OFX Group Ltd (ASX: OFX) had a stellar week with its share price advancing 17.4% by Friday’s close to $2.50.

On Wednesday, the international multicurrency payments provider hosted an Investor Day and released a trading update and investor presentation.

Why has the OFX share price been surging higher?

Shares in OFX jumped in early March and were helped along by the company’s investor presentation this week.

OFX outlined that it expects net operating income (NOI) to grow between 23–25% in FY22 to $145–$147 million.

The group also said it had secured its first monthly turnover of $3 billion in 2021. This is just 3.5 years after achieving its maiden $2 billion dollar month.

OBX also projects underlying EBITDA to grow from $30 million in FY21 to a range of $43–$45 million this year.

Not only that, but the company says it will become more valuable “post Firma acquisition”.

OFX announced plans in December to acquire Firma, a Canadian corporate foreign exchange business, for C$90 million (A$98 million). This could add another circa $9 million in cash generation and 1.7 cents in earnings per share.

As a result of the acquisition and on the basis of the last twelve months (LTM) EBITDA, OFX says it will become one of the world’s most profitable cross border payment companies.

Changes in the payments space

In its investor presentation, OFX went into greater detail about recent legislative changes in the payments space. In particular, it looked at anti-money laundering (AML) and the integration of technology and software.

For example, a big industry change since 2015 has been the access to SaaS risk management platforms. Back then, the technology was often bespoke and too expensive.

Not only that, but traditional banking routes are becoming more accepting of payments companies.

“[In 2022] Banks seek quality payment firms for commercial partnerships, but requires high risk culture & capabilities to qualify,” the company said.

OFX share price snapshot

In the past 12 months, the OFX share price has risen by 133%, as shown in the chart above. It has lifted 9% this year to date.

ASX investors were hungry on Friday, with the trading volume twice that of OFX’s 4-week daily average of 605,000 shares.

The post Why did the OFX Group (ASX:OFX) share price rocket 17% this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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Last week, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had its best week in over a year. The benchmark index rose an impressive 3.3% over the five days to finish the period at 7,294.4 points.

Unfortunately, not all shares were able to climb higher with the market. Here’s why these were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week:

Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX: WGX)

The Westgold share price was the worst performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 21.9% decline. The catalyst for this was the successful completion of the gold miner’s $100 million institutional placement. Westgold raised the funds at a 13.9% discount of $2.44 per new share. These funds will be used to accelerate the company’s Murchison and Bryah growth strategy. This strategy is focused on establishing a systematic pathway towards a +400,000 ounce per annum gold production rate from FY 2024.

Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR)

The Gold Road share price was out of form and tumbled 7% last week. Last week the team at Macquarie downgraded this gold miner’s shares to an underperform rating with a $1.70 price target. The broker made the move on valuation grounds.

IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)

The IGO share price wasn’t too far behind with a 5.7% decline over the five days. Last week was another wild one for the nickel price, with the battery material crashing to the point that trade was suspended on the LME again. In addition, the company revealed that the proposed acquisition of nickel producer Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) had hit a stumbling block. It said: “Western Areas and the Independent Expert are continuing to consider the implications, if any, on nickel market fundamentals and expectations for medium to long-term nickel prices.”

Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND)

The Monadelphous share price was out of form and dropped 4% last week. This was despite there being no news out of the engineering company. However, with its shares up almost 20% in the space of just over a month, some investors may have been taking a bit of profit off the table last week.

The post These were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the bull market over?
• These ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Friday
• Here’s why the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price is having a stellar end to the week
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Energy shares rise on oil price jump, Megaport sinks
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 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 Bruce Jackson.

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In recent months, the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price has been heavily sold off.

The co-founder of Zip, Larry Diamond, has revealed some choices that the buy now, pay later (BNPL) business has made to improve the situation. He’s also commented on the market’s punishment of his business.

The Zip share price has fallen by 81% in the past year. That’s despite the 18% recovery from the new 52-week low of $1.40 reached earlier this week.

The Zip share price finished Friday’s session at $1.60, up 1.59% for the day.

Focus on profitability

Talking to the Australian Financial Review, Diamond said that Zip has started reducing the credit limits for customers already using Zip. The company has also raised “the bar” for first-time customers. These changes were made late last year.

In the company’s HY2022 results, Zip said that its cash transaction margin declined to 2.1%, down from 3.7% in HY2021. This was because of rising bad debt costs due to credit headwinds. Also playing a role was the increased weighting towards the rest of the world.

It’s addressing its risk decision-making policies and collections and recoveries processes to “immediately” address credit performance.

Zip is expecting its cash cost of sales as a percentage of total transaction value (TTV) to be 3.5%–4%. It is optimising risk rules to manage credit losses to management’s target of below 2%. It aims to maintain growth and deliver lower-cost processing through scale efficiencies and alternative repayment options, as well as driving lower-cost funding.

Diamond said to the AFR:

We have tempered growth expectations, so we can improve our bad debt figures.

We did that at the onset of COVID in 2020, adjusting the portfolio to respond to changing conditions in real-time to restrict first-time customer volume. As a result of what we are seeing in the US and Australia, we have adjusted approval levels and limits for existing customers — we have taken the decisive action.

Reaction to the hammering of the Zip share price

Zip shares are down 63% in 2022 alone. This has been tough for morale at Zip Co, with lots of staff paid in shares and equity also being used to pay for global growth.

Diamond said:

It looks violent and vicious but as leaders of the business we do have to look around us, to what is happening with the stock and change course accordingly.

We are long-term owners and long-term operators of the business, but certainly, we feel the pain with our shareholders, particularly retail shareholders, and staff who are also shareholders. We are all aligned. We have had to pause, to reflect and change course accordingly.

What do brokers think of the Zip share price now?

Opinions are very mixed on the Zip share price.

UBS recently downgraded Zip shares to a sell with a price target of just $1. That implies a decline of a further 37.5%. Lower profitability and higher interest rates raise more uncertainty. The broker says it expects it to take longer for Zip to stop making losses.

But then there’s Ord Minnett with its price target of $4. That implies a potential rise of about 150% over the next year. The broker likes Zip’s proposed deal to buy Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL).

The post ‘Violent and vicious’: Larry Diamond weighs in on tumbling Zip share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Friday
• Up 17% in 3 days! Why is the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price surging?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Energy shares rise on oil price jump, Megaport sinks
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Thursday
• Why Ampol, EML, Vulcan, and Zip shares are zooming higher

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. owns and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Investors punished ASX tech shares early in 2022 as a wave of macroeconomic crosscurrents fed into equity markets.

Prospects of a hike in US base rates, shifting yields on long-dated bonds, hot-running inflation and simmering tension in Europe were all catalysts for tech-baskets to glide into the red.

Tech hardest hit amid global-macro pressures

Admittedly, there’s been pain felt across the board, but tech shares were hit hardest in 2022. What’s noteworthy is that many large indexes were heavily weighted towards the sector.

The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) – the best representation of the ASX tech sector’s performance – is down more than 17% this year to date and is trading well below sectors like financials and mining.

It is now underperforming the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by a considerable amount as well.

That gap has been widening after a crossover point right after restarting trade on January 4 2022.

What’s markedly different this year is the rise of the once fallen commodities sector, where numerous markets are now thrusting past multi-year highs at pace.

But whilst there’s been a more risk-off attitude this year and market pundits have shifted towards more defensive positioning, now might be the time to consider the downbeat tech sector.

Rise and shine once more?

According to JP Morgan strategist Marko Kolanovic, the landscape is beginning to clear up and visibility has improved on the outlook for markets into the future.

“While the commodity supercycle will persist, the correction in bubble sectors is now likely finished, and geopolitical risk will likely start abating in a few weeks time (whilst a comprehensive resolution may take a few months),” he said in a recent note.

“There are great opportunities in high-beta, beaten-down segments that now include innovation, tech, biotech, emerging markets, as well as more broadly in small cap and more volatile stocks,” he added.

And it seems the market might be on Kolanovic’s side in this regard, with the tech sector punching more than 7% higher in the past week and climbing 4% today as well.

If the uptrend continues this would see a bounce off the 52-week lows touched in early March, and be a sure vote of confidence for the sector.

‘Bubble sectors’ might have bottomed

And as momentum builds, the JP Morgan strategist becomes more and more wide-eyed by the day, noting the selloff could be tumbling to an end.

It was the uncertainty around factors like inflation, interest rates and debate on the Russia-Ukrainian situation that predominantly hit the more volatile tech sector. This might have resolved, the expert reckons.

And to be clear – the strategist isn’t shifting his view on the outlook of commodities either. He’s just as bullish on the sector given current demand-supply mechanics.

“It is our assessment that these forecasts have now nearly fully materialised,” he said.

These segments might have already bottomed having flung 60–80% down, he says. This is a point JP Morgan thinks “is the end of the correction in some areas,” the strategist added.

“In fact, many of these market segments trade at all-time valuation lows (including previous recessions and periods of much higher interest rates)”.

But whilst there may be plenty of bargains around, a systematic approach is still best Kolanovic says, because “not all assets are cheap.”

In any sense, the tech sector still has to regain more than its 17% loss in order to breakeven at its former highs, but that doesn’t appear out of reach if prices keep surging.

The post Top strategist says end of correction for tech shares is nigh appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the bull market over?
• 40% recovery: 4DMedical share price (ASX:4DX) turns sharply and delivers the goods
• Up 68% in March so far, why this top broker sees more upside for the Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price
• Red gold! Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price surges 8% in 2 days
• These ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Friday

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

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The US Federal Reserve raised its cash rate this week, which has major implications for all share markets.

Interest rate changes in the US cannot be ignored by smaller economies like Australia. This is because if there’s too big a difference then the value of the smaller nation’s currency will plummet or skyrocket.

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said the Fed was forced to act this week because of rampant inflation in the US.

“Reflecting similar but less intense inflation pressures, the RBA is expected to start raising rates in June.”

So considering we’re likely to see rate rises soon in Australia, what is the outlook for ASX shares?

There will be a dip, but it’ll be temporary

According to Oliver, higher rates do impact negatively on share market returns, but that won’t be a prolonged trend yet.

“It’s not necessarily consistent with an end to the bull market (or at least the start of a deep bear market) as monetary policy is far from tight and unlikely to be enough to drive a US recession,” he said.

“This is more of a risk for 2024 than for 2023 or 2022.”

Oliver analysed similar situations over the past 30 years and found that the first few rate hikes do cause a dip and volatility, but it’s a temporary effect.

“The bull market usually resumes until rates become onerously tight, which weighs on economic activity and profits,” he said.

“This is because the first rate hike only takes monetary policy to ‘less easy’, and it’s only when monetary policy becomes tight that the economy gets hit.”

Recessions and bear markets come years later

He took the examples of rate hikes in February 1994, June 2004, and December 2015. Share markets experienced 9%, 8%, and 13% corrections, but soon recovered to resume their bull run.

“A bear market did not set in till 2000, 2007, and 2020 after multiple hikes. Of course, the 2020 bear market was ostensibly due to the pandemic,” Oliver said.

“Recession did not come for seven years after the February 1994 first hike, for three and a half years after the June 2004 first hike, and for four years after the December 2015 first hike.”

Oliver also expected the magnitude and frequency of Australian interest rate rises to be less than the US.

“Australian interest rates are likely to rise less than US interest rates reflecting lower inflation in Australia and the start of a downturn in Australian property prices which will dampen the pressure to raise rates much,” he said.

“We expect the first hike to come in June taking the cash rate to 0.25%, with three hikes in total this year taking it to 0.75% by year-end.”

There are risks though

While Oliver thought the bull market would resume according to the current situation, he acknowledged there are risks.

“The war in Ukraine is a major source of uncertainty both in terms of adding to and extending the supply-side constraints that are boosting inflation and posing a threat of weaker global growth,” he said.

“Inflation pressures are far more significant than at any time since the early 1980s and this may necessitate an even faster tightening in monetary policy than in the past.”

The post Is the bull market over? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Friday
• Here’s why the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price is having a stellar end to the week
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Energy shares rise on oil price jump, Megaport sinks
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Thursday

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

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The 4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX) share price climbed higher on Friday afternoon to close up 1.18% at 85.5 cents.

Investors appear to be rallying behind Thursday’s announcement, which revealed the company is launching the world’s first dedicated lung scanner.

The 4DMedical share price soared almost 20% yesterday. It’s likely that momentum spilled over into today’s session as trading volume surged well past its four-week average at 764,665 shares.

With big gains also on Tuesday and Wednesday, it means 4DMedical shares have surged 41% since last Friday’s close. This week’s gain is a welcome reprieve for 4D shareholders, who’ve seen their holdings evaporate over the past 12 months.

What’s been happening at 4DMedical?

The company advised that it has installed the ‘XV Scanner’ at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney after it was unveiled to the Federal health minister on Thursday.

4D says the scanner will provide unparalleled access to visually map the lung and provides “highly visual insight into lung function”.

A successful launch will hopefully see the market adopt its XV Technology, something the company says is integral to successful commercialisation.

But the benefits extend primarily to the doctor-patient realm, and the scanner itself is considered somewhat a “breakthrough in innovation”, according to Lung Foundation Australia CEO, Mark Brooke.

It’s reported that seven million Australian currently are living with or are impacted by lung disease in some way, therefore any breakthrough would be a welcome sigh of relief to many.

Evans and Partners have 4DMedical rated as a speculative buy and value the company at $1.50 per share, suggesting an upside potential of 75% at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, Bell Potter has the company rated as a speculative hold but sets a price target of $2.07 per share — a mammoth 142% upside potential.

According to Bloomberg data, the consensus valuation is $1.78 per share, still a considerable amount of upside potential if the bull case plays out to that level.

4DMedical share price snapshot

In the last 12 months, the 4DMedical share price has sunk and is now 44% in the red. It is also down 36% this year to date.

Despite the 40% gain this week, shares have still fallen into the red by 5% over the past month.

The post 40% recovery: 4DMedical share price (ASX:4DX) turns sharply and delivers the goods appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the 4DMedical (ASX:4DX) share price rocketing 30% today?

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

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The Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) share price surged by more than 9% today, taking its gains for this week to 20%.

The Lake Resources share price closed at $1.55, up 9.54% on the day. That means it has now soared 68.2% since it opened at 92 cents on March 1.

These levels also mark the company’s 52-week high, surpassing previous highs of $1.29 on 11 March and $1.09 on 4 November 2021.

What are brokers saying?

Analysts at Bell Potter are constructive on the Lake Resources share price and gave it the vote of approval in a recent note. The firm made note of the ESG benefits to be realised at Lake’s key asset, the Kachi Lithium Brine project in Argentina.

It said the project’s direction lithium extraction technology has “enormous ESG benefits compared with incumbent brine and hard rock lithium production methods”.

After its examination, the broker valued Lake Resources at $1.82 per share with a speculative buy.

Fellow broker Lodge Partners also rates the company a buy with a $1.77 per share valuation. At the time of its report in mid-February, Lodge’s price target had an implied return of 86% when Lodge was trading at just 95 cents apiece.

Both firms agree that lithium pricing is the biggest driver to the Lake Resources share price going forward. Lodge reckons agreements reaching US$20,000/t aren’t unrealistic at this stage.

“We have increased our valuation on LKE… In our previous valuation we used a lithium price of US$15,000/t, however we feel it would be suitable to increase our lithium price input considering recent activity in the spot price,” it said.

“In our view, there is a very real possibility LKE will sign off-take contracts at more than US$20,000/t, hence our upgraded lithium price is still conservative.”

In fact, Lodge mentioned its valuation is most sensitive to lithium spot price movements. Just how much it moves is incredibly important on the upside potential on offer, it reckons.

“The valuation is most sensitive to lithium spot price movements. Each US$1,000/t movement gives a +-20% variation to our valuation,” Lodge said, noting “a price range of US$16,000/t to US$20,000/t sees the valuation range from $1.25to $2.28”.

Bell Potter and Lodge are joined by five other firms who reckon Lake Resources is a buy right now – 100% of all analysts covering the stock, according to Bloomberg data.

The consensus price target is $1.79 from this list, offering an upside potential of around 15% on the current share price.

Lake Resources share price snapshot

In the last 12 months, the Lake Resources share price has climbed more than 352% and is up a mammoth 50% this year to date.

Just over the past month, shares have jumped another 68%. They have also gained 26% over the past week.

The post Up 68% in March so far, why this top broker sees more upside for the Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why CSL, Incitec Pivot, Lake Resources, and St Barbara are pushing higher
• Here’s why the Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price is flowing 6% upstream today

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

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It’s no secret that ASX shares have had a pretty pleasing end to this week’s trading. Since Wednesday morning, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up a robust 2.5%, including today’s gain of 0.4% thus far. But that’s nothing compared to the Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price.

Over the same period, Fortescue shares have gone from $17.15 a share to the $18.51 the ASX 200 iron ore miner is commanding today at the time of writing. That’s a very robust gain of 7.9%. What’s more, Fortescue reached intra-day highs of $18.69 during today’s session. That represents a gain of 8.8%. Not bad for just a few days.

So what’s been behind this strong rally?

Well, as you might guess, the most probable explanation is the price of iron ore itself. Unlike other major miners like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), Fortescue is almost a pure iron ore play. That means its fortunes largely rise and fall on the back of the iron ore price itself.

And iron ore has indeed seen some solid gains over the past few days. According to Business Insider, the iron ore price was fetching just under US$145 a tonne midweek. But as it stands today, iron ore prices have risen strongly since then, and are currently asking US$149.65 a tonne.

As such, this is the most likely reason why we have seen a surge in the Fortescue share price. Perhaps investors were a little bit relieved too. Iron ore spent most of last week falling in price. On 8 March, it was over US$160 a tonne, so that’s a big fall to the midweek price of under US$145.

Fortescue share price snapshot

After the blistering share price gains we saw Fortescue enjoy last year (not to mention the monster dividends), 2022 has been far more muted for Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and other Fortescue shareholders.

Even after this week’s late gains, the company is still down almost 7% year to date. It’s also down close to 9% over the past 12 months. But even so, Fortescue has given shareholders an eye-watering return of 195% over the past 5 years.

At the current Fortescue share price, this ASX 200 miner has a market capitalisation of $55.94 billion, with a stupendous trailing dividend yield of 16.07%.

The post Red gold! Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price surges 8% in 2 days appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Fundie tells why two-thirds of all dividends come from just 7 ASX shares. Guess which ones?
• Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price jumps as iron ore price soars
• Why are ASX 200 mining shares having such a dire day?
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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is giving investors a pleasing end to the trading week as it currently stands this Friday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up a decent 0.44% at just over 7,280 points. 

But let’s dive deeper into the market’s performance and take a look at the shares currently topping the ASX 200’s trading volume charts, according to investing.com.

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Friday

Telstra Corproation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Telstra is our first ASX 200 share up today. This telecommunications blue-chip has watched 12.58 million of its shares fly around the markets thus far this Friday. Again, we have no major news or announcements out of the company itself that could explain this move. 

However, Telstra shares have been bucking the market, and not in a good way. The telco is currently down by 0.4% at $3.94 a share. Together with the company’s ongoing on-market share buybacks, this appears to be why Telstra is experiencing some elevated trading volumes. 

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Lithium producer Pilbara Minerals is our next company to take a peek at this Friday. So far today, a hefty 12.73 million of this ASX 200 company’s shares have been bought and sold. There’s been no official news to speak of out of Pilbara today. 

However, the company has been enjoying some robust share price action to close out the week. As it presently stands, the Pilbara share price is up a very healthy 4.82% at $2.83 a share. It’s this leap upwards that seems to be mostly responsible for the high trading volumes we are seeing.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

ASX 200 buy now, pay later (BNPL) share Zip is our third, final and most traded share so far today. As it currently stands, a notable 19.62 million Zip shares have swapped hands at the time of writing. This looks like it has been caused by the rather wild movements of the Zip share price this Friday. 

The BNPL leader opened strong this morning and quickly rose by more than 8% to $1.72 soon after open. But sentiment seems to have cooled significantly throughout the day, and at the present time, Zip shares have fallen back to $1.62 a share, still up a decent 2.54%. It’s probably these erratic movements that have resulted in Zip topping the ASX 200’s volume charts. 

The post These ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price is having a stellar end to the week
• Up 17% in 3 days! Why is the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price surging?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Energy shares rise on oil price jump, Megaport sinks
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Carsales.com Ltd (ASX: CAR) share price is heading south during late Friday afternoon.

At the time of writing, the auto listings company’s shares are down 2.82% to $21.37.

Why are Carsales shares falling today? 

Following the company’s half year results released on 14 February, investors are eyeing Carsales shares as they go ex-dividend today.

Typically, one business day before the record date, the ex-dividend date, is when investors must have purchased shares. If the investor did not buy Carsales shares before this date, the dividend will go to the seller.

What does this mean for Carsales shareholders?

For those eligible for Carsales’ interim dividend, shareholders will receive a payment of 25.5 cents per share on 19 April. The dividend is fully-franked, which means investors can expect to receive tax credits from this.

The latest dividend reflects an increase of 2% when compared against the prior corresponding period (25 cents per share).

It is also the biggest dividend that has been paid in the company’s history.

Investors who elect for the dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) will see a number of shares added to their portfolio. This will be based on a volume-weighted average price from 22 March to 28 March.

There is no DRP discount rate and the last election date for shareholders to opt-in is on 22 March.

Are Carsales shares a buy now?

Following the company’s financial scorecard, a couple of brokers weighed in on the Carsales share price.

The team at Jefferies raised its 12-month price target by 1.8% to $30.26 for the auto listings company’s shares. Its analysts believe that there is still more upside in Carsales shares in line with its sound performance recently.

Based on the current share price, this implies an upside of about 42% for investors.

Furthermore, Goldman Sachs also lifted its rating on Carsales shares by 3% to $23.80 a pop. This also implies an upside of around 11% from where the company trades today.

Carsales share price summary

Since the beginning of 2022, Carsales shares have lost 15% on the back of weakened investor sentiment. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also down around 2% over the same timeframe.

Carsales shares reached an all-time high of $26.67 in December, before backtracking amid inflationary movements and the cost of living.

Based on today’s price, Carsales commands a market capitalisation of roughly $6.04 billion and has a trailing dividend yield of 2.22%.

The post Why the Carsales (ASX:CAR) share price is falling today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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