Both the Australian and US share markets have been a bit nervous in recent weeks about the Delta variant of COVID-19.

After first devastating India, this strain of the coronavirus has since impacted the entire globe. Even Australia, with its strict borders, could not keep it out — and now half the population is under lockdown.

This health crisis has put a nasty spanner in the post-pandemic economic recovery narrative.

Unfortunately, the market is “on tenterhooks” because of Australia’s low vaccination rate, according to Montgomery Investment Management chief investment officer Roger Montgomery.

“The Delta variant is materially more infectious than the original COVID-19 strain and is now the dominant strain in Australia,” he said on the company blog.

“And, importantly, with half of winter remaining, the lack of a broadly vaccinated population presents the virus with an opportunity to mutate, potentially undermining the efficacy of current vaccines.”

So what to do now for share investors?

Back to lockdown-friendly ASX shares

This means that more lockdowns seem to be inevitable for the rest of the year. So Montgomery reckons it’s time to flee back to the stocks that led the way in April last year.

“Lockdowns must necessarily shift spending from services and experiences (that were available in open cities) to online spending on goods,” he said.

“Online shopping spiked during the last 12 to 18 months, and as consumers returned to in-store shopping, online eased. This could rapidly reverse with only essential stores permitted to open.”

Montgomery added that retailers that sell homewares and appliances could do especially well.

“Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN), JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK), Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH) were huge beneficiaries during last year’s lockdowns. And amid the recent easing of restrictions they continued to win.”

He did warn, though, that durable goods like large appliances have long lives. So the rate of sales growth might not be quite as spectacular as last year.

ASX shares related to hospitals, raw materials, energy and building materials all did well in the “re-opening” trade, but would now stumble.

“It should not be surprising, in such circumstances, to see at least some capital reallocated from profitable reopeners to lockdown winners,” said Montgomery.

“The key question for investors to now consider, however, is whether a reopening is undermined by a new strain of the virus that evades vaccines.”

Even vaccinated populations are struggling

Montgomery pointed out that even countries with high rates of COVID vaccination still struggled with Delta.

“In just the last month, the Netherlands, with more than three quarters of the population vaccinated, suffered the devastating effects of reopening too quickly,” he said. 

“Infections rose more than 500% in just one week. Shortly after the Dutch caretaker prime minister, Mark Rutte, announced that face masks would no longer be required, the Dutch government started backtracking on restrictions.”

A glass-half full view of the Delta strain slowing the share market is that inflation worries could subside. 

This would result in more dovish central banks, keeping interest rates at near historic lows.

“The emergence of the highly infectious Delta variant makes the future far less certain,” said Montgomery.

“My take is that higher quality and structural growth businesses should again be on your radar.”

The post COVID Delta is raging: 4 ASX shares to buy in turbulent times appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. 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 savings accounts and term deposits only offering very low interest rates, the share market arguably remains the best place to earn a passive income.

But which ASX dividend shares should you consider buying? Two buy-rated ASX dividend shares to look closely at are listed below:

Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR)

The first ASX dividend share to consider is Carsales. It is the leading auto listings company in the ANZ market and also operates a number of similar websites across the world.

This will soon include the US-based Trader Interactive, which has a focus on the commercial truck, recreational vehicle, powersports, and equipment industries. Carsales recently raised funds to acquire a 49% stake in the company for US$624 million (A$800 million). It also has a call option to acquire the remaining interest on specified terms in the future.

UBS appears positive on the company’s growth prospects. It currently has a buy rating and $24.50 price target on its shares. The broker is also forecasting fully franked dividends of 44 cents per share in FY 2021 and 50 cents per share in FY 2021. Based on the latest Carsales share price of $21.48, this represents yields of 2% and 2.3%, respectively.

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT. It is a real estate investment trust focused on social infrastructure properties. These includes properties such as childcare centres and government sites.

At the end of the first half of FY 2021, the company was enjoying an occupancy rate of 99.7% and a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 14 years. Since then, things have got even better. A recent update reveals that its WALE has lengthened again following a series of contract renewals.

Things have been going so positively for the company that it recently advised that it intends to pay a 4 cents per unit special distribution in FY 2021. This will increase its fully year distribution to 19.7 cents per share. Based on the current Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT share price pf $3.50, this will mean a yield of 5.6% for income investors.

Goldman Sachs currently has a conviction buy rating and $3.84 price target on its shares. It commented: “We allow for at least 2.5% LFL rental growth over the next three years, given 63% of the portfolio leases are on fixed annual reviews (an average of 3% increase). However, we note 37% of the portfolio leases are CPI linked, providing protection in a reflationary environment.”

The post 2 top ASX dividend shares tipped as buys 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 no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended carsales.com 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 Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price has been one of the best performing S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) blue-chip shares in 2021 so far.

Wesfarmers shares are now up 19.24% in 2021 so far, and 31.94% over the past 12 months. That looks pretty good against the ASX 200, which has managed 10.5% and 21.2% over the same periods, respectively.

In fact, just this week, the Wesfarmers share price hit a new all-time high of $61.66. Long story short, it’s been a great share to own in recent times.

But as an ASX 200 blue chip, Wesfarmers is also known as a dividend heavyweight. Not only have Wesfarmers shares consistently paid fully franked dividends over most of the past few decades, but they have also done a pretty good job of delivering dividend increases as well. In 2009, the company paid out $1.10 in dividends per share. But by 2019, this was up to $1.78 (plus a special dividend that year).

These figures don’t reflect the spin-off of Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) in late 2018 either. At the time, Wesfarmers shareholders received one Coles share for every Wesfarmers share owned. Since Coles is now a fully-fledged dividend share in its own right today, this would have further added to long-term shareholders’ dividend returns as well.

But enough dwelling on the past, let’s check out what the Wesfarmers dividend has to offer today.

What kind of dividend do Wesfarmers shares pay today?

Ok, let’s go through Wesfarmers’ last two dividends paid to shareholders. The company’s last dividend payment hit investors’ bank accounts on 31 March this year. It was an interim dividend coming in at 88 cents per share, fully franked. This interim dividend was a 17.3% increase from 2020’s interim payout of 75 cents per share.

Before that, October 2020 saw Wesfarmers’ most recent final dividend. This consisted of the ordinary final (and fully franked) payout of 77 cents per share, as well as a special dividend of 18 cents per share (also fully franked).

This special dividend was funded by some of the excess capital Wesfarmers received from the sale of a parcel of Coles shares in 2020. The ordinary final dividend was slightly lower than Wesfarmers’ previous final dividend of 78 cents per share, but not if you include the special dividend, of course.

On yesterday’s closing Wesfarmers share price of $61.42 per share, these two most recent ordinary dividend payments give Wesfarmers a trailing dividend yield of 2.69%. Factoring in Wesfarmers’ full franking on both payouts, and we get a grossed-up yield of 3.84%.

Taking into account the special dividend from last year, we instead get to a trailing yield of 2.98% on yesterday’s closing share price. That figure grosses-up to 4.26% with the full franking.

Will the good times roll for income investors?

But what about the future? Well, one broker who is bullish on Wesfarmers’ income chops is investment bank, Goldman Sachs.

Goldman currently rates Wesfarmers shares as a ‘buy’. But it also estimates that Wesfarmers will be able to keep its dividend rising over 2021 and 2022 to reach $2.08 per share by FY2023.

Shareholders will likely be keeping their fingers crossed it turns out that way.

The post Here’s what the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) dividend will pay you today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 owns shares of and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET and Wesfarmers 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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There are some S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dividend shares that may be good businesses to consider for income.

A few of them have a record of growing their ordinary dividend over the last few years.

The below two businesses have quite high yields, are rated as buys and are growing their underlying companies:

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)

Magellan is a large fund manager that predominately focuses on investing in large global businesses.

It’s currently rated as a buy by the broker Morgans which has a price target of $58.05.

The broker has noted the growth of funds under management (FUM) for Magellan since the end of FY20.

At 30 June 2021, it ended FY21 with total FUM of $113.9 billion. That was an increase from $109.9 billion in May 2021, $101.4 billion in December 2020 and $97.2 billion at 30 June 2020.

Average FUM for FY21 was $103.7 billion, up 8.6% over the average FUM for FY20.

The FUM is an integral part of generating management fees for Magellan. Indeed, Morgans believes that Magellan can grow its earnings in FY22 with the growth of FUM as well as the new initiatives such as retirement income offering Futurepay.

Magellan also said that in June 2021 it experienced net outflows of $351 million. But it is entitled to $30 million of performance fees for FY21.

Morgans expects the ASX 200 dividend share to pay a dividend of $2.31 per share in FY22. That translates to a partially franked dividend yield of 4.35%.

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)

JB Hi-Fi has a few different segments – JB Hi-Fi Australia, JB Hi-Fi New Zealand and The Good Guys.

The business is currently rated as a buy by the broker Credit Suisse, with a price target of $57.60 on the business.

Credit Suisse pointed out that whilst Aussies are still spending a lot on retail, the recent restrictions in various states adds to uncertainty.

The broker isn’t expect as strong of a year in FY22 as FY21, it believes JB Hi-Fi can have a good year in FY22.

JB Hi-Fi recently said that its FY21 sales momentum was strong, with demand for consumer electronics and home appliance products. Total sales went up 12.6% to $8.9 billion, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 53.8% to $743.2 million and net profit after tax (NPAT) went up 67.4% to $506.1 million.

The ASX 200 dividend share said that gross margins were well managed with strong improvements in gross margins in all businesses. This gross margin improvement, combined with disciplined cost control and strong sales growth, drove “significant operating leverage”.

According to Credit Suisse, JB Hi-Fi is predicted to pay a fully franked dividend yield of 4.6% in FY22. At the current JB Hi-Fi share price, it’s valued at 14x FY22’s estimated earnings.

The post 2 high-yielding ASX 200 dividend shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Magellan Financial Group. 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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On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form again and stormed notably higher. The benchmark index rose 1% to 7,386.4 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 futures pointing lower

The Australian share market looks to have run out of steam and is set to end the week in a subdued fashion. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 23 points or 0.3% lower this morning. This is despite Wall Street performing positively, with the Dow Jones rising 0.1%, the S&P 500 climbing 0.2%, and the Nasdaq pushing 0.35% higher.

Oil prices rise

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could end the week on a high after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 2% to US$71.72 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 2% to US$73.63 a barrel. Oil prices were boosted by forecasts for demand to outstrip supply in the second half of the year.

Northern Star given buy rating

The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price could be in the buy zone according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. This morning the broker retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $13.10 following the release of its strong fourth quarter update. It notes that its shares trade at a discount to its net asset value despite having strong growth potential. Goldman said: “We retain our Buy rating, with NST trading at 0.82xNAV despite offering high-returning organic growth.”

Iron ore price sinks

Iron ore producers BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) could come under pressure today after the steel making ingredient pulled back overnight. According to Metal Bulletin, the spot iron ore price has fallen 5.7% to US$202.63 a tonne. This put pressure on the US-listed shares of the two mining giants.

Gold price rises

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) will be on watch after the gold price pushed higher. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.2% to US$1,807.20 an ounce. Easing risk appetite and softer bond yields gave the precious metal a boost.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday 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 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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If you’re a fan of tech shares, then you may want to look at the ones listed below.

They have been growing strongly and have been tipped to continue doing so long into the future. Here’s what you need to know:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The first tech share to look at is this artificial intelligence (AI) data services company.

Its shares have come under significant pressure over the last 12 months due to concerns over the softening of demand for its services during the pandemic from some of its biggest customers.

The good news is that management appears to believe that this weakness is only temporary and that the issues it is facing aren’t structural. It is also expecting demand to rebound strongly once trading conditions return to normal.

In addition to this, management recently announced plans to evolve into a provider of a broad range of AI data annotation products and solutions. It believes this will unlock growth in new markets.

Ord Minnett remains positive on the company. It currently has a buy rating and $24.75 price target on its shares. This is almost double where its shares trade today.

Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG)

Another ASX tech share to consider is this leading online platform and software as a service (SaaS) provider.

Hipages connects tradies with residential and commercial consumers, providing them with job leads. The platform also allows tradies to communicate with customers and run general admin duties.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company’s growth prospects. So much so, this morning the broker retained its buy rating and lifted its price target by 20% to $4.10.

The broker said: “We are confident in HPG’s ability to execute on its tradie customer acquisition strategy. Current fundamentals of this business look very strong and should support long-term structural growth in the marketplace. We see c.20% p.a. revenue growth over our forecast period and 48% 3-yr EPS CAGR. On our estimates, HPG is trading at attractive valuation multiples vs peers and is in a strong net cash position.”

The post 2 exciting ASX tech shares that could be buys 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 Appen Ltd and Hipages Group Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Appen 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 Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price has been a strong performer in 2021.

Since the start of the year, the banking giant’s shares have risen a sizeable 21%.

Can the ANZ share price keep climbing?

With the ANZ share price rising so strongly this year, investors will no doubt be wondering if it is too late to invest.

The good news is that one leading broker doesn’t believe it is. In fact, it still sees decent upside ahead for ANZ shares over the next 12 months.

According to a recent note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted their price target on the company’s shares to $30.50. This implies potential upside of 9% between now and this time next year excluding dividends.

In addition, Goldman Sachs is forecasting fully franked dividends per share of $1.40 in FY 2021 and $1.45 in FY 2022. Based on the current ANZ share price of $28.00, this will mean yields of 5% and 5.2%, respectively, over the next two years.

Combining Goldman’s price target and dividend forecasts, ANZ shares are expected to provide investors with a total return of over 14% over the next 12 months.

Why is Goldman positive on ANZ?

Goldman likes ANZ for a number of reasons. This includes its net interest margin (NIM) management, growth prospects, valuation, and yield.

It explained: “ANZ’s NIM is being very effectively managed in the face of weaker volumes; a trend we expect to continue through FY21E. The resulting revenue pressures, which are also being adversely impacted by fees (and Markets in 1H21), should be offset by productivity benefits in outer years.”

“The stock is trading more than one standard deviation cheaper versus the sector on PPOP multiples (24% discount vs. 11% long-run average discount), despite our expectations that it will deliver 5% PPOP/share CAGR in the two years to FY23E (with upside from capital management), with a c. 5% dividend yield,” it added.

The post Can the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price keep rising? 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 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 Warrego Energy Ltd (ASX: WGO) share price has spent today’s session in the green, capping off a gain of 2% over the last month.

Today’s gains come as the company released its quarterly results in the morning.

Let’s comb over what the company announced in a bit finer detail.

Warrego Energy activity report

Warrego provided an update on progress at its West Erregulla Field and Northern Perth Basin projects.

At West Eregulla, the company detailed “exciting flow results from WE-4” which achieved a sustained gas flow rate of 35 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) of gas.

The total duration for the well was 57 days, and the WE-4 was cased for future production.

“Drilling performance in both WE-4 and WE-5 improved substantially on a time and cost basis compared to WE-2 and WE-3” the company stated in the report.

Warrego also explained that the Australian Gas and Infrastructure Group (AGIG) had completed the supplementary FEED study for the gas processing facility at West Erregulla.

AGIG and other stakeholders are “close to finalising construction and gas processing agreements for Phase 1” of the gas project at this site.

The company also provided an update on the Northern Perth Basin exploration.

Warrego also received “farm-in inquiries for EPA-0127” and will confidentially provide the data room access to interested parties.

Other key takeouts

Warrego also secured funding commitments for its pre-development activities at EP469 during the quarter.

In addition, it raised an additional $50 million via an equity round at 22 cents per new share.

The raise occurred via a “two-tranche placement” to investment fund Long Lead Items. The first tranche of $32.4 million was issued on 2 July.

However, the remaining $17.6 million still requires shareholder approval at a meeting on 10 August.

The financing is to be used at West Eregulla and the “re-entry and completion of the WE-3 well”.

One particular line that stood out in the report, is that the company is in “advanced discussions to form a banking club”.

The so called “club” consists of three domestic banks and will serve to provide project financing of up to $75 million for a 50% stake in Phase 1 of the West Eregulla project.

Investors seem in favour of Warrego’s progress. Warrego shares are now exchanging hands at 26 cents, a gain of 4% since the market open.

Warrego Energy share price snapshot

The Warrego Energy share price has gained 10% year to date, extending the previous 12 month’s return of 65%.

Although Warrego shares have lagged the broad index this year, they have beaten the S&P / ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s return of ~20% over the last year.

Warrego Energy has a market capitalisation of $291 million at the time of writing.

The post The Warrego Energy (ASX:WGO) share price rises after quarterly report 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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The Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: RCE) share price ended the day higher after the company secured a patent in the United States.

At the closing bell, the pharmaceutical company’s shares finished the day up 3.27% to $1.10.

Let’s take a closer look at what Recce announced to the ASX this morning.

Recce furthers patent protection

According to its release, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Patent Family 3 to Recce anti-infectives.

Titled “Anti-Virus Agent and Method for Treatment of Viral Infections”, the patent furthers the company’s marketing and manufacturing property until February 2037.

The approved claims relate to its flagship drug, Recce 327, and anti-viral formulation, Recce 529. They are as follows:

• Composition/method of manufacture of Recce anti-infectives;
• Use of Recce 327 or Recce 529 for the treatment of viruses having a lipid envelope or coat, examples being SARS-CoV-2 and Corona viruses, Influenza viruses, HIV, Hepatitis, Ross River and Herpes viruses; and
• Administration of Recce 327 or Recce 529 by oral, injection, inhalation and transdermal dose applications.

Recce’s lead drug candidate (Recce 327) is being developed to treat blood infections and sepsis.

Investors appeared buoyed by this latest development, sending the Recce share price higher on Thursday.

According to World Atlas, the US is the largest pharmaceutical market in the world, valued at $33.97 billion. The country’s stringent processes in developing and manufacturing drugs has led to some of the best-selling products across the globe.

Just this week, China also granted Recce Patent Family 3 to its anti-infectives. This leaves Australia as the only remaining nation yet to approve the patent. China, Japan, Europe and now the United States have all authorised Recce’s Family 3 patent.

Recce CEO James Graham said:

Recce’s intellectual property portfolio continues to grow in-line with our business strategy and the unprecedented global infectious disease crisis before us. We are thrilled to see that our anti-viral patent granted in the USA, the largest pharmaceutical market in the world; with yet further market-monopolies reinforcing the unique opportunities among a significant range of both bacterial and viral pathogens.

Recce share price summary

Despite today’s rise, Recce shares have had a disappointing 12 months, falling more than 15%. However, year-to-date, the company’s share price is slightly up by 5%.

Recce has a market capitalisation of roughly $192 million, ranking as the 722nd largest company on the ASX.

The post Recce (ASX:RCE) share price edges higher after patent approval appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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Are you looking for blue chip ASX 200 shares to add to your portfolio this financial year? If you are, the two ASX shares listed below could be worth a closer look.

Here’s what analysts think of these shares:

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is CSL. It is one of the world’s leading biotherapeutics companies, comprising the CSL Behring and Seqirus businesses. CSL Behring is the global leader in plasma therapies and Seqirus is the second largest influenza vaccines business.

Both of CSL’s businesses have been growing at a solid rate in recent years and have been tipped to continue doing so in the future. This is being driven by their leading therapies and lucrative research and development pipelines.

In respect to the latter, CSL’s pipeline contains a number of highly promising products that have the potential to generate significant revenues in the future.

And while plasma collection headwinds are likely to weigh on its performance in the near term, this is understood by the market and priced into the current CSL share price.

UBS is positive on the company. The broker currently has a buy rating and $330.00 price target on its shares.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

Another blue chip ASX 200 share to consider is REA Group. This property listings company has been a strong performer in recent years despite battling a housing market downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic.

This demonstrates the resilience of REA Group’s business model and its exceptionally strong position in the ANZ market.

Positively, with the housing market now thriving once again, REA Group’s growth outlook is looking increasingly positive. This should be boosted by price increases, new revenue streams, acquisitions, and its cost control.

It is for this reason that the team at Goldman Sachs is particularly positive on the company. So much so, the broker has recently retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to a lofty $198.00.

The post 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares rated as buys 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 CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA 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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