The National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) share price is on the rise. The positive price movement comes as the ‘Big 4’ bank announced the purchase of the Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) Australian consumer business for $1.2 billion.

At the time of writing, shares in the bank are trading for $27.07 – up 1.42%. It should be noted NAB shares have been trading higher throughout the day and there has not been a noticeable uptick in its share price post-announcement. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), meanwhile, is 0.07% higher.

Let’s take a closer look at the news.

NAB share price rises amid Citi deal

In a statement to the ASX, NAB says it will acquire Citigroup’s Australian consumer business for the value of “net assets of the Citigroup Consumer Business plus a premium of $250 million”.

NAB will pay in cash using existing balance sheet resources. The purchase includes Citi’s home lending portfolio, unsecured lending business, retail deposits business, and private wealth management business.

NAB says the deal will result in $390 million in savings over the next 3 years.

Citigroup’s Australian consumer business has lending assets of approximately $12.2 billion ($7.9 billion in residential mortgages and $4.3 billion in unsecured debt) and deposits of about $9 billion.

NAB will not acquire all of the technology systems that currently service these portfolios. Instead, it will enter into a Transitional Services Agreement (TSA) with Citigroup to assist with the integration of the Citigroup business into NAB’s. The TSA is expected to be in place for approximately 30 months.

Investors may be interested in this deal, judging by the rising NAB share price.

As part of the deal, Citibank senior management and around 800 staff will join NAB on completion. Citigroup’s institutional business in Australia is not a part of the deal.

The purchase is subject to regulatory approval including from the federal Treasurer, APRA, and the ACCC. If all goes as planned, the deal should be completed by March 2022.

Management commentary

NAB CEO Ross McEwan said the proposed acquisition supported NAB’s strategic growth ambition for its Personal Banking business.

The proposed acquisition of the Citigroup Consumer Business brings scale and deep expertise in unsecured lending, particularly credit cards, which continue to be an important way for customers to make payments and manage their cashflows.

The cards and payments sector is rapidly evolving and access to a greater share of payments and transaction data will help drive product and service innovation across our Personal Banking business and deliver market leading customer experiences.

NAB share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the NAB share price has increased 59.5%. It’s outperformed the ASX 200 by over 30 percentage points. Year-to-date, it has increased 19.7% to the index’s 12%.

National Australia Bank has a market capitalisation of $89.2 billion.

The post NAB (ASX:NAB) share price rises on Citi consumer business acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How do you value the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price?

Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. 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. 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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One of the ASX’s largest energy generators and retailers, AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL), is set to give investors a look at its books when it reports its full-year earnings for FY2021 this Thursday. But for any investors anxious to see how AGL’s going, a look at the recent (and not so recent) performance of this company might have to do until then.

This Monday AGL shares are, at the time of writing, starting the earnings week off on the wrong foot. The AGL share price is currently down 0.47% to $7.42 a share. That’s decidedly in the lower end of the company’s 52-week price range of $7.15-$17.16 a share.

As you might have gathered, the past year has not been kind to this energy company. Yes, almost exactly a year ago today, AGL was sitting at over $17 a share. This means that it has since lost a nasty 56.5% of its value since. That’s going off of today’s share price. Year to date, AGL is also down around 38.8%. And is just a few percentage points off of its 52-week low of $7.15 that we saw at the end of last month.

Zooming out a little, and the true impact of these levels becomes apparent. At $7.41 a share, AGL is currently trading at levels that ASX investors haven’t seen since way back in 2004. Early 2004.

AGL last peaked at more than $27 a share, but that was back in May 2017. The company has now lost more than 72% of its value against those levels on today’s pricing.

What’s gone wrong here?

What has caused such a devastating reevaluation of this company’s value? Well, we can put it down to a few factors. First are ethical and environmental (environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG) concerns. Since AGL is one of the largest employers of coal-fired electricity generation in Australia, the company has been faced with ESG concerns voiced by ethically-conscious investors over the past few years.

Indeed, many commentators have cited these concerns as a potential reason behind AGL’s plans to split its company in two by the end of this financial year (FY2022). The company is planning on separating its generation assets and its retail assets into two separate entities. It plans to do this by ‘demerging’ its generation assets into a new company to be called ‘Accel Energy’.

However, investors have also given these plans a lukewarm reception (putting it kindly). Since the announcement in late June, AGL shares have slumped even lower, losing close to 20% since the news was announced. This may have been exacerbated by the company’s announcement that it intends to ditch its previously-flagged new new dividend policy. This involved AGL paying out 100% of its earnings as dividends until FY2023 due to the demerger.

Finally, AGL has also been battered by the deteriorating business conditions of the national wholesale electricity market in which it operates. Back in June, AGL told the markets that it now expects its FY2021 numbers to come in at the lower end of its previous guidance range ($1.58 billion–1.84 billion). It told investors to expect a “material step-down in earnings” over FY2022 as well. That was due to “the lower wholesale electricity prices of the last 2 years now being realised”.

About the AGL share price

No doubt AGL’s shareholders will be hoping for some better news this Thursday. At the current AGL share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $4.64 billion and a trailing dividend yield of 11.07%.

The post What can we learn from the AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) share price history? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• It hasn’t been a great week for the AGL (ASX:AGL) share price
• The AGL (ASX:AGL) share price just hit its lowest point in 17 years
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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price has struggled to deliver meaningful shareholder returns in the last 12-months, with every major move up met with a mitigating selloff.

With highly anticipated full year FY21 results right around the corner, could investors learn anything from last year’s results?

What happened last earnings season?

The buy now pay later (BNPL) sector was running hot right before earning season last year.

Between 1 and 26 August, the Zip share price managed to rally 62.5% from $5.94 to $9.65.

This move up was fueled by a QuadPay trading update on 24 August and an Ebay partnership announcement on 26 August.

It looked as though investors had been buying the rumour and selling the news, as the Zip share price would tumble following the release of its FY20 results on 27 August.

The FY20 results would highlight record figures across the board with revenue increasing 91% to $161 million, transaction volumes lifting 87% to $2.1 billion and a 62% increase in customers to 2.1 million.

On the day of its full year results, the Zip share price would rally 8.39% on open to $10.46, before selling pressure would drag the company’s shares to a negative close of 4.66% to $9.20.

The Zip share price would continue to tumble in the following days, hitting a low of $5.83 by 14 September.

What should investors note about this earning season?

It looks like it has become increasingly difficult to ‘wow’ investors.

Take Zip’s fourth quarter results for example.

The company delivered triple digit growth across most key operating metrics.

During the quarter, Zip’s revenue increased 104% year-on-year to $129.9 million, transaction volumes jumped 116% to $1.8 billion and customers increased 87% to 7.3 million.

The update also delivered the company’s first quarter of trading in the UK, with “strong growth in transaction volume and customer numbers”.

In addition to organic launches in Canada and Mexico.

And noted that the Europe and Middle East acquisitions are expected to be finalised in Q1 FY22 and Q2 FY22 respectively.

Despite the good news, the Zip share price would open 2.90% higher to $7.80 before sliding 7.92% lower by market close to $6.98 on the day of the announcement.

Zip share price snapshot

The Zip share price is up 40.7% year-to-date with most of these gains taking place between January and February.

In terms of its FY21 performance, Zip shares have nudged 4% higher.

The post How did the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price respond last earnings season? 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 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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The Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) share price is soaring today after the company released its financial year 2021 (FY21) results.

Suncorp not only announced a 42% increase to its cash earnings over the year ended 30 June 2021 – beyond the earnings analysts had predicted – but also a $250 million on-market buyback.

The market’s responded positively to the news, boosting the Suncorp share price 8.77% higher. Right now, shares in the banking and insurance company are swapping hands for $12.90 apiece.

Even more exciting, today saw Suncorp reach a new 52-week high. The company’s shares were trading for $12.92 apiece at their intraday high.

Let’s take a closer look at Suncorp’s FY21 results.

The year that’s been for Suncorp

Suncorp’s results for FY21 have seen the company’s share price soar.

This morning, Suncorp reported it had earned around $1.06 billion of cash earnings over the year and brought in a net profit after tax of approximately $1.03 billion – 13% more than the previous financial year.

It also announced it will hand its shareholders a 40 cent final dividend as well as an 8 cent special dividend. Both will be fully franked.

Suncorp’s chair Christine McLoughlan said the dividend and share buyback combined will see $1.2 billion returned to Suncorp shareholders.

Over FY21, 47% of the company’s income came from its insurance division, with the banking and wealth division bringing in another 36%. Suncorp New Zealand drummed in the rest.

Unfortunately, Suncorp wasn’t able to give a strong outlook for FY22. However, it’s confident it will perform well in FY23.

It plans to start investing in strategic growth initiatives that are expected to see results midway through FY22 and come to fruition in FY23.

Suncorp share price review

The year that’s been has seen the Suncorp share price performing well on the ASX.

Right now, it’s almost 50% higher than it was this time last year. It is also up 30% year to date.

Suncorp has a market capitalisation of around $16.4 billion, with approximately 1.2 billion shares outstanding.

The post Suncorp (ASX:SUN) share price surges as FY21 earnings outperform 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 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 Bitcoin (CRYTPO: BTC) price has slipped over the past 24 hours, down 2% to US$43,502 (AU$58,786).

The retrace comes after a strong run higher that kicked off last Thursday, when Bitcoin was trading for US$37,800.

A bit of back of the napkin maths then tells us the world’s biggest crypto by market cap has gained 15% since Thursday’s low. And the token is back up to a year-to-date gain of 49%.

While that’s nothing to sneeze at, its 2021 gains pale in comparison to the world’s number 2 crypto, Ethereum (CRPYTO: ETH).

The Ether price is down 6% over the past 24 hours to US$2,936. But Ether remains up 300% for the calendar year. Or more than 6 times the gains posted by Bitcoin.

Does Ether still classify as an altcoin?

You may have heard Ether referred to as an altcoin.

But with a market cap that now stands at roughly US$344 billion, is that still the right way to refer to it?

For that answer, the Motley Fool turned to Ray Brown, market analyst at Australian crypto and Bitcoin exchange CoinSpot.

Brown told us, “Defined as an ‘alternative’ to Bitcoin, Ethereum could still be considered an altcoin.”

What differentiates the 2 biggest cryptos, Brown said, is that:

Where Bitcoin functions primarily as a currency, Ethereum has been designed as an “open source” network that provides a foundation for other applications and smart contracts. For this reason, Ethereum provides the ideal environment for the 1000s of other altcoins that have developed and scaled their own projects using the Ethereum blockchain.

So, with a 300% price gain, is Ether among the best performing altcoins of the year?

Hardly…

The best performing altcoin of 2021

“When it comes to best performing altcoins on CoinSpot,” Brown told us on Friday, “the number one on the list is currently Telcoin (TEL).”

If you’re not familiar with Telcoin, you’re not alone.

Asked just what this altcoin does, Brown explained:

Telcoin is a new cryptocurrency offering unique services such as providing mobile phone users with the functionality to send money across borders in a more efficient manner than that offered by traditional banking services.

Telcoin has a market cap just north of US$908 million. And its 2021 price gains have been nothing short of phenomenal.

“Telcoin has gained widespread attention as it gained 10,063% year to date,” Brown said.

And just how did it power so much higher so quickly?

“Driving its success,” Brown said, “in July 2021, Telcoin closed a $10 million funding round, introduced a new Telcoin platform stack and two new user-owned decentralised finance (DeFi) products.”

Another top performer on CoinSpot is Axie Infinity (CRYPTO: AXS). According to Brown, that token had gained 7,002% year-to-date, as at Friday.

If you thought Bitcoin was volatile…

When you start hearing about returns like 10,000% in less than a year, it can trigger the old greed factor.

But before giving into any fear of missing out on the potential outsized gains offered by altcoins, remember many can lose some or even all their value in short order.

And the smaller cryptos (outside of most stablecoins) often see far sharper price swings than Bitcoin.

“As many altcoins aren’t as widely known as Bitcoin, they often lack exposure and acceptance, which can often contribute to some additional volatility,” Brown told us.

However, he does see a potentially valuable role for altcoins in the crypto world:

One of the main advantages of altcoins is that by their nature they serve as an alternative investment option to Bitcoin. Many altcoins are working towards very different goals and attempting to build products for a huge variety of purposes.

The post Beyond Bitcoin – the risks and rewards of investing in altcoins 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 Bitcoin and Ethereum. 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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With so many shares to choose from on the ASX, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

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

News Corp (ASX: NWS)

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have retained their conviction buy rating and increased their price target on this media giant’s shares to $44.50. This follows the release of its full year result last week. And while News Corp fell a touch short of its expectations, the broker remains very positive on its outlook. It is forecasting operating earnings growth of 17% in FY 2022. It also believes share buybacks could unlock value for shareholders. The News Corp share price is trading at $32.37 today.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

A note out of Morgan Stanley reveals that its analysts have retained their overweight rating and $185.00 price target on this property listings company’s shares. Morgan Stanley was pleased with REA’s FY 2021 result. And while it suspects that its first half result could be a touch softer than expected in FY 2022 because of lockdowns, it expects listing volumes to rebound quickly. In light of this, it appears to believe any short term share price weakness would be a buying opportunity. The REA share price is fetching $154.24 today.

ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD)

Analysts at Morgans have retained their add rating and lifted their price target on this sleep treatment company’s shares by almost 42% to $41.34. This follows the release of a stronger than expected fourth quarter update last week. It also notes that management expects a US$300 million to US$350 million revenue benefit in FY 2022 from the product recall by rival Philips. The broker notes that this has led to unsatisfied demand everywhere. Though, Morgans acknowledges that bottlenecks in the supply chain could limit the benefit from pent-up demand for devices. The ResMed share price is trading at $37.77 today.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today 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 ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA 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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The Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price is in the red after The Australian reported the entire wine industry is facing a shortage in oak barrels.

At the time of writing, shares in the Penfold’s brand owner are selling for $11.98 – down 0.58%. For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.11% higher.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news.

An oak barrel shortage?

According to the newspaper report, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the global supply chain of French oak wine barrels. Diminishing supply has sent the price of the highly sought-after containers rocketing to more than $2,000 a unit. And as we know, constricted supply in any given product usually leads to price increases.

The report said the supply chain issues were a result of “lengthy delays out of Europe, storms that have destroyed oak trees and a lack of shipping containers…”

Australian Grape and Wine chief executive Tony Battaglene was quoted in the paper as saying:

“It is difficult to get and even more difficult to get on a boat, and the price of freight is really starting to cause problems… and when margins are tight it makes a big difference and there is a big concern – I don’t know what we can do about it.”

With Treasury Wine shut out of its biggest market, China, for the next five years – its margins were already pretty tight. These additional costs appear to concern investors, judging by the falling Treasury Wine share price.

Supply issues hit other sectors

French oak barrels are not the only product hit by the global pandemic. Notoriously, a shortage in semiconductor chips is wreaking havoc on the tech sector and new and used car market. An initial cut back in production and rocketing demand – with everyone working from home – has seen the price of the computer chips skyrocket.

Another product with COVID-related supply problems is timber.

As Motley Fool Australia has reported, timber prices have increased 300% and even 400% on falling supply as well as increased demand. These issues have led to short term spikes in inflation.

Apparently, not even wine is immune to the pandemic.

Treasury Wine share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Treasury Wine share price has increased 8.73%. That’s a 15-percentage point underperformance of the ASX 200. Year-to-date, however, has been better for shareholders. In that time, Treasury Wine shares have appreciated 25.7% to the benchmark’s 12.9%.

Treasury Wine Estates has a market capitalisation of around $8.7 billion.

The post Treasury Wine (ASX:TWE) share price struggles amid supply concerns appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Are the 10 highest paid ASX 200 CEOs worth their paypackets?

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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and 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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The Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price looked as if it was going to break out after a record close of $26.50 on 29 July.

Previously, the Fortescue share price spent 7 months trading sideways after an earlier high of $26.27 on 8 January.

Unfortunately, since their last record close, Fortescue shares have staged a sharp U-turn, tumbling more than 14% in the past 7 trading sessions to $22.76 at the time of writing.

What triggered the sharp selloff?

The sharp decline in iron ore prices has underscored the weakness across ASX iron ore shares.

Two weeks ago, iron ore prices were well above the US$200/tonne mark.

However, steel production mandates from China have seen prices rapidly pull back, sliding to US$172/tonne according to Market Index.

The sharp collapse in iron ore prices saw the Fortescue share price slide 6.06% to $24.90 on 30 July.

According to Mining.com, China has imposed output limits on its steel mills to ensure this year’s production is no more than 2020 figures.

However, steel output grew more than 12% in the first-half compared to 2020, meaning a significant cutback would be needed in the second-half.

Mining.com quoted analysts from Huatai Futures which said, “Domestic consumption (for iron ore) is weakening significantly… Due to different perception of crude steel output cuts, iron ore prices have been fluctuated recently”.

“Under the current strict implementations of steel production controls, high iron ore prices are not seen to be supported,” Huatai Futures added.

Fortescue share price slides to 1-month low

The Fortescue share price has given back a month worth of gains thanks to the free fall in iron ore prices.

This follows a pleasing June quarterly and full-year FY21 update on 29 July.

According to the release, Fortescue delivered 1282.2 million tonnes of iron ore shipments in FY21, topping its guidance of 182 million tonnes.

In addition, the company received US$168/dry metric tonne (dmt) for the quarter and US$135/dmt for FY21.

Many investors will tune in to the August reporting season for a greater insight into how Fortescue has performed over the past financial year and whether or not any special dividends are up for grabs.

Fortescue is expected to deliver its full-year FY21 results on 30 August and here’s a peep into what investors should look out for.

The post Why the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price plunged 15% from all-time highs 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 Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price is on the mends despite oil prices falling on Friday night.

At the time of writing, the oil and gas company’s shares are swapping hands for $22.05, up 0.23%. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.1% higher to 7,544 points

What’s going on with Woodside shares?

Investors are buying Woodside shares with no new news out of the company today. Its most recent update came last Wednesday in regards to an increased capital cost estimate on the Scarborough Project.

According to Bloomberg, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 1.95% to US$66.95 per barrel. In addition, its more expensive brother, Brent crude also sunk 1.84% to $69.40.

WTI is sourced from oil fields in the United States and is lighter due to its low density and low sulphur content. Brent crude on the other hand is sourced from the North Sea between the Shetland Islands and Norway and is popular to refine into diesel fuel and gasoline.

Nonetheless, the drop in oil prices will undoubtedly weigh on Woodside’s profits. This is especially given the fact that WTI and Brent crude reached the $75 mark in July this year.

However, investors appear to be bargain hunting as the company’s shares are trading near year-to-date lows around the $21.70 mark.

After reporting its Q2 trading update in mid-July, a number of brokers changed their rating on the company share price.

Swiss investment firm, UBS cut its price target for Woodside shares by 0.4% to $26.10. Morgans followed suit to also reduce their rating by 3% to $29. The most recent broker note came from Goldman Sachs, which has initiated a bullish price of $34 for the energy producer’s shares.

Based on the current Woodside share price, Goldman Sachs’ 12-month price target implies an upside of roughly 35%.

Woodside share price snapshot

Over the last 12 months, Woodside shares have failed to make any significant movements, up 8%. Year-to-date, however, the company’s shares are down about 3%.

Woodside commands a market capitalisation of roughly $21.2 billion, with 963 million shares on its registry.

The post Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price edges higher despite falling oil price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a modest gain. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.1% to 7,546.1 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping:

ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO)

The ELMO share price is down 5.5% to $5.08 following the release of its full year results. For the 12 months ended 30 June, ELMO reported a 52.1% increase in annualised recurring revenue (ARR) to $83.8 million. This was driven by a combination of organic growth and the benefits of acquisitions. However, investors may have been disappointed with an increase in its churn levels. Though, it is worth noting that this was driven by COVID-19 impacts on some customers. Management is forecasting strong ARR growth again in FY 2022.

Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)

The Flight Centre share price is down 3% to $14.80. The weakness in this travel agent’s shares appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Macquarie this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded Flight Centre’s shares to a neutral rating and cut the price target on them by 11% to $15.50.

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)

The Northern Star share price has fallen 5% to $9.46. Investors have been selling this gold miner’s shares following a sizeable pullback in the gold price on Friday following the release of strong US jobs data. It isn’t just Northern Star that is under pressure. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is down 4% this afternoon.

Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX: REG)

The Regis Healthcare share price has sunk 7.5% to $1.94. Investors have been selling the aged care operator’s shares after it revealed that it has identified potential employee underpayments. The company notes that these payment shortfalls have arisen because some employee entitlements due under various enterprise agreements were recorded inaccurately in the payroll system. It estimates that the underpayments could total $30 million to $40 million.

The post Why ELMO, Flight Centre, Northern Star, & Regis shares are dropping appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Regis Healthcare (ASX:REG) share price dives 8% on potential $40m underpayment
• Why is the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price slipping 2% today?
• ELMO (ASX:ELO) share price on watch after full-year result
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 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. owns shares of and has recommended Elmo Software. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Elmo Software. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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