• 3 growing small cap ASX shares to watch

    Magnifying glass on blue background symbolising searching for ASX shares

    The small end of the Australian share market is home to a number of companies with the potential to grow materially in the future.

    Three that investors might want to get better acquainted with are listed below. Here’s why they should be on your watchlist:

    Damstra Holdings Ltd (ASX: DTC)

    Damstra is a growing integrated workplace management solutions provider. The company’s cloud-based workplace management platform is used by businesses across the globe to track, manage, and protect their workers and assets.

    During the first half of FY 2021, the company delivered a 29.6% increase in revenue to $13.3 million. Even if you annualise this, it is still the smallest fraction of a total addressable market estimated to be worth US$20 billion by 2022.

    IntelliHR Ltd (ASX: IHR)

    Another small cap ASX share to watch is IntelliHR. It is a cloud-based human resources (HR) and people management platform provider. Its platform has been designed to support HR professionals and leadership teams within an organisation, using technology that automates manual HR processes and captures critical people data.

    Management notes that this gives users a real-time understanding of an organisation’s human resources and provides tools to create a performance-based culture aligned with the employer’s business strategy. It also contributes to strategic decision-making with data driven insights. 

    IntelliHR recently released a trading update which revealed annual recurring revenue (ARR) had reached $3.55 million. This was double what it reported a year earlier.

    SILK Laser Australia Limited (ASX: SLA)

    A final small cap ASX share to watch is SILK Laser. It is a laser, skin care, and cosmetic injections company that has been performing very strongly in FY 2021. In February, SILK Laser released its half year results and revealed a 62% increase in network sales to $44.9 million and a 305% increase in net profit to $4.7 million.

    Looking ahead, management sees plenty of opportunities to expand its network to drive growth. At present, SILK has a total of 56 clinics in operation. This is well short of its goal of increasing its network by 6 to 10 new clinics per annum up to a total of approximately 150 clinics.

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  • The Chimeric (ASX:CHM) share price drops despite cancer trial news

    medical research, laboratory, medical breakthrough

    The Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: CHM) share price has fallen today. It coincides with the drug development company’s update on its cancer cell therapy.

    At market’s close, the Chimeric share price was trading at 29 cents, down 3.33%.

    Established in 2020, Chimeric is developing a breakthrough cancer cell therapy drug for solid tumours. The company uses chlorotoxin, from scorpion venom, to bind and direct T cells to target glioblastoma, or GBM.

    Initial scientific research conducted in Los Angeles has found promising anti-tumour activity from CAR T therapy.

    What did Chimeric update the ASX with?

    In its announcement, Chimeric advised it has started treatment on the second cohort of its CLTX CAR T phase 1 trials. The study is being conducted at the City of Hope, a world-renowned cancer treatment and research centre near Los Angeles.

    Specifically, the first patient in the second dosing group received a higher level of treatment than that administered to the first dosing group. The dose-escalation study seeks to assess Chlorotoxin CAR T’s safety and maximum tolerance in participants suffering from recurrent or progressive GBM.

    Patients in this group will be administered their treatment via two methods – intracranial intratumoral (ICT) and intracranial intraventricular (ICV) at a total dose of 88 x 106 CAR T cells.

    Chimeric hopes to recruit between 18 to 36 people with MMP2+ recurrent or progressive GBM across 4 different dose levels. This is expected to run over the course of a 24-month period. Once the appropriate dosing amount is established, the company will move to phase 2 trials.

    Chimeric chief operating officer Jennifer Chow commented:

    We are very encouraged by the continued progress of the trial, moving to this important next phase with dose escalation and dual routes of administration.

    This is another significant milestone in the development of this important therapy for patients with progressive or recurrent glioblastoma.

    Chimeric share price review

    Since listing on the ASX boards at the start of this year, Chimeric shares have remained relatively flat. The company’s shares reached an all-time high of 44 cents in January, before treading lower, hovering around the 30 cent mark.

    Based on today’s Chimeric share price, the company has a market capitalisation of roughly $56 million, with approximately 196 million shares outstanding.

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  • 2 ASX dividend shares that could be a buy for income today

    A row a pink piggy banks ranging in size from small to big, indicating ASX share price and dividends growth CBA bank dividend increase

    With interest rates remaining at near-zero, record lows, the appeal of ASX dividend shares for income remains strong. Since there are very few alternatives out there to a fully franked dividend, choosing the right dividend shares to generate income for your ASX share portfolio is a delicate task. After all, 2020 saw many ASX shares that used to have a reputation for solid dividend income, rain hail or shine, cutting their shareholder payouts.

    Here are 2 ASX dividend shares for your consideration today.

    Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)

    Rural Funds Group is an ASX REIT (real estate investment trust) that specialises in agricultural properties. This could present many advantages from an income perspective right off the bat. We all need food and other products that rely on farmland for production. Rural Funds owns a number of properties around Australia that are leased out for the production of everything from grapes to beef, macadamias, sugar cane and almonds.

    Rural Funds has managed to deliver a pretty robust schedule when it comes to paying out dividends. The REIT aims to increase its annual dividend distributions by 4% per annum. It managed to do just that last year, despite the ravages of the pandemic. On the current Rural Funds share price, the company has a trailing dividend yield of 3.94%.

    Magellan Infrastructure Fund (ASX: MICH)

    Another ASX dividend share to consider today is this listed fund from Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG). Magellan Infrastructure Fund is designed to provide a robust stream of income for shareholders, with a low risk of permanent capital losses.

    It does so by investing in a portfolio of infrastructure assets. These include toll road companies, electricity generators and retailers, airports, rail, and water utilities, amongst other things. This fund invests in companies all over the world, but you can find the ASX’s own Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) amongst its current holdings. It’s also hedged against foreign currency movements.

    Magellan Infrastructure Fund’s last two dividends came in at 5.95 cents a share and 7 cents a share. That gives this company a trailing distribution yield of 4.42% on current pricing. Because it’s a managed investment vehicle, there is also a management fee of 1.05% per annum for investors to consider.

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  • The Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price hits record high today

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    Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) shareholders are enjoying a great start to the week after shares in the mining company touched an all-time high of $8.37 today.

    The Chalice Mining share price has since retreated and was trading up 4.76% at $8.14 at the market close today.

    As there has been no price-sensitive news from the company this month, it’s possible today’s gains relate to the increasing price of gold.

    At the time of writing, the gold price is up 6.9% and is currently worth US$1883.60 ­an ounce.

    That’s still a way off gold’s highest price of the year so far – US$1950.50 – which it reached in early January.

    Let’s take a look at the Chalice Mining share price and why it has taken off on the ASX.

    About Chalice Mining

    Chalice is a mining explorer. It has 3 major operations in Australia including the Julimar Nickel-Copper-PGE Project, Pyramid Hill Gold Project, and Hawkstone Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project.

    Chalice is also involved in a number of joint ventures and has three up and coming mining targets, all based in Australia.

    Bumper 2021

    Most of the news Chalice Mining has disclosed to the ASX this year has been in regard to its Julimar Nickel-Copper-PGE Project.

    It had a number of announcements regarding the mine in March, which saw its share price gain 51% in just 1 month.

    Then, in April, the company announced it had found 165 new, high-grade mineralised areas, each with at least 1 gram of palladium per tonne, at the project.

    It also purchased 4 properties in the area to expand the project.

    Chalice Mining share price snapshot

    The Chalice Mining share price is having a fantastic year on the ASX.

    Currently, the Chalice Mining share price has gained 89% since the start of the year and is up a massive 653% since this time last year.

    The miner has a market capitalisation of around $2.6 billion, with approximately 345 million shares outstanding.

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  • ASX 200 up, Zip rises, Aristocrat Leisure reports

    The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by 0.2% today to 7,046 points.

    Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

    Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

    The Zip share price rose around 1% today after revealing some global acquisitions.

    It’s buying the European buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Twisto Payments and it has also entered into an agreement to acquire the Middle East, UAE-based BNPL leader Spotii.

    Zip said these strategic transactions will enable it to respond to the increase demand from merchants for a single global BNPL solution across multiple markets with a consistent global service quality.

    The ASX 200 BNPL business already owns some shares of these two businesses, so whilst they are worth $180 million, the transactions will cost a combined amount of $160 million.

    Twisto has over 1 million customers that have transacted on the platform with an annual run-rate of $12 million revenue and $230 million total transaction value (TTV) as well as 14,000 merchants. Some merchants include Pizza Hut, Gap and Under Armour.

    Spotii is operational in both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE. It’s poised to expand further in the region.

    Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

    The Aristocrat Leisure share price was flat after reporting its FY21 half-year result.

    The ASX 200 business said that its operating revenue fell by 1% to $2.23 billion. Normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 6% to $750.3 million. It also reported that normalised net profit after tax (NPAT) rose by 18.4%.

    However, looking at the reported result, profit after tax fell 73.5% to $346.5 million. The reported result for the prior corresponding period included the significant item of a deferred tax asset of approximately $1.1 billion which is expected to generate long-term cash tax savings.

    Aristocrat Leisure CEO and managing director Travor Croker said:

    The results are reflected in the share growth and margin expansion achieved across digital and key gaming segments in the six months to 31 March 2021 and the double-digit increased it normalised NPATA delivered in the same period.

    We expect uncertain and volatile conditions to continue near term, and we are closely monitoring key factors including consumer sentiment and gaming venue patronage.

    Nevertheless, we enter the second half of fiscal 2021 with excellent momentum, resilience and confidence with a strong balance sheet to continue to invest organically to grow share and accelerate growth through M&A in line with rigorous criteria.  

    New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC)

    The New Hope share price rose by by 0.4% today after giving its quarterly update.

    The coal miner reported that its total saleable coal production for the three months to 30 April 2021 was down 3.3%. For the nine months to April 2021, total saleable coal production was down 20.4%.

    It generated EBITDA of $101 million with “strong” cash generation for the quarter resulting from consistent production combined with improved realised prices. The Newcastle coal price has increased by 78% since September 2020. The mining company expects pricing will continue to improve, the company is well placed to finish the year with a solid financial result. Increased economic activity in Asia and cooler than expected temperatures has translated into stronger pricing and demand.

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  • 2 growing ASX dividend shares analysts are tipping as buys

    Dividend stocks represented by paper sign saying dividends next to roll of cash

    Interest rates may be at ultra-low levels, but all is not lost thanks to dividend shares.

    The Australian share market is home to a large number of shares offering yields that are vastly superior to savings accounts and term deposits. Two to consider are listed below:

    Aventus Group (ASX: AVN)

    The first ASX dividend share to look at is this fully integrated owner, manager, and developer of large format retail centres.

    Thanks to the quality of its tenancies and its exposure to everyday needs and national retailers, Aventus has been a very positive performer in FY 2021. This is not something that many retail landlords can say.

    One broker that has been impressed with what it’s seen is Goldman Sachs. It currently has a buy rating and $3.04 price target on its shares. The broker notes its resilient performance during a period of uncertainty and a difficult operating environment.

    Goldman is forecasting a 16.6 cents per share distribution in FY 2021 and then an 18.5 cents per share distribution in FY 2022. Based on the current Aventus share price of $2.84, this represents 5.8% and 6.5% yields, respectively.

    Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR)

    Another ASX dividend share to look at is Carsales. It is the auto listings company dominating the ANZ market and operating in a number of international markets. This will soon include the United States, once the proposed acquisition of Trader Interactive completes.

    Carsales has been growing at a solid rate over the last decade and has continued this trend in FY 2021. Management recently provided guidance for the full year, revealing that it expects revenue of $433 million to $437 million and adjusted net profit after tax of $149 million to $153 million. The latter represents an 8% to 11% increase on FY 2020’s profit of $138 million.

    Analysts at Morgans are positive on the company. They recently put an add rating and $20.82 price target on its shares.

    Morgans is also forecasting dividends of 56 cents per share in FY 2021 and 59 cents per share in FY 2022. Based on the current Carsales share price of $17.62, this will mean fully franked yields of 3.2% and 3.3%, respectively.

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  • The Nearmap (ASX:NEA) share price is down 15% this month

    asx share price fall represented by lady in striped tshirt making sad face against orange background

    Niche ASX technology company Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) has endured a pretty rough time in recent months. Since climbing as high as $3.22 in late August, its share price has slid all the way back down to just $1.80 as at the time of writing.

    And the bloodshed shows no signs of abating – in just this month alone, the Nearmap share price has plunged more than 15% lower. The company’s shares are now getting worryingly close to the 52-week low of $1.50 they reached all the way back in May last year.

    Company background

    Nearmap is an aerial imagery company that provides up-to-date high resolution images and geospatial data to its business and government clients. Nearmap gives private companies and government agencies the ability to conduct virtual site visits without ever having to physically leave their offices.

    This allows people working in fields like engineering, infrastructure development, mining and construction to plan and analyse complex projects.

    Recent news

    The most recent round of selloffs may have been sparked by Nearmap’s early May announcement that a complaint had been lodged against its American subsidiary in the US District Court in Utah. The complaint was filed on behalf of two companies, Eagle View Technologies and Pictometry International Corp, and alleges that the rooftop estimation technology used by Nearmap’s subsidiary, Nearmap US, infringes upon their copyright.

    Nearmap’s announcement went to great lengths to stress that the allegations were “without merit” and didn’t relate to the company’s core proprietary technology. But the Nearmap share price still plunged on the news, dropping more than 20% on the day of the announcement.  

    This extended a rough period for Nearmap. Back in February the company had to defend itself against a short seller report issued by J Capital Research – the same research firm that attacked ASX darling WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) back in October, 2019.

    However, there’s no doubting that the one-two punch of the short-seller report and now these legal concerns – even if neither have any merit – have made some shareholders nervous. This is particularly true in a market where growth shares are under increased pressure due to inflation fears.

    Financials

    The big question for investors now is whether Nearmap shares have been oversold on the news.

    Just two days prior to announcing the allegations made against its subsidiary, Nearmap had upgraded its FY21 annual contract value (ACV) guidance. Based on its strong performance over the first half of the year, the company stated that it now expected full-year ACV to be in the range of $128 million to $132 million (up from its previously issued guidance of $120 million to $128 million).

    This came after the company reported strong results for the first half of FY21, driven by record incremental ACV growth in its North American portfolio. Total ACV increased by 21% over the prior comparative period to $112.2 million, while group statutory revenue jumped 18% to $54.7 million.

    While some uncertainty remains around the copyright allegations made against Nearmap, the company’s own outlook for the remainder of the financial year clearly remains bullish.

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  • 2 blue chip ASX shares that analysts rate highly

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    If you want to construct a balanced portfolio, having a few blue chip ASX shares in there would be a smart move. But with so many to choose from, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy.

    To narrow things down for you, I have highlighted two ASX blue chip shares that come highly rated:

    REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

    The first blue chip ASX share to look at is REA Group. It is the clear leader in real estate listings in the Australian market. For example, during the third quarter, the realestate.com.au website set new audience records and delivered over 3 million buyer enquiries per month. This was an increase of 82% for the quarter.

    This was underpinned by 12.5 million unique visits each month on average and 130.7 million average monthly total visits. This is 3.2 times more visits than the nearest competitor.

    Looking ahead, REA Group appears well-placed to continue its fine form. Particularly given the improving housing market, price increases, cost reductions, acquisitions, and new revenue streams.

    Macquarie is very positive on the company. Earlier this month, the broker retained its outperform rating and lifted its price target to $179.10.

    Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL)

    Another blue chip to look at is Sonic Healthcare. It is a leading medical diagnostics company with operations across the world.

    Sonic has been a very impressive performer in FY 2021. It delivered impressive profit growth in the first half and appears well-placed to repeat this in the second half.

    This is thanks largely to strong demand for COVID-19 testing services globally. At the end of the first half, Sonic had undertaken more than 18 million COVID-19 PCR tests across ~60 Sonic laboratories globally.

    Positively, this has been supported by solid performances from the rest of the business, which has rebounded strongly from the pandemic.

    One broker that is particularly positive on Sonic is Morgan Stanley. Earlier this month the broker put an overweight rating and $38.60 price target on its shares.

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  • Are ASX 200 iron ore shares in for a rough ride?

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    S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) iron ore producers may soon see their incomes impacted as China ramps up its attempts to lower the commodity’s price. Currently, the iron ore price is US$197 per tonne – down from its record high of US$229.50 per tonne, which it hit earlier this month.

    Previously, the commodity’s price had been rising as a result of China’s increasing demand for steel – of which iron ore is a key component.

    On Wednesday last week, China’s cabinet called for measures to reduce the price of commodities, including iron ore.

    These measures include an increase to export tariffs in place for some iron and steel products and the removal of export tax rebates for certain steel products. According to China, these changes are an attempt to increase the supply of the commodities by the nation’s domestic market.

    Following the announcement of the proposed measures, the price of iron ore fell on Thursday and has continued to slide each day since.

    Now, according to reporting from Bloomberg today, China’s demand for minerals, including iron ore, may wane, as indicators show the nation’s construction boom might soon slow.

    Can the iron ore price expect more pain?

    Bloomberg reported that economic data from last month implied China’s economic recovery and credit impulse – which Bloomberg states represents new credit as a percentage of GDP – may have reached its peak.

    This means China could possibly need to slow down its spending in the near future, which may, in turn, put the breaks on its construction boom. If China’s levels of construction stall, its demand for steel would presumably decrease. Due to the laws of supply and demand, this would likely result in an even lower iron ore price.

    The recent boom in the iron ore price was largely driven by China’s pandemic recovery strategy, which included a surge in construction. China was already the world’s biggest importer of iron ore prior to the boom, with its insatiable appetite for steel pushing the price of iron ore to an all-time high.

    Most of China’s iron ore comes from Australia and, in 2019, 81.7% of Australia’s exported iron ore went to China. Australia produces around 60% of the world’s iron ore. Despite the current trade tensions, China has few options but to import Australian iron ore to satisfy its demands.

    However, if Chinese demand does in fact wane, as these latest reports suggest it may, this could be significant for Australian iron ore producers.

    Kallanish Commodities Ltd analyst Tomas Gutierrez was quoted in Bloomberg’s report as saying:

    We’re still at an early phase of tightening in terms of money reaching projects.
    Iron ore demand reacts with a lag of several months to tightening. Steel demand is still around record highs on the back of the economic recovery and ongoing investments, but is likely to pull back slightly by the end of the year.

    ASX 200 iron ore producers today

    Some ASX 200 iron ore producers were struggling today on the back of the iron ore price falls.

    Australia’s 3 largest iron ore producers are BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX:FMG), and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX:RIO).

    By the market’s close, their share prices were down 1.97%, 4.3%, and 2.15% respectively.

    By comparison, the ASX 200 jumped by 0.16% today.

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  • Could the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price be worth looking at for its FY21 dividend yield?

    map of australia with golden 5G sitting on it representing telstra share price profit result

    At the current Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price, the FY21 dividend yield might be quite sizeable. Could Telstra shares be worth owning?

    How big is the Telstra dividend going to be?

    Telstra has a few different objectives regarding its capital management framework.

    It wants to maximise returns for shareholders. Telstra wants to maintain financial strength. The telco also wants to retain financial flexibility.

    With that in mind, there are four principles that are guiding Telstra.

    The first is that it’s committed to balance sheet settings that are consistent with an A band credit rating.

    The next principle is that it’s going to pay 70% to 90% of underlying dividends as fully franked ordinary dividends.

    Third, it’s targeting a capital expenditure to sales ratio of around 12%, excluding spectrum, from FY23.

    Finally, Telstra is going to maintain its financial flexibility for portfolio management and strategic investments.

    Telstra also intends to pay special dividends. It’s returning in the order of 75% of net one-off NBN receipts to shareholders over time through fully franked special dividends.

    In the FY21 half-year result, it declared an interim dividend of 8 cents per share. Telstra also said that it intends to pay total dividends of $0.16 per share in FY21.

    Profit guidance

    Telstra now expects its total income to be in a range of $22.6 billion to $23.2 billion.

    FY21 second half underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is expected to be in the range of $3.3 billion to $3.6 billion, compared to $3.3 billion in the first half.

    The underlying EBITDA guidance for FY21 of between $6.6 billion to $6.9 billion includes an in-year NBN headwind of approximately $700 million. There’s also an estimated COVID-19 FY21 impact of approximately $400 million.

    The guidance range for free cashflow after operating lease payments was recently increased from the range of $2.8 billion to $3.3 billion, up to a range of $3.3 billion to $3.7 billion due to working capital management and the impact of lower hardware revenue.

    Is the Telstra share price worth looking at?

    Morgan Stanley rates Telstra shares as a buy, with a price target of $4. The broker expects the FY21 and FY22 dividend is going to be $0.16 per share, which translates to a grossed-up dividend yield of 6.7%. Morgan Stanley noted that there was a little boost to funding of mobile networks in the regions within the federal budget.

    However, not every broker thinks that Telstra is a buy. Morgans only rates Telstra as a hold with a price target of $3.33 – which is lower than where it is right now. However, Morgans has noted the restructure will enable the telco to realise the value of its infrastructure assets. According to Morgans, Telstra shares are valued at 28x FY22’s estimated earnings.

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