The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price delivered a solid 6.70% gain last month.

Shares in the diversified conglomerate hit an all-time record high of $59.60 just before the finish line on 30 June.

Let’s take a look at what drove the Wesfarmers share price to yet another record high.

Strategy briefing day

Wesfarmers’ strategy briefing day presentation on 23 June was its first price-sensitive announcement since the February reporting season.

The presentation brought to our attention a number of initiatives the company believes will provide a meaningful return to its shareholders.

More broadly speaking, this included a focus on developing a market-leading data and digital ecosystem, in order to improve a customer’s shopping experience and make shopping across its businesses more convenient.

The company said it expects to make an incremental investment of ~$100 million across group and divisional initiatives to develop this ecosystem.

Unfortunately, Wesfarmers flagged that its retail business is cycling through tough comparables against 2020 figures, resulting in “significant volatility in monthly sales growth results”.

Wesfarmers said that customer demand has remained strong, but due to increased activity in the previous year, year-on-year growth has slowed and in some cases turned negative for some businesses.

The Wesfarmers share price edged 1.02% lower to $58.12 on the day of the announcement.

Are lockdowns good for the Wesfarmers share price?

Australian COVID-19 cases made a resurgence in late-June, headlined by a growing cluster in New South Wales.

The resulting new lockdown measures and border travel restrictions saw high profile ASX shares often considered as ‘COVID-19’ winners make a comeback.

ASX e-commerce shares were the main beneficiaries with Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN), Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) and Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) logging strong gains on Monday 28 June.

While some COVID-19 winners have given back Monday’s gains, the Wesfarmers share price has held up relatively well.

Between 28 to 30 June, Wesfarmers shares added 2.4% to close at $59.10.

By the market’s close on the first day of the new financial year, the Wesfarmers share price was trading 0.8% lower for the day at $58.63.

The weakness today was broadly in line with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which slipped 0.65% to 7,265.60.

Don’t forget about Wesfarmers’ dividends

Wesfarmers shares are expected to continue growing their dividends according to Macquarie. The broker forecasts fully franked dividends of $1.74 per share in FY21 and $1.76 per share in FY22.

With the Wesfarmers share price currently fetching $58.63, this implies a yield of 3.00% in FY22.

The post Why the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price hit an all-time high in June appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd, Macquarie Group Limited, and Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group 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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Hub24 (ASX: HUB) shares lost ground today, finishing the day 4.28% down at $27.29.

The fall came despite the company not releasing any market-sensitive news that could impact the price.

Hub24’s investment and superannuation platform offers a range of investment options, providing transaction and reporting solutions for all types of investors.

What has happened with the Hub24 share price today?

Investors have been unloading the fintech company’s shares today, pushing the trading range from $28.51 – $26.40.

The Hub24 share price hit a new 52-week high of $29.05 on 18 June, and was one of the best-performing ASX shares that week.

Today’s trading volume of 178,576 shares is below the average-volume-at-time (AVAT) of 228,978 shares changing hands over the last 20 days.

Hub24 shares have also traded down over the previous 5 days, posting a loss of 2.78% over this time period. However, the share price is in the green by 1.7% over the past month.

What has Hub24 been up to lately?

There have been no major market announcements from the company in June 2021.

On 10 May 2021, the company said it had completed its joint venture transaction with ClearView Wealth Ltd (ASX: CVW), launching an investor directed portfolio service and additional retirement products.

Speaking about the launch, HUB24’s managing director Andrew Alcock commented:

HUB24’s capability to seamlessly deliver large-scale transitions has once again been proven. The teams across HUB24 and ClearView have been working together to achieve this for ClearView’s customers following the launch of the white label last year. We look forward to continuing to work with ClearView on product development initiatives going forward.

Hub24 share price snapshot

Hub24 shares haves posted a 12-month gain of about 165%, outpacing the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) return of 22% over this same time frame.

Since January 1, Hub24’s share price has more than doubled the S&P/ASX 200’s year-to-date return of around 10%, posting a 28% rise.

At the current share price, Hub24 has a market capitalisation of $1.8 billion, and trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 212.

The post The Hub24 (ASX:HUB) share price took a hit today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Hub24 Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hub24 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 IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) share price will be one to watch on Friday.

This follows the announcement of a major acquisition by the language testing and student placement company after the market close today.

What did IDP Education announce?

This afternoon IDP Education announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the British Council’s Indian International English Language Testing System (BC IELTS India) operations for 130 million pounds on a debt free, cash free basis. The company will fund the acquisition from existing cash and debt.

According to the release, IDP Education and the British Council currently both administer IELTS tests in India, operating parallel pan-Indian distribution networks. However, this transaction will bring BC IELTS India operations under IDP Education ownership, establishing a single network that provides the foundation for IELTS to build on its leadership position in India.

Post transaction, IDP Education will be the sole distributor of IELTS in the key Indian market. This is a big positive given that India is the largest IELTS market globally by volume and has exhibited one of the highest country growth rates in recent years. It achieved annual volume growth of approximately 21% between calendar years 2010 and 2019 (prior to the impact of COVID-19).

Management also highlights that IELTS, and the high stakes English language testing industry in India more broadly, benefits from several supportive structural growth drivers. These include strong population growth, a relatively young demographic, a high propensity to study abroad, and high levels of demand for migration to English speaking countries.

What impact will this have on IDP Education?

The release explains that the transaction is estimated to be approximately 13% earnings per share accretive (pre-synergies) on a pro forma calendar year 2019 basis.

It also sees scope for material combination benefits, with estimated run-rate synergies of A$6 million to A$8 million expected to be delivered within 24 months of completion.

IDP Education’s CEO, Andrew Barkla, said: “While the pandemic prompted both the British Council and IDP to adapt operations in light of the changing environment, it also presented us with opportunities for new ways of working and innovation.”

“With the combined team of IELTS experts from IDP and the British Council, a strong strategy and a clear purpose, we are ready to take this next step forward in India,” he added.

Trading update

Also potentially giving the IDP Education share price a boost on Friday will be management’s positive update on current trading.

It advised that trading conditions have improved in recent weeks, with the progressive lifting of restrictions allowing IDP Education to recommence testing in most Indian states. Approximately 95% of installed capacity was available at the end of June.

And as was evidenced during the “first wave” in India last year, management expects that IELTS volumes will rebound as restrictions are removed. Positively, it continues to experience strong forward bookings and has been working with test takers to reschedule tests that were cancelled due to the recent restrictions.

The post IDP Education (ASX:IEL) share price on watch after announcing major acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 shares of and has recommended Idp Education Pty Ltd. 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 Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) share price was one of the worst performers on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) for a second month in a row in June.

The investigative analytics and intelligence software provider’s shares followed up a 33% decline in May with a disappointing 20% decline in June.

This means the Nuix share price is now down 73% since the start of the year.

Why did the Nuix share price crash lower in June?

Investors were heading to the exits in their droves last month following yet another series of disappointing developments.

The first actually happened on 31 May but continued to hang over the company in the early stages of June. That development was yet another downgrade to its guidance.

Nuix revealed that it is now expecting pro forma revenue of $173 million to $182 million in FY 2021. This compares to its 21 April guidance of $180 million to $185 million. Similarly, it is now forecasting annualised contract value (ACV) in the range of $165 million to $172 million. This is down from its previous guidance of $168 million to $177 million.

Management blamed this on the timing of the closure of some upsell opportunities and new potential customers. In addition, it notes that there remains uncertainty in relation to both the structure and timing of deals with a small number of large customers.

What else weighed on its shares?

Also weighing on the Nuix share price was the exit of several executives and news of police raids on its offices. Those police raids later led to a criminal investigation into insider trading allegations by its departed chief financial officer Stephen Doyle.

The court papers show that Doyle and his brother are accused of trading Nuix shares with knowledge of inside information over January and February this year. This was before the Nuix share price crashed lower following its shock guidance downgrade.

Nuix chair, Jeffrey Bleich, said: “We are genuinely disturbed by the allegations concerning Mr Doyle and will fully assist ASIC in getting to the bottom of that matter.”

The post Why the Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price crashed 20% lower in June appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 recommended Nuix Pty Ltd. 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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June was a bit of a topsy turvy month for BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares. Increasing expectations that iron ore prices might have peaked, as well as efforts from China to cap surging commodity prices, may have been dragging on the BHP share price, which hit a 2-month low of $45.61 by 21 June.

Pleasingly, however, shares in the iron ore major managed to rally back up to $48.57 by month-end, finishing with a 1.5% increase for June overall.

Let’s take a closer look at why the BHP share price was up and down last month.

Experts forecast lower iron ore prices

Last month, the Australian Financial Review highlighted five key events that could lead to lower iron ore prices.

This included Brazil moving back to full production, easing Chinese stimulus measures, iron ore miners ramping up production, new players entering the market and China shifting consumption to scrap steel.

Even the Australian Government’s commodity forecaster, the Office of the Chief Economist (OCE), expects prices to ease in the medium term. In its latest Resource and Energy Quarterly, it said:

[Iron ore] prices are forecast to average around US$150 a tonne in 2021, before falling to below US$100 a tonne by the end of 2022, as Brazilian supply recovers and Chinese steel production softens.

China clamps down on commodity prices

According to the OCE, Australia’s resource and energy exports are estimated to hit a record $310 billion in 2020-21, with almost half of those earnings derived from iron ore.

While this might sound like positive news for the BHP share price, China isn’t all that happy about having to pay sky high prices.

On 18 June, Yuan Talks said that China’s top economic planner would release state reserves of copper, aluminium and zinc to downstream processing and manufacturing companies to curb soaring prices.

Chinese authorities made another move on June 21, saying they would closely monitor iron ore prices and punish any form of malicious speculation. This was also the day when the BHP share price slipped 1.91% to its 2-month low of $45.61.

Iron ore prices still holding strong

Despite what some experts say could happen, iron ore prices remain at elevated levels, currently fetching around US$214 per tonne.

Pleasingly, imported iron ore stockpiles at Chinese ports fell for a fourth straight week to 123.95 million tonnes last Friday, according to Mining.com. This represents the “lowest level since early October [2020]”.

Mining.com also reported that “subdued prices in the next six months may be expected as a result of active government intervention, but [iron ore] may test $250/mt when Chinese buyers look to replenish depleted stockpiles”.

Where does the BHP share price go from here?

Goldman Sachs is bullish on BHP shares, with a buy rating and $53.80 price target.

The broker highlighted positive factors including the miner’s strong cash flow position, solid production prospects and ongoing mining portfolio optimisation.

At Thursday’s market close, the BHP share price was trading 0.72% lower at $$48.22.

The post BHP (ASX:BHP) share price caught between bulls and bears in June appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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The Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) share price is higher after its shareholders rejected the board’s advice not to sell shares to Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW).

At the time of writing, shares in the construction materials company are trading for $7.37 – up 0.27%. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.56% lower at 7,272 points.

Let’s look at what’s going on.

Seven gets its way

In a statement to the ASX, Seven revealed it would increase its unconditional bid for Boral shares from $6.50 to $7.30 after the requisite number of shareholders had sold to it.

Seven said previously it would raise its offer for shares if enough shareholders sell to give it increased ownership to 29.5%. It has also said it will pay $7.40 per Boral share if its interest in the company rises to 34.5%. Before the takeover bid, Seven owned 24.5% of Boral.

The move is a slap in the face to Boral’s board, which asked investors not to sell to Seven at all. In its advice, the board said Seven’s bid was “opportunistic” and did not represent fair value. The board believes its shares are worth somewhere between $8.25 and $9.13.

The current Boral share price is above Seven’s unconditional offer of $7.30 but below its conditional offer of $7.40. This might suggest the market believes more shareholders are willing to sell to Seven.

Seven has also extended its offer for the conditional purchase. Instead of expiring tomorrow, as first announced, the period to accept will end on 15 July.

Boral share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Boral share price has increased 88.24%. Only yesterday, the company hit another new 52-week high of $7.40. It annual high has been continually re-setting over the past few days, driven mostly by Seven’s takeover bid.

Shares in the company are significantly higher now than they were before the COVID market crash.

Boral has a market capitalisation of $8.7 billion.

The post Boral (ASX:BLD) share price lifts as investors defy board and sell to Seven appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) share price was gaining today, despite no news having been released by the financial services company. At close, the EML share price is $3.63 – 4.3% higher than its previous closing price.

That’s particularly impressive considering the broader market is sliding today. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) closed down 0.65%, while the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) dropped 0.57%.

For the time being, the EML share price seems to be recovering nicely from a disastrous May, within which it sank a whopping 42%. The dramatic fall was seemingly spurred by concerns from the Central Bank of Ireland that EML’s PFS Card Services business may have failed to comply with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism frameworks and governance.

Let’s take a look at the last time we’ve heard from EML Payments, and what its share price has been up to lately.

The month that’s been

Over the last month, the market has only heard one piece of price sensitive news from EML.

It released its third-quarter trading update on 7 June. The news saw the EML share price finish the day 4.19% higher. It also gained another 12.64% over the 3 days following the release.

Within its third quarter update, EML stated its gross debit volume (GDV) had increased 52% to $14.9 billion, and its revenue had increased by 65% to $143.5 million.

The company’s earnings before interest tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) also increased. It was up 62%, reaching $43.8 million.

EML also stated it had 368 deals underway, with 56 of those in the contract negotiation stage. It estimated the GDV of its pipeline at maturity to be $8.3 billion.

Finally, the company’s acquisition of Sentenial and Nuapay, announced in April, was expected to close sometime between early July and late August, depending on approvals.

EML Payments share price snapshot

Over the course of June, the EML payment share price regained 6.1%.

With today’s gains included, EML shares are now 13% below what they were at the beginning of 2021. However, the EML share price has broken even over the last 52-weeks. It’s currently 5.03% higher than it was this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $1.3 billion, with approximately 361 million shares outstanding.

The post The EML Payments (ASX:EML) share price zoomed 4% higher today 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. owns shares of and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended EML Payments. 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 Australian Strategic Material Ltd (ASX: ASM) share price has ended its miraculous run.

Shares in the emerging metals producer are trading more than 8% lower today.

Let’s take a look at how the Australian Strategic share price has performed and why investors are selling today.

Why is the Australian Strategic share price down today?

Australian Strategic has not released any price-sensitive news to explain today’s bearish price action.

However, shares in the company have been on a miraculous run recently. Shares in the Australian Strategic surged more than 60% for the month of June. As a result, many investors could be taking profits in the new month.

What’s been fueling the Australian Strategic share price?

Australian Strategic is an integrated materials business and emerging producer of critical metals.

The company owns the Dubbo project in NSW which has a proven long-term resource of rare earths. In addition, Australian Strategic has a joint venture with South Korea’s Ziron Tech to pilot the production of hafnium and zirconium. Dubbed ‘The Korean Metals Plan’, the company aims to produce and supply titanium and key rare earth metal alloys to the South Korean market.

For the month of June, Australian Strategic hasn’t actually released any price-sensitive news.

Therefore, there are many factors that could have fuelled shares in the company to go on a miraculous run.

In general, the overall renewables sector has performed strongly which could explain the performance of shares in Australian Strategic.

In an investor presentation earlier this year, the company noted that its Dubbo project was targeting zero carbon emissions.

Thanks to a bumper performance in June, the Australian Strategic share price has recovered to be around 8% higher for 2021.

At the time of writing, shares in the company are trading at their intraday low of around $7.15.

The post Shares in Australian Strategic Materials (ASX:ASM) end their miraculous run appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram 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 Cooper Energy Ltd (ASX: COE) share price is back where it started today following the company’s announcement it has cut its FY21 production forecast.

At the time of writing, the Cooper Energy share price is trading flat at 26 cents after falling to an intraday low of 25 cents this morning.

What did Cooper Energy announce?

The oil and gas exploration company provided an update to full year FY21 guidance and cut its previous production forecasts.

Cooper’s sales volume guidance is approximately 3.0 millions of barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). The previous guidance was towards the middle of the 2.9 – 3.1 MMboe range.

In addition, it now sees production of 2.6 MMboe. This is down from the previous guidance of the lower end of 2.7 – 2.9 MMboe.

The company also gave capital expenditure guidance at the low end of $35 – $40 million, which is in line with previous commentary.

In the statement released this morning, Cooper Energy said:

Production from the Sole gas field in the Gippsland Basin has been constrained due to fouling within the sulphur absorbers of the Orbost Gas Processing Plant (owned and operated by APA Group (ASX: APA)). Notwithstanding the gas processing issues, all Sole customer nominations have been met to date, with gas supply sourced from Cooper Energy’s back-up supply arrangements when required.

Regarding production headwinds:

The increased seasonal gas demand and storage withdrawal is mainly due to the increased demand for gas-fired generation to offset the curtailment of electricity generation at the Yallourn Power Station.

A key benefit of processing CHN gas in the Athena Gas Plant2 is that gas supply will be on a firm basis. The plan is for the Athena Gas Plant to be commissioned in Q2 FY22.

Cooper Energy share price snapshot

The Cooper Energy share price is having a difficult year. It fell 35.75% over the first six months of 2021 and is down 7.14% over the past month alone.

It has a market capitalisation of $407 million, with 1.63 billion shares outstanding.

The post What’s with the Cooper Energy (ASX:COE) share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Life360 Inc (ASX: 360) share price is pushing higher again on Thursday.

Earlier today, the family-orientated app maker’s shares were up almost 4% to a record high of $6.93.

When the Life360 share price hit that level, it was up a remarkable 78% since the start of the year.

Why is the Life360 share price charging higher today?

There have been a couple of catalysts for the rise in the Life360 share price today.

One is an announcement earlier this week which revealed that Life360 has created a Family Advisory Council that will bring together well-known celebrities and influencers to help shape the company’s product and marketing strategy.

Management also revealed that it expects its annualised monthly revenue to land towards the upper end of its guidance of US$110 million to US$120 million in 2021. This follows a successful marketing campaign on TikTok.

What else?

Also giving the Life360 share price a boost today was a broker note out of Bell Potter.

According to the note, the broker has retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $7.75. This implies further upside of almost 12% for its shares over the next 12 months.

It commented: “Life360 provided a market update and the key take-out in our view was a soft upgrade in the guidance for annualised monthly revenue (AMR) in December 2021 from in the range of US$110-120m to now “at the higher end” of this range.”

“The key drivers of the upgrade were “early success of user experience improvements and a recent surge in downloads driven by virality on social media, primarily TikTok”. The company also said a further update will be provided at the release of the 1H2021 result in August when “the extent, impact, and duration of the new wave of registrations will be clearer” suggesting there may be some further upside to the guidance.”

“The other key take-out from the update was a US$2.1m investment in the company by a group led by Bryant Stibel which is an investment company founded by Kobe Bryant and Jeff Stibel,” it concluded.

All in all, the LIfe360 share price may have hit a record high today, but the gains may not be over just yet.

The post Broker tips Life360 (ASX:360) share price to keep rising after hitting record high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 recommended Life360, 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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