The Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) share price is in the green today amid reports it’s a top contender for VicRoads’ registration, licensing, and custom plates services.

Expressions of interest for the registry segment of VicRoads – part of Victoria’s Department of Transport – opened last week and, rumour has it, Macquarie has put its hat in the ring.

Right now, the Macquarie share price is $172.56, 0.37% higher than its previous close.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news of the banking, advisory, and investment management company.

Is Macquarie bidding for VicRoads?

The Victorian Government announced its plans to integrate a joint venture model into VicRoads in March.

The joint venture would see a private company taking over the body’s registration, licensing, and custom plates services.

The Macquarie share price is gaining as reports swirl that it has a good chance of winning VicRoads’ registry segment.

According to the Victorian Government, the privatisation of the registry segment would provide a more user-friendly and cost-effective service. It will also allow the government to continue to control prices, road access, and safety without affecting jobs at VicRoads.

The state’s government will also keep ownership of motorists’ data and protect their privacy. It noted it is looking for a joint venture partner that is “an established, mature and trusted provider”.

On that end, The Australian has reported some circles expect Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets to win the bid.

Macquarie’s major competitor for the contract is said to be asset manager Morrison & Co.

The publication also claims VicRoad’s new partner will be paying $2 billion for the privilege and the successful bidder won’t be decided upon until 2022.

Expressions of interest for VicRoad’s registry division will close on 18 October. The sale is being overseen by Morgan Stanley.

Macquarie share price snapshot

The Macquarie share price has gained 23% year to date.

It is also 44% higher than it was this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $63.4 billion.

The post Macquarie (ASX:MQG) share price lifts amid reports bidding for Vicroads heats up appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie 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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The Pepinnini Minerals Ltd (ASX: PNN) share price has soared 40% into the green during this morning’s trade and now trades at 40 cents a share.

Pepinnini shares are on the move after the battery metals and gold company announced a key update from its operations in Chile.

At one point following the update this morning, Pepinnini shares were changing hands at 46.5 cents apiece. This is about the midpoint of its 52-week range.

Let’s take a look.

What did Pepinnini announce?

In what has transferred to gains for the Pepinnini share price, the battery metals miner announced “very strong interim results” from its “lithium brine blending study” in Chile.

The study used “salar brine” from the company’s leases in Argentinian salt flats, which are thought to contain enormous deposits of lithium beneath them.

In fact, the nearby Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia is estimated to contain the world’s largest lithium resource. So claim that it holds half or more of the world’s resource.

The process was to take 2,000 litres of “brine collected from each salar” then transport it to testing facilities in Chile.

Then it was allowed to “evaporate and concentrate,” where three brine tests were conducted on the compound.

Results showed that the “blended brine” test produced a lithium ion concentrate of 8,500mg/kg. This is a “level 14 times” and “seven times” that of the other two tests, respectively.

Pepinnini made comparisons to Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE), which produces 7,000mg/kg at its Olaroz project, as per the release.

Testing has another month to complete, but preliminary results “suggest that the brine blending process is viable and highly effective.”

The main advantage, according to Pepinnini, is that the brine blending process “avoids the precipitation of lithium sulphate and reduces the calcium content.”

As such, it understands this process can “obtain a higher concentration of lithium in the brine at a lower cost.”

Investors are buying the news and continue sending Pepinnini shares higher today.

Pepininni Minerals share price snapshot

The Pepinnini Minerals share price has been on a bumpy ride this year to date. However, it is still up around 10% since 1 January.

Despite this, Pepinnini shares are almost 200% in the green over the past 12 months. That’s well ahead of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gain of around 25% over the last year.

The post Pepinnini Minerals (ASX:PNN) share price rockets 40% on lithium update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Expert reveals top pandemic ETF play – up 58% in 12 months
• Here’s why the New Hope (ASX:NHC) share price is climbing 7% today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Evergrande news boosts market, Zip’s Indian investment

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.

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The Champion Iron Ltd (ASX: CIA) share price has been a strong performer on Wednesday.

In afternoon trade, the iron ore producer’s shares are up 7% to $5.00.

Why is the Champion Iron share price rising?

There have been a couple of catalysts for the rise in the Champion Iron share price today.

One has been news that embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande will live to fight another day after revealing that it will make a bond repayment tomorrow.

This has given the whole market, but particularly iron ore miners, a big boost.

For example, the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is up 3% and the Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price is up 5.5% at the time of writing.

What else is lifting its shares?

Also giving the Champion Iron share price a lift is a broker note out of Citi this morning.

According to the note, the broker has upgraded the company’s shares to a buy rating with a price target of $6.40.

Based on the current Champion Iron share price, this implies potential upside of 28% over the next 12 months before dividends. This increases to ~34% if you include the 29 cents per share dividend Citi is forecasting in FY 2022.

What did the broker say?

Citi made the move on valuation grounds following a sharp pullback in the Champion Iron share price.

It explained: “While we acknowledge significant near-term risk to iron ore price forecasts, CY22/23 iron ore at $125/$80 per tonne provides a much greater level of confidence for earnings forecasts, particularly as China lead indicators stabilise.”

“Further, longer dated market concerns re large-scale iron ore exports from Guinea now look much less certain. Iron ore may hold at +$100 levels for longer than the market expects. We revisit our depreciation assumptions for CIA and expect $/t depreciation to increase from current $4.5/t to $6/t by CIA FY23 (March YE) on the back of Bloom Lake Phase II expansion.”

“We also roll our valuation year to FY24 (at 4.5x multiples) when we expect normalised US$80/t benchmark iron ore pricing plus expanded production. While this reduces our target price to A$6.4/shr, recent share underperformance presents enough upside to upgrade CIA to Buy from Neutral,” the broker concluded.

The post Champion Iron (ASX:CIA) share price up 7% but could still go 28% higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Evergrande news boosts market, Zip’s Indian investment
• Which ASX 300 shares are the biggest winners and losers on Tuesday?
• ASX 200 rebounds into positive territory led by energy and materials shares
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• Which ASX 300 shares are leading the way on Monday?

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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ASX dividend shares could be the right place to search for options that may be able to deliver reliable income growth.

Just because a business pays a dividend doesn’t mean that it’s targeting growth of the dividend over time.

But there are a few businesses out there that have grown the dividend for a number of years in a row:

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

This is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a diversified property portfolio. A key focus of the business is to find quality tenants and lease those buildings on long-term leases.

At the end of FY21, its portfolio had a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 13.2 years, which the business says provides long-term income security. At the time, around half of the leases were triple net leases, where tenants are responsible for all outgoings, maintenance and capital expenditure.

Over the year, its net tangible assets (NTA) increased 16.8% to $5.22, whilst the distributions increased 3.2% to 29.2 cents per unit. At the time of the FY21 report release, it said it was expecting the FY22 operating earnings per security (EPS) to rise by at least 4.5%.

The ASX dividend share recently announced that it was part of a consortium looking to buy ALE Property Group (ASX: LEP). The properties have an annual rental escalation linked to CPI. After the transaction, it would bring the WALE to 12.6 years.

It also announced it had acquired two industrial properties in Sydney and Brisbane with WALEs of 16.8 years and 7.9 years respectively, for a total cost of $67 million.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT is still expecting to grow its operating EPS by at least 4.5% in FY22. The ASX dividend share usually pays out 100% of its operating earnings. That suggests a distribution yield of at least 6% in FY22.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)

Soul Patts holds the record for the longest streak of consecutive years of dividend increases. The investment conglomerate has grown its dividend every year since 2000.

It has managed to achieve this by holding a portfolio of defensive and largely uncorrelated businesses and assets.

Soul Patts has a portfolio of unlisted businesses and listed ASX shares. Most of them pay dividend and distribution income to Soul Patts each year, providing cashflow for the ASX dividend share to pay a growing dividend and re-invest the rest.

Some names in the portfolio includes TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW), New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC), Bki Investment Co Ltd (ASX: BKI), Pengana Capital Group Ltd (ASX: PCG) and Pengana International Equities Ltd (ASX: PIA).

Unlisted holdings include agriculture, swimming schools, resources (Round Oak) and financial services.

The ASX dividend share is regularly looking to add to its portfolio. For example, it’s going through the process of acquiring Milton Corporation Limited (ASX: MLT) which will allow it to invest materially into other assets including international shares.

Soul Patts recently announced that it’s expecting to report regular profit growth from Round Oak, Brickworks and New Hope.

At the current Soul Patts share price it has a grossed-up dividend yield of 2.4%.

The post 2 top quality ASX dividend shares offering reliable income growth appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Pengana International Equities Limited and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended TPG Telecom 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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Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are hardly new. Or at least the wider concept isn’t.

Depending on how narrowly you define ETFs, they’ve been around for either 13 some years, or well over 20.

But one thing is clear.

As ever more retail investors have entered the market in recent years, ETFs have exploded in popularity. That’s because, with a single investment, they can offer you exposure to a large selection of shares, helping diversify your portfolio without having to extensively research every holding yourself.

Below we look at a COVID-19 vaccine exchange traded fund that Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas says “has a lot of potential“.

But first…

The pandemic’s silver bullet?

As it stands, the world’s leading COVID-19 vaccines rely on something called messenger RNA. You’ve likely heard that referred to as mRNA.

In a nutshell, mRNA acts as a kind of targeted delivery system that enables your own immune system to better squelch a virus, or potentially other types of disease.

Atop the current success in tackling the coronavirus, mRNA vaccines could potentially treat cancers, the flu, malaria…the list goes on.

While biotech companies have been working on mRNA since the first officially labelled ETFs came out 13 years ago, the global pandemic has turbocharged their development. And we could be hearing a lot more about this cutting-edge biotech in the years ahead.

According to John Bowler, manager of the Schroder Global Healthcare Fund (quoted by Bloomberg):

The beauty of mRNA technology is the speed, in that once you have the genetic sequence, you can identify exactly what you need to put in the code of your vaccine, and you are giving instructions to the target that the immune system can respond to. It really changes the whole dynamic on infectious diseases.

One ETF holds dozens of vaccine developers

Two of the most successful names in the COVID vaccine race are Moderna INC (NASDAQ: MRNA) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX).

Moderna was founded in 2010 in the US state of Massachusetts. The company is a forerunner in mRNA research to treat a range of diseases. And when the COVID pandemic hit, Moderna’s boffins went to work overtime.

Since 21 February 2020, when the most of the share market began to tank on early pandemic fears, Moderna’s share price has soared 2,280%. In the past 12 months alone, it’s gained 531%.

German biotechnology company BioNTech has also had huge success in combatting COVID together with its partner Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE). BioNTech was founded in 2008 and, before the pandemic, largely focused on using mRNA biotech to treat cancer.

The BioNTech share price is up 410% over the past 12 months.

But there’s a lot more to the mRNA and the wider vaccine sector than Moderna and BioNTech. There are dozens of listed biotech companies working on improved COVID vaccines and other cutting edge treatments. We may not have heard of them yet but that may not be the case next year.

With that in mind we turn to ETFMG Treatments Testing and Advancements ETF (NYSEARCA: GERM). (Gotta love the ticker!)

Some 90% of the ETF’s holdings are based in the United States and Germany.

Moderna, at 11.6%, is its top holding. BioNTech, at 8.8%, is number 2. It also holds more than 30 smaller, lesser-known (for now) companies. You can find a complete list of GERM’s holdings here.

Commenting on GERM, Bloomberg’s Balchunas said, “You’re getting almost completely original exposure and there are some very small companies in here that could be future Modernas with the next big thing. That gives GERM a lot of potential M&A [mergers and acquisitions] pop.”

The post Expert reveals top pandemic ETF play – up 58% in 12 months appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Moderna Inc. 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 New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC) share price is rallying on Wednesday, up 7.44% to $2.31.

Sell off? What sell off?

China’s Evergrande crisis rattled the global equity markets on Monday, dragging the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) 2.10% lower to a 3 month low of 7,248.2.

New Hope also took the brunt of the selling, sliding 8.04% to $2.06.

Encouragingly, its shares have displayed a V-shaped recovery, surging 12.1% since its $2.06 close on Monday.

What’s driving the New Hope share price?

Coal prices have boomed to all-time highs of US$179 per metric tonne, supported by surging demand for electricity and power across China and India.

In the case of China, policymakers have been tightening environmental controls for the coal industry since March, according to S&P Global. The strict monitoring of its domestic coal operations has slowed down output capacity, driving a sharp decline in supply.

In addition, officials in China’s Shandong province are planning to shut down 27 coal mines with under 300,000 metric tonnes a year of output capacity between 2021 to 2022, further squeezing domestic supply.

In a separate report, S&P Global cited the tightening supply of coal was taking place on a global level, resulting in “lower spot transaction volumes, pushing the coking coal market higher”.

“Ex-China spot demand for seaborne coking coal increased by about 280% on the year in [the] first half of 2021.”

Another factor that could be driving the New Hope share price is the release of its FY21 full-year results on Monday.

The company delivered a major turnaround with a net profit after tax of $79 million compared to a $157 million loss in FY20.

New Hope CEO Reinhold Schmidt was pleased with the company’s performance and outlook for coal.

The Newcastle 6000 Index hit 10 year highs by financial year end, rapidly recovering from the depressed market conditions experienced at the start of the financial year.

The Company achieved an average realised price of $101.36/t in 2021. At 31 July 2021, the Newcastle 6000 Index had almost doubled from January 2021 levels, to USD$150 per tonne, and has continued to trend upwards.

The post Here’s why the New Hope (ASX:NHC) share price is climbing 7% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• New Hope (ASX:NHC) share price jumps on $337m profit turnaround
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Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun 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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At lunch on Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has rebounded from a poor start and is charging higher. The benchmark index is currently up 0.4% to 7,301.3 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 on Wednesday:

ASX 200 boosted by Evergrande bond repayment

The ASX 200 has responded very positively to news that embattled Chinese property company Evergrande will stave off defaulting, at least for now, by making a bond repayment. According to the AFR, the company’s key Hengda Real Estate Group business has said that it will make a bond interest payment on September 23.

Westpac asset sale terminated

The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is trading lower today after the sale of its Pacific businesses collapsed. According to the release, Westpac and Kina Securities Ltd (ASX: KSL) have mutually agreed to terminate the ~$420 million transaction after Papua New Guinea’s Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) blocked the proposed sale of Westpac Bank PNG last week.

Zip makes Indian BNPL investment

The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is pushing higher today after it announced a major investment. According to the release, the company has agreed to make a strategic US$50 million investment in India-based BNPL operator ZestMoney. The Indian BNPL provider was founded in 2015 and is now one of the largest and fastest growing BNPL platforms in India. It has 11 million registered users, over 10,000 online merchants on the platform, and a point of presence in over 75,000 physical stores.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Wednesday has been the Champion Iron Ltd (ASX: CIA) share price with a 6% gain. This morning Citi upgraded the iron ore producer’s shares to a buy rating with a $6.40 price target. The worst performer on the ASX 200 has been the AusNet Services Ltd (ASX: AST) share price with a 4.5% decline. This appears to have been caused by uncertainty over the takeover battle for the electricity distributor.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Evergrande news boosts market, Zip’s Indian investment appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• AusNet (ASX:AST) share price down 5% amid takeover battle uncertainty
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• The Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price is down 10% in a week. Here’s why
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price on watch after asset sale terminated
• 3 beaten-up ASX shares that are exciting us: experts

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of 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 in the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) have something to cheer about in 2021.

Despite only being up a measly 0.12% today, at the time of writing to $100.93, the VGS share price has had a phenomenal 2021. Since the beginning of the year, shares in the popular exchange-traded fund (ETF) have appreciated 20.2%. For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 8.74% since 1 January. In other words, VGS has more than doubled the gains of the benchmark index.

Let’s take a closer look at the ETF.

What is VGS invested in?

As The Motley Fool has previously reported, VGS is invested in over 1500 shares, none of which are listed on the ASX.

These 5 companies, all listed on NASDAQ, individually account for more than 1% of the fund’s total:

• Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)
• Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
• Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
• Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)
• Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL)

Other notable companies the ETF is invested in include Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) and Visa Inc (NYSE: V).

Whatever shares the fund is invested in, it’s clearly doing wonders for shareholders in its ASX-traded ETF.

What are the professionals saying about ASX VGS?

The Motley Fool’s own Scott Phillips says VGS can be a good starting point for ASX investors. Buying into the fund gives investors instant access to 1505 of the biggest companies outside of Australia. Vanguard also offers an ASX alternative, the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS). This gives investors access to the 300 largest companies on the ASX.

Another reason Vanguard may be attractive to investors is its low rates. With a management fee of just 0.18%, it’s a lot lower than a lot of other managed funds.

The post The Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX:VGS) has more than doubled the ASX 200’s returns in 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Want to invest, but not sure where to start?

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Marc Sidarous 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 Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, PayPal Holdings, Tesla, Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF, and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $1,920 calls on Amazon, long January 2022 $75 calls on PayPal Holdings, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2022 $1,940 calls on Amazon, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, PayPal Holdings, and Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares 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 Anson Resources Ltd (ASX: ASN) share price has been plummeting over the last 7 days.

The company has released several announcements to the ASX in that time, detailing free offers, positive assay results, and its approach to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

However, the updates haven’t been enough to boost the company’s stock out of its slump.

Since this time last week, the company’s shares have fallen 16.3% to trade at 9.2 cents.

Let’s take a look at what Anson Resources has been up to over the course of this week.

What’s Anson been up to this last week?

The Anson Resources share price has been struggling over the last week despite releasing 3 seemingly positive updates.

First, the company provided more details on its previously proposed bond offer. Under the offer, shareholders in the company will receive 1 bonus offer for every 10 shares they hold.

The freebie was announced last Tuesday as part of a $7.35 million placement. Though, its prospectus was released after Friday’s close.

Under the prospectus, the free offer will have an exercise price of 9.1 cents and will expire on 29 October 2021.

For each option exercised, shareholders will receive another free option with an exercise price of 20 cents and an expiry date of 31 July 2023.

On Monday – the first time the market could react to the prospectus – the Anson share price fell 6.3%.

Then, on Tuesday, Anson announced assay results from stage 2 of exploration at its Yellow Cat Project. The assay results included:

• up to 10.33% triuranium octoxide – a compound of uranium – and 25.61% vanadium oxide.

The Anson share price gained back 3.3% on the back of the assay results.

Today, it managed to recover from a poor start to trade. At the time of writing, the Anson share price is flat with its previous closing price.

This morning the company released a non-price sensitive investor presentation on its approach to ESG issues.

Anson’s approach to ESG issues sees it adopting sustainable technologies, avoiding disturbing natural or historical environments, and employing local people.

Anson share price snapshot

Despite its recent slip, the Anson share price is currently 200% higher than it was at the start of 2021.

It has also gained 350% since this time last year.

The post Why is the Anson resources (ASX:ASN) share price down 16% in a week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Anson Resources (ASX:ASN) share price halted?
• Anson (ASX:ASN) share price leaps 19% on Novonix test results

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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The GWR Group Ltd (ASX: GWR) share price has plummeted 21% during early trade on Wednesday and now trades at 11 cents each.

GWR shares are trending down after the company announced a key update regarding the future of its mining operations.

Let’s take a closer look.

What did GWR announce?

GWR advised that it had “shipped approximately 660,000 tonnes of ore since February 2021” upon completion of its September consignment.

However, it also added it had “halted mining operations at the C4 Iron Ore Mine for 30 days” whilst it “monitors” volatility in iron ore markets.

The decision was made due to a rapid downturn in iron ore prices since July.

For reference, the spot price of iron ore has come off a record high of US$230/tonne in May.

It settled around US$226/tonne from June to July and now trades at US$104.50/tonne. That’s a 54% decrease in a matter of weeks.

Given GWR’s position as an ASX resource share that produces commodities – in this case, iron ore – it is considered a price taker. As such, its share price fluctuates alongside volatility in the broader commodity markets.

This fact appears to be weighing in on GWR Group’s share price as investors sell off shares in the metals’ exploration and mining company to avoid “catching the falling knife” if iron ore continues to plummet.

GWR also holds a “significant inventory of mined iron ore stockpiles”. As such, it is “considering its position in regard to recommencing operations” and “may resume mining or pivot its focus as required”.

What did management say?

Commenting on the announcement, GWR’s chairperson Gary Lyons said:

Whilst it is disappointing that mining operations have temporarily ceased at the C4 Iron Ore Mine, it is important to note GWR remains in a strong positon to resume operations as the mine will be left in a production ready state in order to take advantage of a recovery in iron ore prices.

Lyons added:

GWR is currently engaged with other iron ore producers who have expressed interest in accessing via minegate sale the mined high grade ore in order to blend it with their product.

GWR Resources share price snapshot

The GWR Resources share price has struggled this year and has posted a loss of 74% this year to date. This extends its loss over the past 12 months to 41%.

Its price now sits well off its single-year high of 45 cents. Indeed, today sets a new 52-week low for the mining exploration company.

Both of GWR’s results are well behind the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s return of around 25% over the past year.

The post GWR Group (ASX:GWR) share price plunges 21% on iron ore update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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.

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