News broke this afternoon that Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) has launched its payment solution, Wpay. While the Woolworths share price hasn’t visibly reacted to the news yet, it’s having a good day on the ASX.

At the time of writing, the Woolworths share price is up 1.25%, with shares in the company swapping hands for $42.28.

Let’s take a closer look at the retail giant’s new payment solution.

Wpay payment solution

Wpay claims it brings together the retail experience of the supermarket giant and its global partnerships to meet the needs of both merchants and customers.

Woolworths is already the largest non-bank receiver of card payments in Australia. It processes more than 1 billion transactions each year – equalling $50 billion worth.

Wpay states it offers both in-store and online payments, including split payments. It also includes fraud management and other security features.

Further, Wpay provides merchants with rich analytic insights and allows them to offer scalable gift card management and custom rewards programs.

According to Wpay’s website, Woolworths’ customers using the Wpay app can select and pay for their groceries as they shop, with no need to go through a check out when they’ve finished.

Currently, Woolworths’ supermarkets and Big W, as well as former Woolworths brand EG Group, are using Wpay.

According to The Australian, Wpay will become the payment provider for Endeavour Group’s brands BWS and Dan Murphy’s, following the demerger of Endeavour Group from Woolworths. The demerger is currently in its final stages.

The Australian also reported former National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) executive and Woolworths’ financial services leader, Paul Monnington, is to be Wpay’s managing director.

Woolworths share price snapshot

The Woolworths share price has been performing well on the ASX lately.

Currently, the Woolworths share price has gained 5.75% since the start of 2021. It’s also 17.24% higher than it was this time last year.

The retail giant has a market capitalisation of around $52 billion, with approximately 1.2 billion shares outstanding.

More reading

• ASX 200 down 0.5%: A2 Milk rises, Woolworths completes Quantium transaction
• Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price lower despite investment update
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX record highs tumble like… Costa shares
• The ASX dividend party’s here: how to get yours
• ASX shares in this sector are pushing towards 52-week highs

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had a pretty successful year in 2021 so far. We’ve seen the index gain a hefty 7.7% year to date. That’s as well as three new record highs, as of just today.

But some ASX 200 shares have invariably performed better than others. Here are three such shares that have all gained at least 50% in 2021 so far:

Codan Limited (ASX: CDA)

Codan is an ASX 200 company that designs and makes mining and communications equipment, as well as metal detectors. It has had a phenomenal year so far, with the Codan share price up 61.6% since the start of 2021. It appears a major catalyst behind this sharp increase was the $114 million acquisition of the US-based Domo Tactical Communications, which was announced back in February. Domo Tactical helps supply high-bandwidth wireless technology. That news helped spark a big jump in the Codan share price at the time. Momentum appears to have kept building from there.

Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK)

Virgin Money, also known by its former name of Clydesdale Bank (CYBG PLC), is a UK-based bank that was spun out of National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) a few years ago. It is one of the most volatile ASX bank shares on the ASX 200, having a 52-week range of $1.26–$3.90 a share as of today. Fortunately for shareholders, sentiment has broken to the upside in 2021 so far. Virgin Money shares are up almost 63% year to date. The strength of the global economic recovery, and an accommodating credit market, appear to be the driving forces here.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Pilbara Minerals is another ASX 200 share that is no stranger to volatility. This company has a 52-week range of 23 cents to $1.47 a share. But once again, 2021 has been very kind to Pilbara shareholders. Pilbara shares are up 50% year to date. This includes a healthy 3% bump just today. Pilbara is an ASX lithium miner – a sector that’s received a lot of attention this year amid the rise of electric vehicles and renewable energy. Lithium is a key component of the rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles as well as used for electrical grid backup.  As my Fool colleague reported today, lithium demand out of China is also expected to remain strong in 2021 as well.

More reading

• 2 buy-rated ASX lithium shares
• Codan (ASX:CDA) share price edges lower following divestment news
• ASX 200 up 0.65%: BHP & Rio higher, energy shares jump
• Expected spike in Aussie dollar to >US80 cents spells trouble for these ASX shares
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX record highs tumble like… Costa shares

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Some S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) blue chip shares could be good ideas to consider at the moment.

Bigger businesses have a reputation for being more reliable in times of difficulty, like COVID-19. Blue chips have the ability to continue to produce good returns over time.

These two ASX 200 blue chip shares could be particularly useful to think about:

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

Macquarie is one of the largest financial businesses on the ASX with several different divisions. There’s the investment bank, the asset management segment, the retail banking division and ‘commodities and global markets’ segment.

The business generates a lot of profit. In FY21 it saw net profit of $3 billion, which was an increase of 10% despite all of the impacts of COVID-19.

This profit was delivered thanks to business’ diversified operations. It was the commodities and global markets business that really generated the growth with net profit of $2.6 billion – up 50%.

The ASX 200 blue chip remains strongly positioned with its balance sheet. The bank’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 12.6%. Management believe the business is well positioned to operate through all market cycles and invest in growth.

The CEO and managing director of Macquarie, Shemara Wikramanayake, said:

Macquarie remains well-positioned to deliver superior performance in the medium-term. This is due to our deep expertise in major markets. Strength in business and geographic diversity and ability to adapt the portfolio mix to changing market conditions, an ongoing program to identify cost saving initiatives and efficiency, a strong and conservative balance sheet and a proven risk management framework and culture.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Wesfarmers is one of the largest and most diversified ASX 200 blue chips.

It owns a variety of different businesses including industrial businesses, a stake in a lithium joint venture and several quality retail companies including Bunnings, Officeworks and Catch.

Wesfarmers has grown Bunnings into a clear market leader in the home hardware space and it generates very strong returns.

In the FY21 half-year result, Bunnings generated $1.275 billion of earnings before tax. This represented a 76.6% return on capital.

Wesfarmers has been significantly investing in its online shopping capabilities for shoppers since the onset of COVID-19 and this is paying off. Total online sales across the group more than doubled for the half, excluding Catch. Including Catch, online sales of $2 billion were recorded.

Wesfarmers is also investing in its capabilities to ensure it’s as capable and efficient as possible.

The ASX 200 blue chip share said that it’s going to continue to develop and enhance its portfolio, building on its unique capabilities and platforms to take advantage of growth opportunities within existing businesses and to pursue investments and transactions that create value for shareholders over the long-term.

More reading

• What were Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) shares up to last month?
• Why the Nanosonics (ASX:NAN) share price fell 8% in May
• The ALS (ASX:ALQ) share price gained 17% in May. Here’s why
• How did the CSL share price fare in May?
• ASX 200 up 0.65%: BHP & Rio higher, energy shares jump

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The CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) share price surged on Tuesday as its seen to be one of the best placed to ride the ongoing construction boom.

The latest building approvals data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is firing up the sector. But the focus is clearly on CSR.

The CSR share price jumped 4.9% to $6.04 today. In contrast, the Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) share price added 1.3% to $6.91, Adbri Ltd (ASX: ABC) share price gained 4% to $3.36 and GWA Group Ltd (ASX: GWA) share price increased 3.5% to $2.98.

Strong approvals data supports building materials sector

Building approvals was strong even without the benefit of the government’s Home Builder stimulus. This shows the underlying strength in the sector, according to Citigroup.

“We maintain a constructive outlook with low rates and strong established house price growth to underpin our housing starts forecast of +18% growth in the June 2021 quarter,” said Citi.

“The pace of approvals has been running faster than this, presenting upside to our forecasts.”

CSR share price better placed to boom

The broker believes we are still in the early stage of the earnings upgrade cycle. This means the CSR share price is particularly well positioned to rally further and Citi is recommending investors buy the shares.

“We forecast housing starts to grow by +18% to 49,717 for the June 2021 quarter, which brings starts to 201.8k in FY21e,” said Citi.

“Should the current run-rate in approvals be maintained, this could present upside risks to our forecasts. CSR is best exposed to domestic housing, which drives ~80% of Building Product sales.”

Renos taking off

Households are also spending big on renovations. I didn’t need the ABS to tell me that as I am sandwich between neighbours who are making major modifications to their homes while I struggle to work from home in lockdown Melbourne.

Nonetheless, the data is impressive. The value of renovation activity approved increased 57% in April, and that comes off the 52% uplift in March.

I am sure Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shareholders would be happy about that given the conglomerate owns Bunnings.

Part of the market that isn’t doing as well

However, commercial building activity remains volatile. This is one reason why Citi doesn’t think investors should buy the GWA share price.

“The value of commercial work approved increased by +6% in April 2021, down from the +50% growth seen in November 2020,” explained Citi.

“Given long lead times in non-residential work, evidence of a more sustained turnaround is required before we become more positive on GWA (Neutral).

“For GWA, commercial and multi-res drives ~40% of overall sales and likely a larger proportion of earnings.”

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX record highs tumble like… Costa shares
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• These 3 shares are this week’s biggest fallers of the ASX 200
• Why BetMakers, CSR, EOS, & Fisher & Paykel Healthcare are tumbling
• ASX 200 up 1.1%: Tabcorp receives $4bn offer, KKR wants Link’s PEXA business

The post Why the CSR (ASX:CSR) share price is surging today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 are highly rated:

Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH)

Bigtincan is a leading provider of enterprise mobility software to businesses globally. Its popular software unlocks new and more effective ways for teams to perform at higher levels and deliver better business results by creating more positive and efficient buying experiences.

The company notes that its platform empowers sales and service representatives to maximise their use of sales collateral to engage with customers and prospects more effectively. Pleasingly, demand for its software has been growing quickly, which is underpinning strong annualised recurring revenues (ARR) growth. 

Booktopia Group Ltd (ASX: BKG)

Booktopia is an online book retailer which has been growing at a rapid rate. For example, during the first half, the company reported a 51.1% increase in revenue to $112.6 million and a 502.3% jump in underlying EBITDA to $8 million.

Pleasingly, Booktopia then followed this up with a 53% increase in revenue during the third quarter. Management advised that this strong growth is being driven by the shift to online shopping and its new distribution centre. The latter is allowing the company to benefit fully from increased demand by shipping record volumes of books.

More reading

• Top ASX shares to buy in June 2021
• Don’t play the game you can’t win…
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• 2 growing small cap ASX shares to watch closely
• 2 ASX shares this fund manager thinks could be cheap

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With interest rates likely to remain low for some time to come, the dividend shares listed below could be top options for anyone seeking a passive income stream.

Here’s why these dividend shares are rated as buys:

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

The first ASX dividend share for income investors to consider is Coles.

It is of course one of the “big two” supermarket operators in the ANZ market. It also has a number of complementary businesses such as flybuys and Liquorland.

Due to the strength of its businesses and their positive long term outlooks, Coles has been tipped as an ASX share to buy. Especially for income investors due to its attractive yield and favourable dividend policy.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company and is forecasting generous dividend payments in the coming years. Its analysts currently expect dividends per share of 62 cents in FY 2021 and 66 cents in FY 2022.

Based on the current Coles share price of $16.60, this will mean fully franked yields of 3.7% and 4%, respectively, over the next two years. Goldman has a buy rating and $20.50 price target on its shares.

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

Another ASX dividend share to look at this toll road operator. Transurban is the owner of a collection of important roads in Australia and North America. These include CityLink in Melbourne and the Cross City Tunnel and Eastern Distributor in Sydney.

While lockdowns and travel disruption have led to a notable decline in traffic on its roads over the last 12 months, volumes are recovering and are expected to continue doing so as life returns to normal.

The good news for income investors is that this should mean that its distributions return to normal soon after as well. That’s certainly what Ord Minnett is expecting. It is positive on Transurban and currently has a buy rating and $16.00 price target on its shares.

Ord Minnett is forecasting dividends of 37 cents per share in FY 2021 and then 58 cents per share in FY 2022. Based on the latest Transurban share price of $14.00, this equates to yields of 2.6% and 4.1%, respectively, over the next two years.

More reading

• Leading broker names its best ASX share ideas for June
• 4 ASX 200 blue chip shares analysts rate as buys
• How much is Transurban’s (ASX:TCL) dividend worth today?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX record highs tumble like… Costa shares
• 2 ASX dividend shares with attractive yields

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Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals the Australian economy is now 0.8% greater than it was before the pandemic.

GDP figures released today show the economy grew 1.8% in the quarter and 1.1% over the year. In addition, the economy grew 0.8% above the December 2019 quarter. This represents the last full quarter before the coronavirus reached our shores. The growth figure for this period is greater than economists anticipated. A Reuters poll of experts predicted a smaller growth rate of 1.5%.

Australia’s economy outpaces the world

Harley Dale, chief economist at CreditorWatch, says today’s results are excellent news.

“Against the broader economic backdrop, you could call today’s results a real boomer. If you think back to early June last year and how everyone feared GDP would fall off a cliff, this update is outstanding, particularly the trajectory of key commodity prices,” Mr Dale said.

While Mr Dale was upbeat about today’s news, he did say Australia still had “some way to go.”

“The March 2021 quarter figures have the protective shield of government support protecting them to some degree.”

“We’ll find out more in the June quarter when most of that support has been taken away. Realistically, it’s where we’re at in 2021/22 that will count, and nobody knows a great deal about that right now,” he added.

Australia is one of only five economies to be larger than it was pre-pandemic. That’s according to Kristina Kolding of Deloitte Access Economics, who was quoted in Reuters.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was quick to brag about the news. He tweeted a chart showing Australia’s economy had grown since the pandemic. The chart also demonstrated that every other nation of the G7’s economy had shrunk.

Today’s National Accounts have confirmed Australia’s economy is now bigger than it was pre-pandemic, a feat no major advanced economy has achieved.

We’re continuing to lead the world in our economic comeback – with our economy growing by 1.8% in the March quarter. pic.twitter.com/Pvu94PNlvO

— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) June 2, 2021

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AMP Capital Chief Economist, Shane Oliver, says the high levels of consumer confidence, jobs recovery, and excess savings are all positive signs for future consumption. If this is true, that would be good news for retail companies like JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN).

..Aust consumer spending rose 1.2%qoq in the Mar qtr with spending on goods (-0.5%) starting to normalise after a boom, but spending on services +2.4% & recovering with reopening.
High levels of consumer conf, jobs recovery & excess saving are +ve for consumer spending ahead pic.twitter.com/3HhJMupyWo

— Shane Oliver (@ShaneOliverAMP) June 2, 2021

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Mr Oliver also said private demand was the key to today’s positive figures. However, he also stated that this may have been aided by government assistance, such as JobKeeper and HomeBuilder.

ASX 200 and the economy

While the ASX 200 and the economy are not perfectly related, they can move together during certain times, even if at different rates. Take for example the COVID sell-off of March last year. The Australian stock market tanked at the same time as the economy did, as business and consumers suffered alike.

Investors have seen an even greater return. The ASX 200 has grown 7.9% over the same time the economy has only increased 0.8%. As more Australians become vaccinated and the economy opens up more, future economic growth should be good news for diversified investors.

Of course, some companies can move independently of economic conditions. Locally listed Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) and Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM) both boomed last year as the rest of the economy faltered. Companies can also fail as the economy rises.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.65%: BHP & Rio higher, energy shares jump
• Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) share price falls as the retailer deletes Twitter
• 2 ASX coronavirus shares that could be buys
• Wake up world, this tech sector is the future: analyst
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week

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If you’re looking for shares to buy, then the tech sector could be a great place to start. In this sector there are a number of companies with the potential to grow strongly over the next 10 years.

With that in mind, I have picked out two top tech options to consider. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

The first ASX tech share to look at is this printed circuit board (PCB) focused electronic design software provider. 

While COVID-19 appears to be weighing on demand in the near term, Altium appears well-positioned for long term growth once it passes. This due to its industry-leading platform and a number of tailwinds which are underpinning increasing demand for electronic design software.

These tailwinds include the rapidly growing artificial intelligence and internet of things markets, which are leading to a proliferation of electronic devices globally. And as the vast majority of electronic devices have PCBs inside them, this bodes well for Altium.

Citi is positive on Altium and currently has a buy rating and $33.50 price target on its shares. The broker believes Altium is nearing the end of the COVID-19 related downgrade cycle and well-placed for growth over the long term.

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

Another ASX tech share to look at is San Francisco-based app maker Life360. It provides families with a market leading app which includes features such as real-time location sharing and notifications and Crash Detection and Roadside Assistance.

Based on the 28 million monthly active users the company has, these features appear to be resonating well with families.

Pleasingly, the company has just strengthened its offering further. This was achieved through the the acquisition of Jiobit for US$37 million. Management notes that the addition of the wearable location device provider is very supportive of its growth strategy and opens up cross-selling opportunities.

Credit Suisse is a big fan of the company. The broker currently has an outperform rating and $8.30 price target on its shares. It has been pleased with its performance in recent quarters and believes the opportunity to further monetise its user base is becoming increasingly clear.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• The Altium (ASX:ALU) share price makes a comeback in May
• Are Altium (ASX:ALU) shares a buy right now?
• These 3 beaten down ASX tech shares are trading near historic lows
• How are the ASX WAAAX shares performing in 2021?

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If you’re an income investor searching for dividend options, then you might want to take a look at Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS).

Why Telstra?

This telco giant has been a bit of a nightmare for income investors over the last few years but things are changing rapidly.

This is thanks to the easing NBN headwind and the progress it is making with its T22 strategy. Telstra’s T22 strategy is creating a much leaner business and one which is expected to return to growth in the near future.

In fact, the company’s CEO, Andy Penn, is targeting mid to high single digit operating earnings growth in FY 2022.

Back in February, Mr Penn explained: “I am confident the many initiatives we have taken under our T22 program, particularly in simplifying the business and the digitisation program, will further improve customer experience. To get the real benefits from all the effort we’ve already made, Telstra needs to be bold. I’ve set an aspiration for mid to high single-digit growth in underlying EBITDA in FY22 and $7.5 to $8.5 billion of underlying EBITDA in FY23. I am confident we can deliver this if we remain focused.”

In addition to this, the company is aiming to unlock value by monetising assets and splitting into three separate entities.

Is the Telstra share price good value?

Goldman Sachs is a fan of the company and sees value in the Telstra share price.

The broker currently has a buy rating and $4.00 price target on the company’s shares.

Goldman also continues to forecast the company paying a 16 cents per share fully franked dividend for the foreseeable future.

Based on the current Telstra share price of $3.48, this will mean a very attractive 4.6% dividend yield for investors over the coming years.

More reading

• How did the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price fare in May?
• 4 ASX 200 blue chip shares analysts rate as buys
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX record highs tumble like… Costa shares
• Wake up world, this tech sector is the future: analyst

The post Is the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price a good option for income investors? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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One of Australia’s leading brokers has released its best ideas for the month of June.

These ideas are the ones that Morgans believes offer the highest risk-adjusted returns over a 12-month timeframe and are supported by a higher-than-average level of confidence. Listed below are three ASX shares among its best ideas.

Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)

Morgans is a fan of this banking giant and currently has an add rating and $34.50 price target on its shares. It remains the broker’s preferred pick in the banking sector. It commented:

“We believe ANZ is the most compelling of the major banks on a valuation basis. We expect ANZ to benefit the most of the major banks from the tailwinds currently in place for treasury and markets income. We expect ANZ to continue to focus on absolute cost reduction over the medium term. ANZ has de-risked its loan book over recent years – particularly its institutional loan book – such that the quality of its loan book has increased.”

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

This supermarket operator is another share that makes the broker’s best ideas list in June. Morgans currently has an add rating and $18.50 price target on its shares. It said:

“While vaccines are being rolled out across Australia, we think people will continue to spend more time at home due to the risk of COVID flare-ups with the working-from-home trend also likely to stay for some time. This will be beneficial for the major supermarket operators. We continue to prefer COL (~21.5x FY22F PE and 4% yield) over WOW (26x FY22F PE and 3% yield) mainly due to valuation.”

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

A third ASX share that Morgans rates highly is this airport operator. The broker has an add rating and $7.03 price target on its shares. The broker said:

“Revenues have been badly affected by COVID-19-related government travel restrictions. For the short term SYD is no longer a yield stock (we do not expect it to pay a distribution until 2022/23). It is a capital growth play. SYD remains a premier airport asset whose earnings and thus share price we think will rebound with a recovery in pax (particularly the far more valuable international pax).”

More reading

• Why all eyes are on the BHP (ASX:BHP) share price today
• ANZ (ASX:ANZ) shares in focus on $1 billion raising announcement
• 4 ASX 200 blue chip shares analysts rate as buys
• Could more offers like Qantas’ speed up the Australian vaccine rollout?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX record highs tumble like… Costa shares

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