the company responds to the latest development in its pursuit by a private equity firm.

Currently, APM shares are up 29.4% for the year. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) — which APM is a member of — is up a meagre 2.2%.

Pulling the plug

CVC Asia Pacific is now walking away from acquiring APM after serving up a more generous bid on 28 February of $2.00 per share.

Details are sparse right now. All that was said in this morning’s trading halt request was APM had been advised, by way of letter, that it is ‘unable to proceed to finalise a transaction on terms consistent with their non-binding offer as disclosed to the ASX on 28 February 2024’.

This doesn’t give investors much insight into why CVC has chosen to walk back its takeover intentions. One would hope that APM will give clarity when it delivers its response to the decision. However, there is also a chance the private equity firm didn’t elaborate to APM either.

CVC outlined several conditions for its revised takeover bid in February. These included key APM personnel accepting most of the payment as shares. Furthermore, the deal was subject to due diligence and debt financing.

At this stage, it is unclear which of the above items (if any) were the stumbling block for the takeover.

What could it mean for the APM share price?

APM shareholders could be slightly worried about how the share price fares once trading resumes. For context, APM shares were hovering around 84 cents before rumours of an approach surfaced last month.

If the company’s shares were to head back to 84 cents it would represent a 48% fall from its current stature.

However, at that price, APM would trade on a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.5 times. Meanwhile, the average P/E ratio for the global professional services industry sits at 21.3 times earnings.

The post APM share price placed on ice as $1.8 billion deal goes dud 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 recommended APM Human Services International. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price is having a tough session.

In morning trade, the struggling semiconductor company’s shares were down as much as 7.5% to 30.5 cents.

They have since recovered a touch but remain down 6% at the time of writing.

What’s going on with the Brainchip share price?

This morning’s weakness has been driven by another capital call notice from Brainchip this morning.

Unlike most listed companies that raise funds though capital raisings, Brainchip has a put option agreement with a company called LDA Capital.

According to the release, the company has submitted a capital call notice to LDA Capital to subscribe for up to 40 million shares.

Under the Third Amendment of its Put Option Agreement, Brainchip is obligated to advance these shares to LDA no later than 31 March 2024.

The issue price for the shares will be 91.5% of the higher of the average daily volume weighted average price of shares over the pricing period and the undisclosed minimum price notified to LDA Capital by the company.

The pricing period for the Capital Call Notice will begin on 28 March 2024 and will end on the sooner of 7 June 2024 or when the shares have been fully subscribed by LDA Capital. The agreement also allows extensions to the pricing period upon request in the event unsold shares remain at the pricing period ending date.

Brainchip advised that as of the date of the capital call notice, available funding under the agreement amounts to $50.2 million. It is committed to drawing down a minimum of $12 million no later than 31 December 2024.

The company’s underfire CEO, Sean Hehir, commented:

The proceeds raised from the capital call will be used to solidify our go-to-market capabilities by augmenting our machine learning personnel and solution architects who are necessary to support accelerating market adoption of the Akida 2.0 IP offerings.

The company will also bolster the CTO function, enabling radical innovation required to bring large language models, multi-modal operation and other state of art AI to the edge and ensure we remain the industry leaders in hyper-efficient Edge AI.

Investors appear to believe this is an indication that meaningful revenue generation is still some way off (if at all).

The Brainchip share price is down 34% over the last 12 months.

The post Why is the Brainchip share price sinking over 7% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX: PTM) shares are having a day to forget.

In morning trade, the ASX 300 share is down almost 23% to $1.01.

Why is this ASX 300 share crashing?

Investors have been hitting the sell button in a panic today in response to the release of an announcement out of the fund manager after the market close on Tuesday.

While that announcement was focused on its turnaround program, the company sneaked in a bombshell at the bottom.

According to the release, Platinum Investment Management expects to receive partial redemptions of at least $1.4 billion from its institutional and wholesale business over the coming month. In addition, one large client is indicating that it intends to rebalance its exposure away from benchmark agnostic global equity managers.

The company advised that it does not expect the account to close, instead it expects to see a reduction in mandate size. But how big the reduction and how much is currently under management is unclear.

These events, together with some other institutional account changes that are anticipated to take place over the coming months, are likely to result in a reduction in annualised fee revenue for the company of approximately $18 million.

During the first half of FY 2024, Platinum recorded fee revenue of $92.4 million. This annualises to $184.8 million, which means that the company is about to take an approximate 10% hit to its annualised fee revenue.

Productivity update

In other news, Platinum revealed that an initial review of its turnaround program has now been completed.

It has identified at least $25 million in targeted annualised run rate savings. This represents a 26% reduction in the company’s annualised half year expense base of approximately $96 million.

Due to the timing of these savings, they are unlikely to generate a material impact on the ASX 300 share’s reported FY 2024 profit. Management expects the bulk of savings to be progressively realised during FY 2025.

These savings will include both people and non-people costs, with one-off restructuring charges to be separately identified in its results.

It also highlights that expense reductions will come from the expected simplification of the company’s product range, including the rationalisation of Platinum’s offshore distribution efforts.

The ASX 300 share’s CEO, Jeff Peters, said:

In late February we outlined a strategy to reset and position the business for future growth. I am pleased to be able to report that we are acting swiftly to implement the changes required as part of the reset phase. I would like to reiterate my firm belief that Platinum will emerge from this challenging phase as a revitalised business that is better able to leverage its strong brand and talented team for the benefit of its clients.

The post Why is this ASX 300 stock crashing 23% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) share price is charging higher today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) biotech stock closed yesterday trading for $282.47. In morning trade on Wednesday, shares are swapping hands for $286.33, up 1.4%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is just about flat at this same time.

Investors may be bidding up the CSL share price after the company announced it has issued a pair of long-dated bonds totalling US$1.25 billion (AU$1.91 billion).

CSL share price lifts on refinancing news

According to the release, the corporate bonds will be issued by CSL Finance Plc and guaranteed by the parent company, CSL Limited, and some of its subsidiaries.

The principal amount, tenor and coupon for the notes are:

• US$500 million, 10-year at a fixed rate coupon of 5.106%
• US$750 million, 30-year at a fixed rate coupon of 5.417%

The CSL share price could be catching some tailwinds on the news, as the company will use some of the AU$1.9 billion in new funds to refinance higher interest existing bank debt. Management said the rest of the funds will be used “for general corporate purposes”.

CSL expects settlement to occur next Wednesday, 3 April, subject to customary closing conditions.

What’s been happening with the ASX 200 biotech stock?

CSL reported its half-year results on 13 February.

Highlights included an 11% year on year increase in revenue (in constant currency terms) to US$8.05 billion.

And net profit after tax in constant currency was up 20% to US$1.94 billion.

Despite those strong results, the CSL share price closed down 2.8% on the day.

Investors may have been a bit jittery about the 32% year on year increase in net finance costs, which came in at US$234 million. The increase was driven by debt taken on in the company’s acquisition of Vifor Pharma alongside higher interest rates.

However, the ASX 200 biotech’s balance sheet looks solid, with net assets of US$19.16 billion.

The CSL share price has had a strong run recently, up 14% in six months.

The post CSL share price leaping higher amid $1.9 billion funding news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 positions in and has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price has done very well for shareholders – it’s up 4% in 2024 to date and it has gone up 18% in the last six months. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has only risen by 10% in the past six months.

A lot of ASX stocks have gone up in the last few months, but there may be an explanation for the rally.

Reasons for the rise

MST Marquee analyst Brian Johnson was speaking at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit.

Earlier in the month, the CBA share price reached above $121. The banking analyst acknowledged CBA is “the best bank”, but there’s more to it than that.

He said there has been more buying than selling since October when ASX bank shares were unloved – credit growth was slow, net interest margins (NIM) were falling and banks were agreeing to sizeable pay rises which would increase labour costs. Johnson said he had never seen a time of a worsening revenue outlook while costs were also going up.

Then, in November, it seemed that the US Federal Reserve was pivoting and was starting to think about cutting interest rates.

This change meant global funds which had a smaller position of ASX bank shares decided to rethink their weighting, and they bought (CBA) shares because of the rising Australian dollar and the easing fears about Australian house prices. This also created a squeeze for CBA shares, leading to short sellers needing to cover their positions.

On top of that, according to Johnson, there were growing fears about the Chinese economy earlier this year, which meant Asian investors decided to look at markets outside of China, such as Australia and India. They also decided to buy ASX bank shares, like CBA.

CBA itself reportedly added to the buying by buying CBA shares for the dividend re-investment plan (DRP).

While there was a big increase in buying, there weren’t many sells thanks to CBA’s “sticky” share register, with some long-term investors not wanting to trigger a capital gains tax bill.

Johnson was quoted by the AFR who said:

CommBank has always been expensive – best management, generates the most capital and no one owns it which means you perpetually get in these periods where people have to buy it and get squeezed up.

If you think about every single one of those drivers, has anything changed?

The credit growth outlook is still slow, we still see outrageous competition coming through on both sides [mortgages and deposits]. Not much has really changed except the share prices are a lot higher.

CBA share price valuation

Using the independent estimates on Commsec, the CBA share price is valued at 21 times FY25’s estimated earnings. This is a very high price/earnings (P/E) ratio for a bank, and I think it has brought forward capital growth. It could be difficult to deliver much more increases in the next year or two.

Considering CBA’s profit is expected to fall in FY24 and FY25, I’d be looking at other ASX shares for value.

The post Are CBA shares really worth $120? 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 Scott Phillips.

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Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares are on the move on Wednesday.

In morning trade, the banking giant’s shares are up 0.3% to $26.33.

Why are Westpac shares rising?

Investors have been buying Westpac shares today after the bank released an update on its technology simplification program.

That update revealed a number of initiatives that are underway that it believes will deliver growth and improve returns.

According to the release, the program’s ultimate ambition is for Westpac “to be our customers’ #1 bank and partner through life.”

There are four pillars to its strategy. These are:

• Customer care at the heart
• Easy to do business with
• Expert solutions and tools
• Advocate for positive change

Management believes it is well-placed to accelerate its strategy now that its portfolio simplification is complete. This follows the divestment of a number of non-core businesses in recent years.

One of the keys to its technology simplification will be its Unite plan. This involves simplifying existing processes, reducing technology complexity, and decommissioning duplicated systems.

For example, it highlights that by consolidating its Australian collections platforms, it will go from 7 systems to just 1 system. It plans to start with Australian consumer finance and mortgages.

In addition, it will consolidate its Australian customer masters from 3 to 1. This will mean one common solution for all Australian customers. It will also be API enabled.

What will this all cost?

Westpac advised that its technology simplification will come at a significant cost.

The total investment spend is expected to be ~$1.8 billion in FY 2024 and then ~$2 billion annually from FY 2025 to FY 2028. That’s a total spend of ~$9.8 billion.

But it believes it will be well worth the investment. The bank highlights that the Unite plan will help close the cost to income ratio gap to peers. It also expects run cost efficiency benefits and a reduction in the cost of change.

The post Westpac shares push higher on $9.8b technology simplification plan appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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