The Australian Foundation Investment Co Ltd (ASX: AFI) share price (AFIC for short) is having a decent day this Monday. AFIC shares are currently sitting at $8.27 each, up 0.24% for the day so far. That looks pretty good against the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which is down 0.1% so far today at 7,449 points.

AFIC is a Listed Investment Company (LIC). That means it is very similar to other ASX shares that we’d all be familiar with. LICs have ASX-listed share prices, market capitalisations and dividend yields, just like most other ASX shares.

However, something an LIC has which an ordinary company does not is a net tangible asset (NTA) backing. Even though LICs are technology companies in their own right, most function in a similar fashion to a managed fund. That is, they invest clients’ money on their behalf into a portfolio of financial assets like shares. In AFIC’s case, this LIC has made a name for itself over decades as a stable, dividend-paying LIC that primarily invests in blue chip ASX 200 shares.

As of 31 October, its top 5 holdings were Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES).

AFIC share price commands NTA premium

Like most LICs, AFIC publishes its own NTA every month. This metric tells us how much AFIC’s investment portfolio is worth on a per-share basis. So, as of 31 October, AFIC’s NTA per share stood at $7.51. That means that each AFIC share represents $7.51 in underlying shares, cash and other assets.

Now you might notice something strange about that metric. It happens to be rather different from AFIC’s actual share price. In fact, with AFIC shares trading at $8.24 currently, this represents a premium of roughly 10% over the NTA baking of each share.

This is quite common with LICs though. Of the dozens of LICs on the ASX, few actually consistently trade at their NTA value. Sometimes, the market assigns a premium to an LIC if it has a strong track record of solid management or market outperformance. This is what we see with AFIC right now.

Other LICs that perhaps haven’t proved themselves, or have a poor history of returning value to shareholders, might trade at a discount, reflecting the market’s lack of confidence.

Fortunately for AFIC investors, the market seems happy to grant a hefty premium to AFIC shares over their NTA, perhaps reflecting its decades-long track record of ASX investing.

At the current AFIC share price, this LIC has a market capitalisation of $10.1 billion and a dividend yield of 2.91%.

The post AFIC (ASX:AFI) shares have a net tangible asset backing of $7.51 each. What does this mean? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price dropped 2% today?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Sydney Airport agrees to takeover, Wesfarmers’ strikes API deal
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week

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. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited and Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3Fa0jjZ

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a small decline. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is down 0.1% to 7,451.7 points.

Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping:

Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)

The ANZ share price is down 2% to $28.27. The catalyst for the weakness in the ANZ share price today has been its shares trading ex-dividend for its fully franked final dividend. Last month the banking giant declared a final dividend of 72 cents per share. This will now be paid to eligible shareholders on 16 December.

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: CUV)

The Clinuvel share price is down a further 8.5% to $32.50. Investors have been selling this biopharmaceutical company’s shares since late last week when Jefferies downgraded them to a hold rating. The broker has a few concerns over the launch of a new product competing with Clinuvel’s Scenesse therapy in the treatment of EPP.

Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

The PolyNovo share price has sunk 11% to $1.56. This medical device company’s shares have been sold off since announcing the surprise resignation of its Managing Director, Paul Brennan, on Friday afternoon. Mr Brennan’s interactions with senior staff and his management style led to increasing differences between him and the Board.

Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL)

The Vulcan share price is down 10% to $11.20. This lithium developer’s shares have come under pressure recently amid concerns over a short seller attack. It appears as though the company’s actions since then have caused a few concerns. This could be adding further pressure to the Vulcan share price on Monday, much to the delight of short sellers.

The post Why ANZ, Clinuvel, PolyNovo, and Vulcan shares are dropping appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price sinks 9% as short battle continues
• Why has the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price dropped 2% today?
• Why the PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) share price is sinking 8% today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Sydney Airport agrees to takeover, Wesfarmers’ strikes API deal
• These 6 ASX shares are going ex-dividend this week

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. owns shares of and has recommended POLYNOVO 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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3wtlF8z

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (ASX: DMP) is enjoying its second consecutive day of share price growth following on last Thursday’s crash.

At time of writing ,the Domino’s share price is up 1% to $118.12 per share.

Factoring in Friday’s 0.7% gain, that still leaves Domino’s shareholders down 16.8% since last Wednesday’s closing bell.

What spooked investors on Thursday?

Domino’s share price dropped a gut wrenching – for some – 18.4% on Thursday. The pizza chain finished the day trading at $116.12 per share.

The cause?

A less than stellar trading update on the company’s annual general meeting (AGM), released Wednesday night after market close.

As my Foolish colleague James Mickleboro wrote on the day, that update:

[R]evealed a severe deterioration in the performance of the Domino’s Japan business once COVID restrictions lifted. As a result, management warned that it can no longer forecast whether FY 2022 Japan sales and earnings would surpass those recorded in FY 2021.

The big fall wiped some $2.7 billion from the company’s market cap.

That had some shareholders running for the exits and some, who held tight, tossing in their sleep.

But not Domino’s biggest shareholder.

Domino’s biggest shareholder holding tight

Jack Cowin is not only Domino’s Pizza’s chairman, he’s also its biggest shareholder.

As the Australian reported, that meant that last Thursday Cowin watched his 23 million shares in the pizza chain lose roughly $600 million.

But Cowin’s not heading for the exits. Or, apparently, losing any sleep over the single day event.

According to Cowin (quoted by the Australian), “I did look at the share price on Thursday, it goes up and down, but it is paper, and the only time it is significant is when you sell. And I am not a seller so that didn’t come into the equation.”

Domino’s share price snapshot

Despite last week’s 1-day crash, the Domino’s Pizza share price remains up 35% over the past 12 months. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gained 18% during that same time.

Over the past month Domino’s is down 17%.

The post Domino’s (ASX:DMP) biggest shareholder dropped $600 million last Thursday. Here’s why he’s not worried appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Targets slashed: Why these top brokers aren’t so rosy on the Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Top broker says Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price is cheap after selloff
• Why Domino’s, Inghams, Kogan, and Paradigm shares are sinking

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 Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3H03mwH

With so many shares to choose from on the ASX, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

Three top ASX shares leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

News Corporation (ASX: NWS)

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have retained their buy rating and increased their price target on this media giant’s shares to $45.20. This follows the release of News Corp’s first quarter update, which the broker described as “high quality”. Goldman also notes that management’s outlook for the remainder of FY 2022 was positive. This gives the broker confidence that the company will achieve its full year EBITDA estimate of US$1.6 billion, which represents 21% year on year growth. The News Corp share price is trading at $33.01 today.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

A note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have retained their outperform rating and lifted their price target on this property listings company’s shares to $192. The broker made the move following the release of a strong first quarter update from REA Group. Its analysts were pleased with the company’s performance and particularly the strong ad yield growth. The REA Group share price is fetching $170.03 on Monday.

Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL)

Analysts at Morgan Stanley have retained their overweight rating and lifted their price target on this healthcare company’s shares to $46.10. According to the note, the broker has upgraded its earnings estimates to reflect robust COVID-19 testing volumes. Morgan Stanley notes that global testing data reveals that demand remains strong and it expects Sonic to be benefiting greatly. The Sonic share price is trading at $39.76 on Monday afternoon.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top broker gives its verdict on the REA (ASX:REA) share price
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• News Corp (ASX:NWS) share price rallies 8% on market-moving quarterly
• Why Jumbo, Link, News Corp, and REA shares are storming higher

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 recommended REA Group Limited and Sonic Healthcare Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2ZYkCkU

Shares in lithium-ion battery manufacturer Magnis Energy Technologies Ltd (ASX: MNS) are off to a flying start to the week and are now trading 13% higher at 69 cents.

Magnis shares are on the up today despite there being no market-sensitive information for the company.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what’s fuelling Magnis Energy shares this past week.

What’s up with Magnis Energy shares lately?

The Magnis Energy share price has been gaining ground since the company released a project update late last month.

Magnis advised that its 60% owned venture Imperium3 New York had received approval for an Aquifer Permit.

This is the crucial last step in the approval process for Imperium3, a lithium-ion battery plant located in New York. Earlier this year, the company raised almost $20 million to part-fund the project.

As a result of the approval, the plant is now fully funded to begin commercial production in the lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing market with a scale of up to 1.8 GWh.

This appears to be important news for Magnis as it aims to “become a leading global producer of next generation green credentialed lithium-ion battery cells”, according to the company.

The release of Magnis’ quarterly activities report for the period ending 30 September 2021 also sent shares higher when the company presented it last week.

In its report, the company advised that Imperium3 “as of end of September is 33% complete, and has completed several milestones” on its road to production.

It also announced further binding offtakes with its subsidiaries – including Imperium3 – which “include an agreement with Anglian Omega subsidiary Omega Seiki, producer of electric three-wheelers in India” alongside a US government supplier.

Magnis also expects to see fully-automated production at the Imperium3 site by 1H 2022 after phasing out its “semi-automated process” by the end of this calendar year.

Investors have piled into Magnis shares on the back of these price-sensitive updates over the past few weeks.

What else is weighing in?

Aside from this, the spot price of lithium has also rallied once more since we rolled from October into November.

In the last two weeks, the price of lithium has climbed a further 5%, or around A$2,000/tonne, to reach another all-time high of A$41,078/tonne.

The lift in lithium prices bodes well for the Magnis Energy share price. This is because Magnis is classified as an ASX resource share by GICS Sub-Industry Classification. This means it has exposure to lithium via its battery technology subsidiaries.

It is the dynamic between demand and supply that is driving up the price of lithium in 2021.

This cause-effect has sent the price of lithium soaring in 2021, according to analysis from Goldman Sachs, the International Energy Agency, FactSet, Statista, Roskill, CRU Group, and Bloomberg Intelligence.

It is widely agreed this surging demand is because batteries will use a good chunk of the lithium produced around the globe.

An increase in the demand of lithium-type batteries (thus driving up the price of lithium) is therefore a net positive for Magnis and its margins, according to these experts.

Reuters confirms this dynamic in a report on Magnis Energy from 3 August 2021. It states: “The lithium-ion battery sector is benefitting from rising prices of the raw material [lithium] amid robust demand”.

An analyst at global commodities expert CRU Group, James Jeary, was also quoted as saying rising lithium prices are likely to draw in new investment to the lithium-ion battery supply chain.

Not only that, Magnis’ “Nachu Graphite Project has been reported as the largest mineral resource of large flake graphite in the world”, according to the company.

In fact, although it reported a net loss of more than $16 million in FY21, graphite exploration and development contributed 97% to what income it generated.

The price of graphite has also increased year on year across all grades, which also bodes well for the company.

So, with Magnis Energy having exposure to these commodities, its share price can and does fluctuate with volatility in the broader commodity and lithium markets.

With this in mind, and in the absence of any other price-sensitive information, it stands to reason that Magnis Energy’s share price is faring well on the back of this momentum in the battery metal and, in particular, the company’s recent trading updates.

Magnis Energy share price snapshot

The Magnis Energy share price has posted outsized returns over the past 12 months of 263%, after rallying 245% this year to date.

These returns are a galaxy ahead of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s gain of around 23% in that time.

The post Liftoff: Why is the Magnis Energy (ASX:MNS) share price up 50% in a week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Magnis Energy (ASX:MNS) share price leaps 6% on lithium battery update

The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3H20Ztm

The Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) share price has kicked off the week on a sour note.

At the time of writing, shares in the zero carbon lithium developer are trading 8.45% lower to $11.38. This only adds to the selling pressure witnessed since the release of J Capital’s unflattering report towards the end of October.

Unfortunately for shareholders, the waning sentiment for Vulcan shares has continued as the J Capital saga rages on.

Let’s take a look at the latest developments.

PR peddling overtime

For a bit of back story — short-seller group, J Capital published its insights into Vulcan Energy back in October. It goes without saying that its conclusions were less than optimistic for Vulcan’s outlook. Among other things, J Capital alleged the company’s pre-feasibility study was misleading.

Unsurprisingly, the claims from the activist short group ruffled the feathers of the green energy hopeful. So then Vulcan dished out some dirt on J Capital in a response posted to the ASX. The squabble appears to have not done much in favour of the Vulcan Energy share price — falling 9.2% lower since the beginning of November.

Meanwhile, the latest revelations come via a story published by The Australian Financial Review this morning. According to the article, Vulcan has been pouring some dollars into a torrent of public relations (PR) materials.

Firstly, it’s important to note that it is not uncommon for companies to spend on boosting PR. However, the timing and circumstances surrounding some published material have drawn more attention, possibly not in the way Vulcan Energy had hoped for.

The conflicted nature of this particular scenario was described in the AFR as follows:

Vulcan uses the services of S3 Consortium — which owns more than 600,000 Vulcan shares — to publish positively slanted marketing that has the appearance of financial advice.

Additionally, the journalists at the respected publication noted they had received requests from a senior Vulcan employee to produce negatively skewed content regard J Capital after the short report had landed.

Grey cloud over Vulcan Energy share price

Only a couple of months prior the market was reeling with optimism towards the Vulcan Energy share price. Even today, the company’s shares are up 662% over the last 12 months — which would place it among some of the best performers on the ASX during that time.

However, much like those that have borne the brunt of J Capital’s short end of the stick before — including Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) — Vulcan will likely need to win back the sentiment of shareholders by executing on its mission.

The post Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price sinks 9% as short battle continues appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Ingenia, IAG, Vulcan, and Westpac shares are dropping
• Why Audio Pixels, Marley Spoon, PointsBet, and Vulcan shares are sinking
• Vulcan (ASX:VUL) share price sinks 20% after responding to short seller
• What’s going on with the Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price today?
• Why is this ASX lithium explorer being targeted by activist investors?

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. owns shares of and has recommended Nearmap Ltd. and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Nearmap Ltd. and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3EY6vvh

Monday’s session is proving to be a bad day for S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) technology shares.

The S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech Index (ASX: XIJ) is one of the worst-performing indexes today, having fallen 1.51% at the time of writing. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is also flopping. It’s dipped 1.59% right now.

For context, the ASX 200 is in the shallow end of the red, sporting a 0.19% drop.

So, what has caused the ASX tech sector’s slump and which shares are suffering as a result? Let’s take a look.

What’s weighing on the sector?

ASX 200 tech shares are struggling to stay afloat today despite no obvious weight having been placed on them.

While the sector often trends alongside the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite, the New York-based market hasn’t opened yet.

Additionally, the composite recorded a record high close for the second day in a row at the end of Friday’s session. It gained 0.16% on Friday to finish at 15,971.59 points.  

Additionally, there’s been no news from the sector’s biggest weights.

These ASX 200 tech shares are sinking today

The biggest loser of the ASX 200 information technology sector today is the Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) share price.

It’s fallen 4.61% at the time of writing and is trading at $2.90. The dip comes despite the company’s silence.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) is the index’s second-worst performer. Its share price is recording a drop of 3.55% and trading at $148.98.

Meanwhile, ASX favourite Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) is also in the red, falling 0.8% to $116.54.

In fact, only one ASX 200 tech stock is seeing its share price gain. That is Iress Ltd (ASX: IRE) – up 0.58%.

Though, unfortunately, there is no clear explanation for those movements either.

The post Why are ASX 200 tech shares having such a lousy day? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Afterpay, Clinuvel, Inghams, and Virgin Money UK shares are tumbling
• Which tech shares are dragging down the ASX 200 on Friday?
• Expert highlights big threat to the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price
• Own ASX BNPL shares? These were the best performers during October
• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price set to tumble after Square’s shares sink

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Nuix Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3ERVDyS

The Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price is trading lower on Monday afternoon.

At the time of writing, the hearing solutions company’s shares are down 1.5% to $231.41.

Despite this, the Cochlear share price is still up a sizeable 22% since the start of the year.

Where next for the Cochlear share price?

Unfortunately for shareholders, one leading broker believes the Cochlear share price could be heading below $200 in the near future.

According to a recent note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have retained their sell rating and $197.00 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current Cochlear share price, this implies potential downside of almost 15% over the next 12 months.

What did the broker say?

Goldman notes that increasing vaccination rates are a positive for trading conditions. However, given how highly elective cochlear implantable surgeries are, the broker has concerns that some potential customers may be hesitant to have procedures done until the COVID-19 pandemic is fully over.

As a result, it feels the operating environment could remain challenging for a while to come.

The broker explained: “Although improving vaccination rates against a challenging comparator should set up COH for a relatively stronger period, implant surgeries are highly elective. Although COH is a high-quality operator, leveraged to a recovery in procedure volumes, it is possible there is some persistent hesitancy amongst a proportion of its target market in DMs (aged 70+), whilst today’s update confirms that conditions across several EMs could remain challenging for a period yet (typically 15-20% of revenues).”

In light of this, its analysts believe the Cochlear share price is expensive at the current level and see better options for investors elsewhere.

Goldman concluded: “Whilst there are many reasons to like the stock, at current valuation, we continue to see better value elsewhere across our coverage (COH 29.7x 2022E EV/EBITDA for +3% FY19-22E NPAT CAGR).”

The post Is the Cochlear (ASX:COH) share price heading back under $200? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Why has the Cochlear (ASX:COH) share price lost 7% in a month?
• Why Bapcor, Cochlear, Novonix, and Zip shares are rising
• Cochlear (ASX:COH) share price charges higher on AGM update
• Could the Cochlear (ASX:COH) share price hit $260 by the end of 2021?

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. owns shares of and has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3kebCPQ

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a fairly average start to the trading week this Monday, with the ASX 200 currently down by 0.2% to 7,442 points. The Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX: JDO) is faring slightly better though, if you can even say that. Judo shares are currently sitting at $2.29 each, flat for the day so far.

Judo is one of the newest ASX shares on the share market. It only began publically-listed life exactly a week ago on 1 November. As my Fool colleague Mitchell noted at the time, this was a rather momentous occasion in ASX history. Judo became the first ASX bank in 3 decades to join the ASX boards.

It’s charting an unusual course in the ASX banking sector. Judo aims to cater to the niche small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business banking space. So don’t expect residential mortgages, savings accounts or credit cards from this bank, at least in the traditional sense.

Last week, Judo underwent its initial public offering (IPO) at an offer price of $2.10 a share. As we covered at the time, midday of its first day saw Judo rise a healthy 2.86% to $2.1 a share. The next day saw this bank rise by another 5%, and by Wednesday Judo had hit $2.55 a share, a good 21% above its IPO price.

But the days following have seen Judo shares come back to earth. Its current share price of $2.29 is almost in the middle of its IPO price and its new high watermark.

Judo share price flat on Monday despite loan book growth

It appears that the ASX announcement Judo made this morning hasn’t changed too many opinions on the company. This morning, Judo released its monthly loan book update. This showed that Judo now has $4.37 billion in gross loans and advances (GLAs) on its books, as of 31 October. That’s up 5.3% over the $4.15 billion from 30 September, and a pleasing 24.1% above the $3.52 billion this bank had in GLAs on 30 June.

Additionally, Judo also offered up some guidance for this figure going forward. It stated that:

Judo’s pro forma forecast for GLAs at the end of the FY22 period is $6.0 billion. Judo does not expect lending growth to be linear throughout the financial year, consistent with industry seasonality.

These statistics don’t seem to have done too much for investors sentiment today though, seeing as the Judo share price remains flat at $2.29 a share. At this price, Judo Capital has a market capitalisation of $2.53 billion.

The post Judo (ASX:JDO) share price flat despite climbing loan book appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Judo Bank (ASX:JDO) share price up another 5% on second day of trading
• Judo Bank (ASX:JDO) hits the ASX, here’s how it differs from the big four

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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2ZZL7qj

In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is out of form and on course to start the week with a small decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.2% to 7,440.9 points.

Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are pushing higher:

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API)

The Australian Pharmaceutical Industries share price is up 3.5% to $1.54. Investors have been buying the pharmacy chain operator and distributor’s shares after it accepted a takeover offer from Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES). The two parties have agreed a price of $1.55 cash per share. This will be reduced by any dividends paid between now and completion. Wesfarmers’ offer represents a 35.4% premium to the undisturbed closing API share price on 9 July 2021 (prior to Wesfarmers’ first offer of $1.38 per share).

Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)

The Evolution share price is up 4% to $3.88. Evolution and a number of other gold miners are charging higher today after the gold price rose on Friday night in response to dovish central bank comments relating to interest rates. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is up 2.4% at the time of writing.

Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)

The Flight Centre share price is up 5.5% to $21.08. This gain appears to have been driven by news that the United States is opening its border to vaccinated travellers. This change will occur from Monday and is expected to give the travel industry in the massive US market a big boost.

Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD)

The Sydney Airport share price is up almost 3% to $8.46. Investors have been buying the airport operator’s shares after it released an update on a takeover approach. According to the release, Sydney Airport has accepted an offer of $8.75 per share from a consortium of investors led by IFM Investors and Global Infrastructure Partners. This compares to the initial offer by the consortium of $8.25 per share made in July. The latest offer represents a total consideration of $32 billion on an enterprise value basis.

The post Why API, Evolution, Flight Centre, and Sydney Airport shares are pushing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price takes off on $32bn takeover deal
• Why the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price is flying 4% higher today
• Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price leaps 5% as US borders to reopen
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Sydney Airport agrees to takeover, Wesfarmers’ strikes API deal
• These 6 ASX shares are going ex-dividend this week

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 owns shares of and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3EV7EDS