The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price failed to take off in 2021. It was no secret that the company struggled with most of its operations halted due to COVID-19.

Since the beginning of the year, the airline operator’s shares moved marginally higher, up 2%. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gained roughly 13.5% over the same period.

For the final day of 2021, Qantas shares closed flat at $4.98 apiece. It’s worth noting that in early November, its share price touched a 52-week high of $5.97 before treading lower.

What happened with the Qantas share price?

The volatility in the Qantas share price in 2021 has been driven by uncertainty relating to the recovery of the travel market.

Earlier this year, Australia effectively managed to control the spread of COVID-19. This led to the company taking advantage of the strong interest in consumers wanting to travel domestically.

During March and April, investors scrambled to buy Qantas shares which led to a sharp and sudden ascent.

However, things turned sour when outbreaks of COVID-19 began to prop up across the country. This caused Qantas to forcefully ground its domestic fleet as several states went into hard lockdowns.

The turmoil drove investors to the exits, sending the airline’s shares to a 52-week low of $4.20 in August.

Fast-forward to November, the outlook for the travel industry became rosy again as COVID-19 had been on a steady decline. Furthermore, the Australian government’s re-opening of international travel excited investors.

The company brought back several planes from deep storage to meet the expected surge in demand for travel.

But yet again, a new variant of COVID-19, Omicron caused widespread panic across the globe. As such, several counties have gone back into lockdown, and Australia has re-reintroduced restrictions because of the record number of cases.

Is this a buying opportunity?

The good news for investors is that a number of brokers believe that the Qantas share price is attractively valued.

Multinational investment bank, Citi cut its price target by 1.2% to $5.86. Although this is a reduction, it implies an upside of almost 18% over the next 12 months.

In addition, JPMorgan also slashed its outlook by 3.1% to $6.30 a pop. This represents a potential upside of 26% from where it trades today.

Following suit, Swiss investment firm, UBS lowered its assessment on Qantas shares by 3.1% to $6.20. Its analysts clearly believe that there is still significant value in the airline and that a recovery is inevitable.

The post How did the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price perform in 2021? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell
• How are ASX 200 travel shares faring over the holiday season?
• ASX travel shares in focus on global flight cancellations
• 3 excellent ASX 200 blue chip shares to buy in 2022

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns Qantas Airways Limited. 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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Are you looking for dividend shares to buy? If you are, then you might want to look at the shares listed below.

Here’s why these ASX dividend shares could be worth considering right now:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is this footwear focused retailer.

Accent is the name behind a growing stable of retail chains. This includes The Athlete’s Foot, Platypus, Stylerunner, HypeDC, Glue, Sneaker Lab, and Merrell to name just a few.

Thanks to the popularity of these brands with consumers and their wide and growing footprint, Accent appears well-placed to continue its growth over the long term. This could bode well for dividend payments in the coming years.

The team at Bell Potter expects fully franked dividends per share of 9.1 cents in FY 2022 and then 13.5 cents in FY 2023. Based on the latest Accent share price of $2.45, this represents yields of 3.7% and 5.5%, respectively.

Bell Potter has a buy rating and $3.05 price target on its shares.

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is this supermarket, convenience, and liquor store operator.

It could be a top option for income investors due to its favourable dividend policy (paying upwards of 90% of profits as dividends) and positive outlook. In addition, as we have seen during the pandemic, Coles has defensive qualities that can be very valuable during volatile times.

One broker that is a big fan of Coles is Citi. Its analysts have a buy rating and $19.60 price target on its shares.

As for dividends, the broker is forecasting fully franked dividends of 65 cents per share in FY 2022, 72 cents per share in FY 2023, and then 77 cents per share in FY 2024. Based on the current Coles share price of $17.94, this will mean yields of 3.6%, 4%, and 4.3%, respectively.

The post Analysts name 2 top ASX dividend shares to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are 2 ASX dividend shares to buy in 2022
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy
• Top ASX shares to buy in 2022
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares
• 2 quality ASX dividend shares to buy

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 and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Accent Group. 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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A few different exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may be able to provide investors with a high level of attractive diversification.

It can be tricky to choose which investments to go for. One option might be to choose ETFs, which can give investors diversification because they are invested in dozens or even hundreds of businesses in a single investment.

Every ETF is different. Some focus on ASX shares. There are industry-specific ones. These two may be able to provide attractive diversification:

iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV)

Warren Buffett himself has recommended to (predominately American) investors that they should look at a S&P 500 fund:

I recommend the S&P 500 index fund and have for a long, long time to people.

If you just had a diversified group of equities, U.S. equities, that would be my preference, but to hold over a 30-year period.

I just think that the best thing to do is buy 90% in S&P 500 index fund.

What is the S&P 500? It’s 500 of the biggest businesses that are listed in the US, with both NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange businesses.

There is a lot of diversification by having 500 holdings. However, the top ten positions represented around 30% of the portfolio at 30 November 2021: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Tesla, Alphabet (class A and C shares), Nvidia, Meta Platforms (Facebook), Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, but this S&P 500 ETF has performed strongly over the last five years thanks to the underlying holdings with a net return per annum of 18.6%.

This investment has one of the lowest management fees of any ETFs on the ASX, at 0.04% per year.

Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)

There are both similarities and differences between this ETF and the S&P 500 one.

Looking at the top holdings, there are many similar names. In-fact, at the end of November 2021, the only two different names in the Vanguard portfolio’s biggest holdings were Home Depot and UnitedHealth.

However, a key difference is the fact that the Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF is invested in the global share market across the ‘developed’ world.

Obviously the US is the dominant allocation, but other countries also have weightings of at least 1% including Japan, the UK, Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

This ETF actually owns almost 1,500 businesses in the portfolio. The smaller positions do not have much effect on the overall ETF performance, but the diversification is there.

Some of the biggest non-US shares in the portfolio includes Nestle, ASML, Roche, LVMH, Toyota, Novo Nordisk, Novartis and Shopify.

Whilst Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF hasn’t performed as well as the S&P 500 fund over the last five years, it comes with increased diversification and as a reminder, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The past five years has seen an average net return per annum of 15.8%.

Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF has an annual management fee of just 0.16% per annum.

The post 2 of the best ETFs for diversification appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are 3 top ETFs for ASX investors in 2022
• Could 2022 be a good year for the Vanguard International Shares ETF (ASX:VGS)?
• 2 highly rated international ETFs for ASX investors

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 Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF and iShares Trust – iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. 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 Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price had a bumper year in 2021. The company is Australia’s largest wine company and a huge global player.

Shares in the winemaker flowed steadily to finish the year at $12.38, up nearly 32%. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) returned 13%.

Let’s delve into the significant events that may have influenced the Treasury Wine share price movement this year.

What impacted the Treasury Wine share price this year?

Treasury Wine Estates boasts household names in popular Australian wines including Penfolds, Beringer, Lindemans, Wolf Blass and Rosemount Estate.

Overall, investors showed an outpouring of support for the winemaker, sending the company’s share price higher in a few bursts during the year.

Looking back at 2021, we see that February provided a major boost for shareholders. Company shares jumped more than 20% from $9.90 to $11.91 between market close on 16-18 February.

Investors responded positively to the 2021 interim results announcement. Despite underlying net profit after tax declining 24%, shareholders reacted well to the update. Net debt was down $403.7 million while the company declared a dividend of 15 cents per share.

May was also a superb month for the Treasury Wine share price. Shares exploded 11.46% between the close on May 12 and May 17 after an investor presentation. At the time, the company revealed its goal to drive growth, profit, efficient capital usage and strong shareholder returns.

The company’s share price also jumped in August after the company changed its dividend distribution to 13 cents per share and reported strong annual results.

For the 2021 financial year, Treasury Wine boosted its net profit after tax by 2%, up to $250 million. As my Foolish colleague James reported, the main driver of growth in the FY 2021 was the company’s North America business with strong support from its operations in Australia and New Zealand business. Shares hit a yearly high of $13.20 the day after these results were reported.

Shares in the company also soared almost 7% between the close on 17 November and 19 November off the back of two announcements.

The first was when Treasury Wine revealed it would acquire Frank Family Vineyards in California’s Napa Valley for $432 million. The company then hit the headlines on news its Penfold brand would partner with Blockbar to produce non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Blockbar is a leading NFT marketplace for luxury wines and spirits.

Foolish takeaway

The Treasury Wine share price performed 18% better than the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in 2021.

Shares in the company were up 3.86% in the final month of the year.

The company has a market capitalisation of more than $8.9 billion based on the current share price.

Finally, as Motley Fool Australia reported on Friday, the team at Morgans believes the winemaker’s shares are undervalued given its recent restructuring. The broker is positive on the company’s future and has a $14.06 price target on the Treasure Wine share price.

The post How did the Treasury Wine (ASX:TWE) share price perform in 2021? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Morgans names 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares to buy
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• Why this top broker is bullish on the Treasury Wine (ASX:TWE) share price
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) share price lifts amid latest green push

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 Treasury Wine Estates 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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Are you interested in adding some ASX growth shares to your portfolio this month? If you are, you may want to look at the ones listed below that have recently been named as buys.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Adore Beauty Group Limited (ASX: ABY)

Adore Beauty is Australia’s leading online beauty retailer. Despite its leadership position and almost 1 million customers, it is still only commanding a modest share of the $11.2 billion Australian beauty and personal care (BPC) market. But as more and more sales shift online, Adore Beauty looks well-placed to benefit. This provides it with a long runway for growth over the 2020s.

UBS is a fan of the company. It has a buy rating and $6.00 price target.

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Altium is a leading printed circuit board design software provider. It could be a top option for investors due to its strong long term growth potential thanks to its exposure to the rapidly growing Internet of Things and artificial intelligence markets. These are driving increasing demand for its Altium Designer and Altium 365 software and also its other businesses such as the Octopart search engine.

Jefferies is very positive on Altium and has a buy rating and $48.83 price target on the company’s shares.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

ResMed is a medical device company which has a focus on sleep treatment solutions. Over the last decade the company’s revenue and earnings have grown at a very strong rate thanks to the quality of its products and its large and growing market opportunity. In respect to the latter, management estimates that there are almost one billion people with sleep apnoea globally, with only ~20% diagnosed. It also notes that a little under half a billion people suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) globally. These markets alone give ResMed a very long growth runway.

Morgans is a fan of ResMed and currently has an add rating and $40.80 price target.

The post 3 top ASX growth shares to buy in January appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX growth shares rated as buys in January 2022
• 3 fantastic ASX 200 shares to buy in 2022
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy
• Top ASX shares to buy in 2022
• 3 ASX growth shares could be strong buys

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 and has recommended Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited and ResMed Inc. 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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If you’re looking for an easy way to invest your hard-earned money, then exchange traded funds (ETFs) could be worth considering.

Rather than deciding on which individual shares you should put your funds into, ETFs allow you to invest in a large group of shares through just a single investment.

With that in mind, here are three ETFs that are highly rated:

BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

The first ETF to look at is the BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF. This fund provides investors with exposure to the leaders in the global cybersecurity sector. Given that the Australian share market has little to no quality options in the cybersecurity space, this makes the ETF a particularly good option for investors interested in the cybersecurity theme. Among the companies in the fund are cybersecurity giants Accenture, Cloudflare, Crowdstrike, and Okta.

BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)

Another ETF to consider is the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF. This is one of the most popular ETFs on the Australian share market and it isn’t at all surprising. The BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF allows investors to own a slice of the 100 largest non-financial shares on the famous NASDAQ index. This means you’ll be buying a stake in giants including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook/Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, and Tesla.

VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF (ASX: ESPO)

A final ETF to look at is the VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF. This ETF gives investors exposure to a portfolio of the largest companies involved in video game development, hardware, and eSports. This side of the market has been growing strongly in recent years and is expected to continue doing so over the medium term. Included in the fund are high quality and growing companies such as Nvidia, Roblox, Take-Two, and Electronic Arts.

The post 3 high quality ETFs for ASX investors in January appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are 2 fantastic ETFs for ASX investors in 2022
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS and BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS and BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended VanEck Vectors ETF Trust – VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF. 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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2021 followed a stellar year for the ASX buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector. Unfortunately, it didn’t bring the same glory for most of the sector’s participants.

In fact, these 5 ASX BNPL companies all saw their share price more than halve over the course of last year.

Let’s take a look at which BNPL stocks suffered most in 2021.

A quick note before we start: This list only contains companies with market capitalisations of more than $30 million.

The worst performing ASX BNPL stocks of 2021

Laybuy Holdings Ltd (ASX: LBY) – down 82%

Unfortunately for Laybuy Holdings investors, the company has taken out the undesirable cake. It’s crowned the worst performing ASX BNPL share for 2021.

The company’s stock started the year trading at $1.31 and hit a 52-week high of $1.50. Over the course of the year, however, it tumbled to just 23.5 cents.

Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) – down 81%

2021 was also a particularly bad year for the Splitit share price.

It gradually dropped 81% of its value over the 12-month period.

At the start of the year, Splitit’s shares were trading for $1.30. However, come the final close of the year it was going for 25 cents.

Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY) – down 68%

Despite starting the year out strong, the Openpay share price ended last year 68% lower than it started it.

It tumbled from its starting price of $2.37 to end the year at 72.5 cents, hitting a 52-week high of $3.57 along the way.

Douugh Ltd (ASX:DOU) – down 59%

This ASX BNPL stock started the year out as the new face on the block.

Douugh floated in October 2020. It launched its first BNPL offering shortly after.

The company’s stock started 2021 trading at 17 cents and quickly surged to its 52-week high of 37.5 cents. Though, its glory didn’t last.

As of Friday’s close, the Douugh share price is 6.9 cents.

Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) – down 51%

Popular ASX BNPL stock, Sezzle just snuck onto this list after falling 51% over 2021.

That’s despite the company trading relatively flat for the first 8 months of the year – albeit, with plenty of peaks and troughs.

The company’s half year report seemed to be the cataylst for its troubles. Its share price fell nearly 15% on the day of its release and hasn’t managed to regain its feet since.

After beginning 2021 trading at $6.27, the Sezzle share price finished the year at $3.02.

The post These were the 5 worst performing ASX BNPL shares of 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX shares hitting 52-week lows
• Latitude (ASX:LFS) boss warns many ASX BNPL companies “will go out of business”
• Openpay (ASX:OPY) share price sinks 6% in grim day for ASX BNPL shares
• Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price dives 8% amid US concerns and Sezzle merger rumbles
• Why is the Sezzle (ASX:SZL) share price tumbling 7% today?

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. 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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Some ASX shares are known for their dividends and others have been known for growth. There are a select number of stocks that could provide a mixture of both.

Not every business makes profit. Not every company that makes a profit pays a dividend.

However, these two businesses are expected to demonstrate long-term growth and could be decent options for income too:

Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN)

Ansell describes itself as a world leader in providing health and safety protection solutions that “enhance human wellbeing”. The company says that the world always needs better protection so it’s constantly researching, developing and investing to manufacture and distribute the best products through innovation and technology.

It operates in two main business segments, industrial and healthcare. It operates globally.

Ansell has a history of growing its dividend and 2021 was a year of significant growth for the business as it helped the world protect and fight against COVID-19. In FY21 the ASX share managed to grow its profit by 48.5% to $246.7 million and the dividend was increased by 53.6% to 76.8 cents per share.

Whilst healthcare saw a large increase in revenue production volumes, the industrial segment also saw organic revenue growth of 7.1% with a recovery in ‘mechanical’ and continued growth from ‘chemical’.

The company was able to bring capacity expansion online, with 12 new glove lines and several new body protection lines live which will support growth for FY22 and beyond.

Ansell is making sure it’s well positioned for the post COVID-19 environment by continuing to invest in its sales force, customer experience, product innovation and digital capabilities.

However, FY22 could see lower healthcare demand depending on COVID-19 impacts.

Morgans currently rates Ansell as a buy, with a price target of $41.87 – that’s more than 30% higher than where it is right now. At the current Ansell share price, it’s valued at around 12x FY23’s estimated earnings with a projected FY23 yield of 3.5%.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

Kogan is a leading business in the Australian and New Zealand e-commerce spaces with its website businesses of Kogan and Mighty Ape.

The ASX share had been experiencing higher costs in relation to excess inventory after overestimating how much customer demand there was going to be.

However, Kogan says it has now solved these issues. Costs and margins are now expected to be better than a few months ago and management are expecting that the business can continue to grow its online market share.

Between FY19 and FY21 it grew its market share from 2.1% to 2.7%. It’s growing market share in a growing online market. It’s estimated that in FY21, Australians spent $48.6 billion on online retail, a level that was around 13.3% of the total retail trade estimate.

Kogan has a five-year goal of $3 billion of gross sales to FY26. That would be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 20% from FY21.

Credit Suisse currently rates the Kogan share price as a buy, with a price target of $13.88. That’s a potential upside of more than 50% over the next several months.

The broker puts the Kogan share price at 22x FY23’s estimated earnings with a grossed-up dividend yield of 3.3% in FY23.

The post 2 ASX shares that could be buys for both growth and dividends appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top ASX shares to buy in January 2022
• In the ‘dog basket’: 6 ASX shares that could rebound in 2022
• 3 reasons why the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price could be a smart buy
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Forget Christmas! Could these ASX retail shares be set for a Boxing Day bonanza?

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 Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell Ltd. 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) was on form in December and finished a positive year with a solid monthly gain. The benchmark index rose 2.6% over the period to end at 7,444.6 points.

While a good number of shares rose with the market, some climbed more than most. Here’s why these were the best performing ASX 200 shares in December:

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

The Pilbara Minerals share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last month with a 26% gain. This appears to have been driven partly be a broker note out of Macquarie. According to the note, its analysts believe lithium prices could remain at record levels for four years. As a result, the broker retained its outperform rating and lifted its price target on the company’s shares to $3.70.

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN)

The Mineral Resources share price wasn’t far behind with a gain of 24.7% in December. This also appears to have been driven largely by the Macquarie broker note. Its analysts expect Mineral Resources to benefit from the strong lithium prices. In light of this, the broker retained its outperform rating and lifted its price target by 10% to a lofty $79.00. Also potentially giving its shares a lift was a recovery in iron ore prices.

Champion Iron Ltd (ASX: CIA)

The Champion Iron share price was on form last month and charged 23.9% higher during the period. As mentioned above, iron ore prices recovered during the month, which appears to have given this Canadian iron ore producer’s shares a major boost. The benchmark iron ore price rose approximately 12% in December.

Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC)

The GrainCorp share price was a strong performer and rose 20.9% in December. This appears to have been driven by the release of a number of bullish broker notes. One of those came from Morgans. It retained its add rating and lifted its price target to $7.90 following the release of favourable ABARES crop forecasts. GrainCorp’s shares finished the month above this price target.

The post These were the best performing ASX 200 shares in December appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in December
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The ASX growth shares in this article have plenty of growth potential for the long-term. January 2022 could be the month to look for those opportunities.

Some businesses have been growing substantially in recent years but the share price could still be an attractive opportunity.

Analysts currently rate these stocks as buys:

Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ASX: ABY)

Adore Beauty is currently rated as a buy by the broker UBS with a price target of $6. That’s 50% higher than it is today. Over the past two months, the Adore Beauty share price has fallen by around 20%.

UBS notes that Adore Beauty continues to grow revenue at a quick pace and noted that it seems like revenue can grow by low double digits over the rest of the year.

In the first three months of FY22, revenue increased by 25% to $63.8 million, whilst active customers grew by 24% to 874,000.

The ASX growth share is working on a number of strategic initiatives – scaling its mobile app, building owned marketing channels and community, and expanding its loyalty program.

Adore Beauty is continuing to benefit from the ongoing structural shift to online shopping, which has been accelerated by COVID-19 (and lockdowns).

Management are focused on its growth strategy to cement its online market leadership.

The company’s first private label brand is on track to launch in the third quarter of FY22. This could help with both margins and revenue.

EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)

EML Payments is an ASX growth share which helps process various digital payments for companies, governments and other organisations. Some of its use cases includes banking as a service, shopping centre gift cards, employer incentives, commercial payments and buy now, pay later.

UBS also rates EML as a buy, with a price target of $4.40 which is more than 33% higher than right now.

The broker thinks that the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) correspondence is an important positive.

Two of the updates from the correspondence included that CBI will permit EML’s PFS Card Services (Ireland) Limited (PCSIL) to sign new customers and launch new programs whilst staying within the material growth restrictions. PCSIL is confident that it can meet these obligations.

Second, broad based reductions in limit controls on programs will not be imposed. The CBI said it’s satisfied to continue to engage with PCSIL with a view to agreeing appropriate limits.

However, the CBI intends to have a material growth limitation over PCSIL’s total payment volumes imposed for 12 months or rescinded earlier after third party verification to confirm its remediation plan has been effectively implemented.

The ASX growth share said that the CBI has invited PCSIL to provide it with submissions about growth limits, which it intends to do so by 30 November 2021.

According to UBS, the EML share price is valued at 27x FY23’s estimated earnings.

The post 2 ASX growth shares rated as buys in January 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adore Beauty Group 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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