The Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) share price is charging higher on Thursday.

In morning trade, the retailer’s shares are up 7% to a 52-week high of $5.06.

This follows the release of the company’s half-year results.

Harvey Norman share price hits 52-week high on half-year results

• Total system sales down 6.8% to $4.64 billion
• Profit before tax down 29.4% to $303.8 million
• Fully franked interim dividend down 23% to 10 cents per share
• Net assets up 1.1% to $4.51 billion

What happened during the half?

For the six months ended 31 December, Harvey Norman reported a 6.8% decline in total system sales to $4.64 billion. This comprises aggregated franchisee sales revenue of $3.16 billion and company-operated sales revenue of $1.48 billion.

Harvey Norman’s profit before tax tumbled 29.4% to $303.8 million. This is its lowest profit in four years and was driven by a combination of lower sales and higher costs. A key driver of this profit decline was its Australian franchising operations, which reported segment profit before tax of $143.08 million. This is down 39.8% over the prior corresponding period.

In light of this profit decline, Harvey Norman’s board has elected to cut its fully franked interim dividend by 23% to 10 cents per share.

Management commentary

Harvey Norman’s chair, Gerry Harvey, commented:

Amid the challenging retail conditions in 1H24, we have continued to deliver sustainable growth in net assets, rising to $4.51 billion as at 31 December 2023, a substantial increase of $1.23 billion since the start of the pandemic, with a 4-year CAGR of 8.3%. Our balance sheet remains strong with total assets of $7.86 billion, anchored by a $4.14 billion property portfolio. Through efficient working capital management across key segments, we have further improved our liquidity position, with 1H24 delivering strong operating cash flows of $497.31 million at a cash conversion ratio of 135%. Our low net debt to equity ratio has continued to improve to 10.75% as at 31 December 2023.

Harvey also revealed that the company’s global expansion is continuing, which will soon include the UK market. He adds:

We are confident in the quality of the Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne brands and the solid market position of our Australian franchisees and overseas company-operated stores. […] Our strong balance sheet and prudent financial management provides us with the capacity to access additional capital to adapt to evolving business needs. We remain committed to our Malaysian expansion plan and it is still our intention to grow to 80 stores by the end of 2028. We continue to source suitable locations overseas to strengthen our global footprint, and are excited by the expansion of the brand in the United Kingdom, with the opening of the Harvey Norman Merry Hill flagship store in England later this year.

Outlook

Potentially giving the Harvey Norman share price a boost has been the release of a trading update.

It has revealed an uptick in sales during January, with Australian Franchise sales up 1.3% and all but one region deliver total and comparable sales growth. This bodes well for its second half performance.

The post Harvey Norman share price jumps to 52-week high on half-year results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Shares vs. property: 3 furniture retailers hit 52-week highs amid continually rising home values
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman. 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 BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price could benefit if the company’s plans to cut jobs have the desired effect.

Australia’s biggest company usually makes a large amount of profit. However, the recent FY24 half-year result saw a big decline in profitability after large one-off items, being a write-down of the value of its nickel assets, as well as another increase in the cost of the Samarco disaster.

BHP share price to benefit from job cuts?

According to reporting by the Australian Financial Review, the ASX mining share has started cutting jobs as part of a significant restructuring of its global operations across planning, maintenance, logistics, decarbonisation and heritage protection. Specialist teams are being disbanded to “streamline the business” according to the newspaper.

BHP hasn’t announced how many jobs will be cut, but the idea is that each specific commodity division will “run themselves self-sufficiently” amid a decentralisation of its support services.

A BHP spokesman said:

As part of our continuous improvement in how we approach our work, we have made some changes to better align work activities within assets and support quicker decision making.

It was reported that some jobs in the planning and technical division and the health, safety and environment division have already been cut.

BHP’s mining segment will be in charge of maintenance planning and scheduling, which was previously part of BHP’s global technical arm.

Each mining business will finish this process with a similar structure, but implementation will differ in each case.

At the BMO mining conference, the BHP CEO Mike Henry said:

Our near-term outlook for China remains cautious, and conditional on how quickly and effectively pro-growth policies impact the broader Chinese economy.

He also reportedly said its biggest opportunity to unlock value was increasing productivity within its existing assets.

How would job cuts help boost the company?

If BHP has a price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 10 (for example), that means the BHP share price is trading at 10x its earnings. If it can cut costs and increase its ongoing profit by $1 million, that would theoretically boost the market capitalisation of the business by $10 million. Cutting costs by $10 million could boost the market cap by $100 million.

BHP share price snapshot

Over the past year, the BHP share price has dropped by around 5%.

The post How global job cuts could boost the BHP share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the BHP share price trailing the ASX 200 on Tuesday?
• Here’s the BHP dividend forecast through to 2026
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Better buy: Fortescue or BHP shares?
• 3 ASX 100 and ASX 200 shares I’d buy now for a $1,820 passive income in 2024!

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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The Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) share price is falling on Thursday morning.

At the time of writing, the cloud accounting platform provider’s shares are down 1.5% to $124.99.

Why is the Xero share price falling?

Investors have been selling the company’s shares today after weakness in the tech sector offset the release of the company’s FY25-27 strategy update ahead of its inaugural Investor Day event.

According to the release, Xero’s strategy is comprised of four strategic priorities that underpin its ambitions. These are as follows:

• Win the 3 x 3 – core accounting, payments and payroll.
• A winning go to market playbook.
• Focused bets to win the future.
• Unleash Xero(s) to win.

Xero’s CEO, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, commented:

Our strategy is simple, focused, and purpose driven. We have solid foundations, a strong financial profile, turbocharged capabilities, and continued large global TAM to pursue, as we seek to become an even more trusted platform for small businesses and their advisors. As we continue to build Xero for the long term, we aspire to be a world class SaaS business, and believe we have the opportunity to double the size of our business and deliver Rule of 40 or greater performance over 1 time. As we grow, we will also seek to be more balanced between subscriber growth and ARPU expansion.

Digging deeper

In respect to its win the 3 x 3 priority, this includes building winning customer solutions for the three most critical jobs for small businesses – accounting, payments and payroll.

The winning go to market playbook priority involves acquiring and onboarding subscribers to the right products efficiently, deepening customer relationships, and optimising pricing and packaging to drive customer value, usage and growth.

Xero’s focus on bets to win the future includes enhancing customer experience through AI and mobile, as well as realising the potential of its ecosystem and APIs.

Finally, the unleash Xero(s) to win priority involves delivering a purpose and performance-driven employee value proposition and enhancing its product and technology capabilities and operating model.

Strategic BILL integration partnership

Xero has also taken today’s event as an opportunity to announce a new strategic partnership in the United States with BILL.

BILL is a leading financial operations platform for small and midsize businesses with more than 470,000 businesses using its financial automation solution.

Management believes the partnership will strengthen Xero’s US payments offering, adding more value for customers. The embedded solution will allow customers to securely manage, approve and pay bills through Xero using a variety of payment options, without leaving the Xero platform.

Singh Cassidy commented:

Our partnership with BILL further strengthens Xero’s US offering and illustrates our commitment to delivering a winning solution for our customers and driving deeper customer engagement.

Xero AI

Xero has also announced its new generative AI solution, Just Ask Xero (JAX).

This new solution is designed to be a smart business companion that helps customers complete key tasks.

Once available, JAX will help small businesses and their advisors automate accounting tasks, deliver personal insights and reclaim time they can spend on running their businesses.

Customers will be able to “Just Ask Xero” to complete tasks like generating an invoice either in Xero or other apps such as email or WhatsApp. It will complete the task and anticipate and propose other tasks that may follow, such as following up overdue payments or crafting emails.

Outlook

Finally, Xero has reiterated its existing FY 2024 outlook.

This includes targeting an operating expense to operating revenue ratio in FY 2024 of around 75%, which will improve operating income margin compared to FY 2023.

The Xero share price is 62% over the last 12 months.

The post Xero share price falls despite strategy update and new AI solution appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• 3 no-brainer ASX shares to buy under $30
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
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• I’d buy these great ASX growth shares in March

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. 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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Investing in ASX shares is a great thing to do to build wealth. But where are we supposed to begin? An excellent ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) to look at is BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200).

An ETF is a great investment for a beginner because it allows investors to buy a whole group of businesses in a single investment. I wouldn’t want to have to buy 200 different businesses individually and also monitor all of them.

ASX ETFs that follow an index can be done at a cheap cost. They are also providing returns that (almost) match the market – even fund managers fail to beat the market sometimes, so just getting the return of the A200 ETF is a solid return.

A200 ETF has the cheapest costs

There are a lot of different ASX ETFs that are focused on ASX shares such as iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ) and Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), which have low management costs.

The A200 ETF has the cheapest annual cost of all three of these ASX share options, with a yearly fee of 0.04% – it is the lowest-cost Australian shares ETF available on the ASX.

Lower fees can make a big difference in how much our wealth grows over time.

Solid diversification

If we’re invested in hundreds of different businesses, it lowers the risks relating to a particular business or an industry.

As the name suggests, the A200 ETF is invested in 200 businesses. Those companies are 200 of the biggest businesses on the ASX including BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) and Goodman Group (ASX: GMG).

The returns of the underlying holdings dictate the return of the ASX ETF. For example, if BHP accounts for 10% of the portfolio and BHP makes a 20% return in one year, then the A200 would benefit with a 2% return contribution. The other 199 holdings would dictate the other 90% of the portfolio’s return.

Good dividends

A number of the large ASX shares have an appealing dividend yield, meaning the A200 ETF can deliver a good dividend return. The share price performance is the other part of the return, but that’s unpredictable.

On top of the ordinary dividend, Aussies can benefit from the franking credits that are attached to dividends from Australian companies.

According to Betashares, the ASX ETF pays a distribution quarterly. Its 12-month distribution yield was 3.7% as of 31 January 2024, and 5% grossed-up with the franking credits (at a franking level of 80%).

I think that’s a good level of passive income amid the elevated interest rates.

The post What’s the best way to invest in ASX shares without any experience? Start with this ETF appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• ASX passive income: Is Westpac stock a buy, sell, or hold?
• 2 cheap ASX shares to add to your portfolio before they get expensive
• Bell Potter just upgraded this ASX uranium stock
• These ASX 200 growth shares could be strong buys in March
• 3 ASX dividend shares to buy for a passive income boost

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 CSL, Goodman Group, and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL and Goodman 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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Like the rest of the big four banks, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares are a popular option for passive income.

The banking giant’s shares feature heavily in income portfolios and superannuation funds across the country.

But for those that don’t already own Westpac stock, is it a buy now, hold, or sell now following its update this month?

Let’s see what analysts are saying about Australia’s oldest bank.

Should you buy Westpac stock for passive income on the ASX?

The broker community remains divided on whether you should be buying Westpac shares following its quarterly update.

UBS and Morgan Stanley, for example, currently have the equivalent of sell ratings on its shares with price targets of $20.00 and $21.70, respectively.

Over at Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Morgans, its analysts have hold/neutral ratings with price targets ranging from $22.25 to $23.54.

Whereas Ord Minnett and Macquarie are currently the most positive brokers out there with the equivalent of buy ratings and price targets of $28.00 and $25.00, respectively. Though, it is worth noting that Westpac’s shares have recently surpassed Macquarie’s price target.

What about income?

One thing that the brokers do agree on is that Westpac is likely to provide investors with a decent source of passive income in the near term.

Analysts are forecasting fully franked dividends in the range of $1.42 to $1.46 per share in FY 2024. Based on the current Westpac share price of $26.20, this will mean dividend yields of 5.4% to 5.6%.

And in FY 2025, the forecast dividend widens to a range of $1.39 to $1.50 per share. This equates to yields of 5.3% to 5.7%.

This means that if you were to invest $10,000 into Westpac’s ASX shares, you would expect to receive passive income in the region of $550 in both FY 2024 and FY 2025.

The post ASX passive income: Is Westpac stock a buy, sell, or hold? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Should ASX income investors buy Westpac shares for dividends?
• How these 4 ASX 200 shares just gained major broker upgrades
• Are Westpac shares a buy following the bank’s results?
• High rates, falling profits: Why are ASX bank shares losing out this reporting season?
• Why are Westpac shares leaping ahead of rival ASX 200 bank stocks on Monday?

Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Goldman Sachs Group and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie 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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Although what’s defined as “cheap shares” is often in the eye of the beholder, there are some common characteristics investors can look for.

The biggest one is if a business is in a cyclical industry and is temporarily out of favour with investors. If there’s certainty that eventually the good times will roll around, then there’s a decent argument that the shares are inexpensive.

Another is if the stock is suffering from a one-off shock. If you can decipher that in the long run the adverse impact will be negligible on the company, then the shares could be great value.

Perhaps a more unusual scenario might be that the business could be ripe for a takeover or merger. The industry could be experiencing a period of consolidation.

Having thought about these factors, here is a pair of cheap shares that I think are worth considering at the moment:

Market spooked, but the pros aren’t

Camplify Holdings Ltd (ASX: CHL) shares had a bit of a shock recently.

Its contribution to the ASX reporting season last Wednesday saw the stock plunge 17% that day.

But this could be one where investors could now buy up these shares at a terrific price because the anxiety the market is feeling may well be temporary.

All three of Canaccord, Morgans, and Ord Minnett have retained their strong buy ratings, according to broking platform CMC Invest.

The day after the half-year result, Morgans explained why it disagreed with the market’s pessimism:

“The stock closed down ~17% on result day, which we largely attribute to some seasonality in Camplify’s key headline metrics — future bookings, gross margins, etc. 

“We make several cost and margin assumption changes over the forecast period. Our price target remains unchanged and we maintain an ‘add’ recommendation on the stock.”

‘Fundamentally undervalued’ cheap shares 

Internet services provider Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC) has been on the ASX for nine years, not doing a great deal for its poor shareholders.

The stock was sold at $1 during its initial public offering (IPO) in 2015, but it has rarely exceeded that level since first dipping under it in July 2019.

The shares were slogging it out at 87 cents when the market closed last week.

Then some furious developments over the weekend changed everything.

On Monday morning, boom rival Aussie Broadband Ltd (ASX: ABB) revealed that not only had it taken a 19.9% stake in Superloop, but it wanted to buy the whole thing for 95 cents a share.

By the end of the day the Superloop board had rejected the offer, labelling it “opportunistic” and insisting the price “fundamentally undervalues” the company.

With a warmly received half-year report behind it, Superloop and its investors seem to be confident that the outlook is brighter than what Aussie Broadband is costing it at.

Microequities chief Carlos Gil told the Financial Review that the offer was an insult.

“It’s very, very far from what we consider to be fair value,” he said. 

“We’re very confused as to how they think they could possibly acquire it at this price.”

Even though the Superloop share price has climbed past the $1 mark since Monday, this could be a situation where the story is far from finished.

Aussie Broadband clearly wants larger scale to compete with the larger telcos, and even Superloop shareholders agree the marriage makes sense.

But just not at this price.

CMC Invest currently shows all five analysts covering Superloop rating the stock as a buy.

The post 2 cheap ASX shares to add to your portfolio before they get expensive appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• If I could buy only one ASX stock this February earnings season, it would be…

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has positions in Camplify. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Aussie Broadband. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Camplify. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aussie Broadband and Camplify. 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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Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) shares were on form on Wednesday and charged 4.5% higher following the release of its half-year results.

This means that the ASX uranium stock has now almost doubled in value over the last 12 months.

But if you thought the gains were over, think again.

This morning, the team at Bell Potter has upgraded the company’s shares to a buy recommendation and is tipping big returns for investors from current levels.

ASX uranium stock named as a buy

According to the note, Bell Potter has upgraded Boss Energy’s shares to a speculative buy rating with a slightly trimmed price target of $6.34.

Based on its latest share price, this implies potential upside of almost 30% for investors over the next 12 months.

The broker believes that recent share price weakness has created a buying opportunity for investors with a high risk tolerance. Particularly given the strong outlook for uranium demand and recent corporate developments which have diversified its operations.

The broker explains its reason for upgrading the ASX uranium stock this morning:

Our valuation is reduced slightly to $6.34/sh (previously $6.41/sh) on changes to our corporate expenditure and associated earnings. With the recent sell-off in BOE we have decided to move to a Speculative Buy (from Speculative Hold) in-line with our ratings structure. Uranium fundamentals continue to support our thesis being 1) advancement in Nuclear energy across the globe (60 reactors currently under construction) filtering through to a growing demand for U3O8 and 2) a lack of near-term supply as producers exited the market post Fukushima.

The recent acquisition of a 30% interest in the Alta Mesa joint venture, diversifies BOE’s operations and revenue streams, making BOE one of only two geographically diversified uranium producers in CY24.

The post Bell Potter just upgraded this ASX uranium stock appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How ASX uranium shares like Paladin are ‘in a great position to capitalise’
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• Why are ASX uranium shares getting thumped on Friday?

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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If you’re a growth investor and looking for options in March, then it could be worth checking out the two named below.

That’s because they have been tipped as buys by analysts at Goldman Sachs.

Here’s why the broker is feeling bullish about these ASX 200 growth shares:

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)

This enterprise software provider could be a top ASX 200 growth share to buy according to Goldman Sachs. Its analysts currently have a buy rating and $18.05 price target on its shares.

The broker believes TechnologyOne can hit its annual recurring revenue (ARR) target and expects this to support mid to high teen earnings per share growth through to at least FY 2026. It said:

In our view, the company is well placed to meet its A$500mn FY26 ARR target through a combination of SaaS flip uplift, net expansion and new customer growth. We see margin expansion resuming from FY24E onwards, which in combination with robust revenue growth should drive a mid-high teens EPS CAGR to FY26E, providing strong earnings visibility. TNE’s share price has historically been driven by its strong rate of compound earnings growth underpinned by its leading market position, high R&D investment and defensive public sector end markets.

Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB)

Goldman also believes that Webjet could be an ASX 200 growth share to buy. It has a buy rating and $8.10 price target on its shares.

The broker likes the online travel booking company due to its rapidly growing WebBeds business and structural growth opportunities. It explains:

Our Buy thesis on WEB is premised on 1) WEB demonstrating strong cash generation as the market recovers while current valuation continues to be impacted by macro concerns 2) We believe WEB’s Bedbanks business offers a structural growth opportunity and expect it to drive scale benefits, underpinned by system changes and ERP upgrades as WEB goes through the recovery cycle. 3) We believe the OTA business is exposed to the right channels with the ongoing shift towards digital bookings likely to aid WEB in growing its TAM as well as market share.

The post These ASX 200 growth shares could be strong buys in March appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Brokers say these explosive ASX growth shares are buys with massive upside
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Analysts tip 10% to 30% returns for these ASX growth shares in 2024
• Why Goldman Sachs rates these ASX growth shares as strong buys
• Webjet stock: 3 reasons it’s on my buy list

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 Goldman Sachs Group and Technology One. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Technology One. 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 want to strengthen your income portfolio this month with some new additions, then it could be worth looking at the ASX dividend shares listed below that brokers rate as buys.

Here’s what they are forecasting from them:

Deterra Royalties Ltd (ASX: DRR)

The first ASX dividend share that could be a buy for passive income is Deterra Royalties.

It owns a portfolio of royalty assets across a range of commodities. This includes royalties held over BHP Group Ltd’s (ASX: BHP) Mining Area C in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Morgan Stanley continues to see it as a top option for investors and is expecting some big dividend yields in the near term. It is forecasting fully franked dividends per share of 37 cents in FY 2024 and 34 cents in FY 2025. Based on the current Deterra Royalties share price of $4.97, this will mean yields of 7.4% and 6.8%, respectively.

The broker has an overweight rating and $5.65 price target on its shares.

Dexus Industria REIT (ASX: DXI)

Another option for income investors to look at is Dexus Industria. It is a real estate investment trust that owns high quality industrial warehouses across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

Morgans is bullish on Dexus Industria and believes its portfolio will support the payment of dividends per share of 16.4 cents in FY 2024 and 16.6 cents in FY 2025. Based on the current Dexus Industria share price of $2.87, this will mean dividend yields of 5.7% and 5.8%, respectively.

The broker currently has an add rating and $3.18 price target on its shares.

Healthco Healthcare and Wellness REIT (ASX: HCW)

Analysts at Bell Potter see Healthco Healthcare and Wellness REIT as an ASX dividend share to buy.

It is a health and wellness focused real estate investment trust with a focus on hospitals, aged care facilities, and primary care properties.

Bell Potter expects the company to pay dividends of 8 cents per share in FY 2024 and 8.3 cents per share in FY 2025. Based on its current share price of $1.35, this represents dividend yields of 5.9% and 6.15%, respectively.

Bell Potter has a buy rating and $1.70 price target on its shares.

The post 3 ASX dividend shares to buy for a passive income boost appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Analysts say these high-yield ASX dividend stocks are buys
• Retirees: Here’s how to boost your pension in 2024
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend stocks with big 6%+ yields
• Need an income boost? Buy these ASX dividend stocks
• I’d buy these two resilient ASX dividend shares for big income

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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On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended its winning streak with a small decline. The benchmark index fell slightly to 7,660.4 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to fall again

The Australian share market looks set to fall again on Thursday following a poor night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 15 points or 0.2% lower this morning. In late trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones is down 0.3%, the S&P 500 has fallen 0.2%, and the Nasdaq is 0.5% lower.

Oil prices ease

ASX 200 energy shares including Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) could have a subdued session after oil prices eased overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 0.5% to US$78.39 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 0.25% to US$83.44 a barrel. A rise in US inventories put pressure on prices.

Xero investor day

Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) shares will be in focus on Thursday when the cloud accounting platform provider holds its inaugural investor day event. It’s possible that the company could provide a trading update at the event, as well as medium term growth targets.

Gold price edges lower

It could be a weak session for ASX 200 gold shares Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) after the gold price edged lower overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.2% to US$2,040.2 an ounce. A stronger US dollar weighed on the precious metal.

Ramsay Health Care results

The Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX: RHC) share price will be on watch today when the private hospital operator releases its half-year results. Commenting on its expectations, Morgans said: “While post-COVID recovery has been slower than expected and inflationary pressure remains, we remain positive on the name, as activity levels continue to improve and operational efficiencies are moving in the right direction, with the long-term outlook strong, underpinned by market-leading positions and a unique, irreplaceable portfolio of assets.”

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

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 3 ASX 200 shares just scored significant broker upgrades. Here’s how
• 3 no-brainer ASX shares to buy under $30
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Woodside Energy Group and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. 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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