The IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price is trading slightly higher today following the release of an announcement.

At the time of writing, the nickel and lithium-focused mining company’s shares are up to $7.63.

What did IGO announce?

This afternoon IGO announced the successful completion of the divestment of its 30% interest in the Tropicana Gold Mine to Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST).

According to the release, the net proceeds from the divestment totalled $889 million, which comprises $903 million of sale consideration less $14 million of completion adjustments.

In addition, the Tropicana related hedge book has an approximate out of the money mark to market position of $20 million. IGO revealed that it intends to settle these positions progressively during June 2021.

What now?

Management notes that the completion of the divestment has maximised the value of Tropicana for IGO’s shareholders and will allow the company to pursue its strategic focus on commodities critical to enabling clean energy.

It will also allow IGO to complete the transaction with Tianqi Lithium without the need to draw on debt facilities, while retaining a strong balance sheet with pro forma net cash of $300 million.

The Tianqi Lithium transaction will see the company acquire a 49% non-controlling interest in a new joint venture with Tianqi Lithium. This will provide it with a 24.99% indirect interest in the world-class Greenbushes Lithium Mining and Processing Operation and a 49% indirect interest in the Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide Plant. Both are located in Western Australia.

IGO’s Managing Director and CEO, Peter Bradford, commented: “We are delighted to have successfully divested, and now settled, the transaction with Regis to divest our stake in the Tropicana Gold Mine. Tropicana has been a wonderful asset for IGO however, our strategic focus on clean energy metals and pending lithium transaction with Tianqi meant a divestment at this juncture was the best outcome for our shareholders.”

The Northern Star share price is up 3% to $11.78 today.

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• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

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It might be ancient history now, but there was a time when Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) was regarded as one of the most reliable ASX dividend shares on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). This company had managed to increase its dividend distributions every year between 2009 and 2020 And by a wide margin too. In 2009, Transurban paid out 22 cents per share in distributions. By 2019, that had grown to 59 cents per share, an annual compounded growth rate of 10.37%.

This yield seemed very secure too. Transurban operates toll roads, a highly stable and predictable earnings base. Well, that’s what we all thought until COVID-19 came along. It turns out that a global pandemic was one of the few events that could spark a situation where everyone effectively stopped driving. Well, not everyone. But in April last year, Transurban reported that traffic volumes had dropped by close to 50% on some of its roads.

Traffic volumes slowly recovered over 2020, but that wasn’t enough to prevent some serious damage to Transurban’s dividend distribution abilities. In 2020, the company managed to pay out just 47 cents in distribution, breaking its 10-year streak of annual increases. Things have still not recovered today either. Last August, Transurban paid out a distribution of 16 cents per share. Back in February this year, Transurban’s distribution came in at 15 cents a share.

Have we found the bottom for Transurban’s dividend?

In its half-year earnings report that Transurban delivered in February, the company did not expand too much on its future distribution plans. It only told us that the 15 cents per share distribution was “114% covered by 1H21 free cash [flow]”. It went on to say that “FY21 distribution [is] expected to be in line with Free Cash, excluding Capital Releases”.

So how do these dividend distributions translate into yield for Transurban shares? Well, on the current (at the time of writing) Transurban share price of $13.88, Transurban’s last two distribution payments of 16 cents and 15 cents per unit equate to a trailing yield of 2.23% for Transurban shares. 

What does the future hold?

A trailing yield of 2.23% is not what investors were used to before COVID. But this is a Brave New World Transurban is operating in today. Remember, the company told us in February that its traffic volumes between 1 July and 31 December 2020 were down 17.8% against the same period in 2019. Transurban funds its dividends through free cash flow. As such, we would probably need to see these declines reversing and traffic volumes to get close to, or back to, where they were pre-COVID before the company can increase its dividends back to its old levels. 

More reading

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• 2 ASX 200 shares that could see a COVID-19 recovery

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Motley Fool Australia Chief Investment Officer Scott Phillips joined Weekend Sunrise on Sunday to discuss the sting in the tail for some workers as Super increases (and preemptively channels Bob Hawke), and celebrates roaring sales for Aussie icon, Akubra.

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has given back its morning gains and is edging lower. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.1% to 7,173.4 points.

Four ASX shares that have not let that hold them back today are listed below. Here’s why they are pushing higher:

Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS)

The Bravura share price is up 7% to $3.52. This is despite there being no news out of the financial technology company today. However, as I noted at the weekend, Bravura has been tipped as a share to buy recently by analysts at Goldman Sachs. They see a lot of value in its shares at the current level.

Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC)

The Costa share price is rebounding from last week’s selloff and is up 3.5% to $3.43. Bargain hunters may be swooping in today on the belief that the horticulture company’s shares were oversold last week. Investors were heading to the exits in their droves following the release of an update at Costa’s annual general meeting.

Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING)

The Inghams share price is up 2.5% to $3.50. This morning analysts at Goldman Sachs released a bullish broker note relating to the poultry producer. According to the note, the broker has retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $4.50. Goldman made the move in response to the company’s solid trading update released at the end of last week.

Propel Funeral Partners Ltd (ASX: PFP)

The Propel share price has risen 6% to $3.62. The catalyst for this was news that the funeral company has entered into an implementation agreement with its manager, Propel Investments. The agreement is intended to internalise key senior management functions. The independent directors stated that they believe the internalisation proposal is in the best interests of Propel Funeral and its shareholders.

More reading

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The market is pushing further into record territory this morning and those bitten by the FOMO buy will be pleased to know that there are at least two ASX shares that brokers just added to their “buy” list.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) hit a high of 7,203 this morning before easing slightly into the red during lunch time.

Investors are waiting for more positive cues before pushing the index higher. This pause could be a good time to look at ASX newbie – the Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Ltd (ASX: PWR) share price.

The ASX share that’s the newest buy idea

The auto dealer only debuted on the bourse last month, and what a great time to enter the market!

You only need to look at its peers to see why. The Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX: APE) share price and Autosports Group Ltd (ASX: ASG) share price have revved up recently. Lack of supply and strong demand for vehicles have created near-perfect conditions for the sector.

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on the Peter Warren share price with an “overweight” recommendation.

While the sun won’t always be shining this brightly on the industry, the broker reckons the shares are cheap even on more normal profit margins.

Tailing a bigger rival to growth

What’s more, Morgan Stanley thinks Peter Warren will follow in the footsteps of the Eagers Automotive share price.

“We think the M&A opportunity resembles that of APE – which scaled from A$40m PBT in 2010, to A$120m+ five years later, through organic, inorganic and synergy execution,” said the broker.

“We can envision a similar bull case for PWR.”

Morgan Stanley’s 12-month price target on the Peter Warren share price is $4.40 a share.

Temp headwinds prompts buy upgrade for this ASX share

Meanwhile, the Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price is the newest buy idea from Credit Suisse.

The broker upgraded the fruit and vegetable grower to “outperform” from “neutral” after management’s sour outlook.

But the factors that have contributed to Costa Group missing market expectations are seasonal and not structural, in Credit Suisse’s view.

It’s all in the margins

“Here in, lies the crux of valuing CGC. It is difficult to ascertain what might be a normal margin for CGC’s domestic product. A normal year is likely to have some agricultural impacts,” said the broker.

“In a 12-month period, CGC hit peak margins of about 14%-15%. In a bad year, CGC had margins as low as 5%-6%.

“When agriculture conditions are favourable we are swayed to think normal margins are 11%-12%. When conditions become challenging we are inclined to use more conservative margins of 10%-11%.”

These assumptions prompted the broker to upgrade the stock. Credit Suisse’s 12-month price target on the Costa Group share price is $4.15 a share.

More reading

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The Pure Hydrogen Corporation CDI (ASX: PH2) share price is sliding during early-afternoon trade. This comes despite the company announcing an update on the Serowe Project in Botswana.

At the time of writing, the oil and gas exploration company’s shares are fetching for 24 cents, down 5.88%.

What did Pure Hydrogen announce?

Investors are dragging Pure Hydrogen shares down today regardless of the company’s latest progress report.

According to its release, Pure Hydrogen advised that its joint venture partner, BotsGas will commence spudding this week. The drilling campaign in Project Serowe aims to confirm geological modelling of the area to extract coal bed methane (CBM).

The campaign consists of two separate stages of three appraisal wells each (6 wells in total).

Serowe 2, the first stage 1 well is on track to be spudded in the coming days, followed by Serowe 3 & 4 wells. Pure Hydrogen noted the campaign will exceed the minimum acreage commitments which should ensure permit renewals in the future.

Two of the wells will be converted to production wells, with the remaining third well used to identify high-grade CBM.

The second stage 3 wells are expected to be drilled sometime later this year. However, this is dependent on the results and knowledge gained on the drilling program that is scheduled to commence.

Pure Hydrogen managing director, Scott Brown commented:

Serowe is an exciting asset with good upside and the gas price in Botswana is very high at the moment. BotsGas’ team is well-placed to execute this program. They have the experience and the technical skills to unlock the value from these highly prospective leases.

Pure Hydrogen share price summary

It has been an eventful 2021 for Pure Hydrogen shares, with investors recording gains of around 200%. The company’s share price reached a multi-year high of 44 cents in March, before treading lower since.

Pure Hydrogen commands a market capitalisation of roughly $81 million, with approximately 313 million shares outstanding.

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• ASX 200 down 0.15%: A2 Milk class action, Nuix crashes again

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The bullish Wisr Ltd (ASX: WZR) share price, which has surged ~30% in the last two weeks, isn’t trading on Monday after the company announced a trading halt.

The Wisr share price was trading at

Wisr operates in the lending industry, facilitating a unique financial wellness ecosystem underpinned by competitive consumer finance products. The company’s Wisr app automatically rounds up transactions to the nearest dollar, using the spare change to pay off debt faster.

Why the Wisr share price won’t be trading

A trading halt was requested by Wisr in relation to a capital raising. The only detail provided in the announcement was that the capital raising will be comprised of an institutional placement and a share purchase plan. Its shares will remain in a trading halt until Wednesday, 2 June or after the completion of the placement.

What investors might want to note is that Wisr already retains a strong cash position, with $33 million in cash and cash equivalents as at 31 March 2021.

Why the Wisr share price has surged in recent weeks

It certainly took a while for the Wisr share price to get going. Its shares have been consolidating around the low 20 cent level since June last year and only managed to push above the mid 20 cent level in the last few weeks.

Despite its share price chopping back and forth, the company has been busy kicking goals, delivering a number of financial and operational milestones.

The company’s March quarter results witnessed an accelerated level of new loan originations, revenue growth and loan book quality metrics. Wisr’s operating revenue surged to a record $7.5 million for the quarter, a 275% increase in 3Q20 and 27% increase on 2Q21.

This growth was underpinned by a strong interest in its financial wellness platform, with more than 56,000 new customer profiles created in the March quarter, compared to 47,900 in 2Q21. This brings the company’s total profiles to 401,488 as at 31 March, and the company is confident in its path to 1 million customers at a proven low acquisition cost.

More recently, the company hit another milestone with the pricing of its $225 million asset-backed securities (ABS). Its inaugural ABS transaction received a top tranche AAA rating from international ratings agency, Moody’s, demonstrating the company’s low credit risk and ability to repay short-term debt.

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

In some ways, investing is like participating in a race. You don’t necessarily need to be the fastest right out of the gate to win. Rather, you just need to keep a steady pace over the long haul to come out ahead.

The S&P 500 is one of the best long-term investments out there, and famed investor Warren Buffet has long touted the S&P 500 as an ideal option.

In fact, during the 2020 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) shareholder’s meeting, Buffett claimed that “for most people, the best thing to do is to own the S&P 500 index fund.” Here’s why the S&P 500 is so powerful, and how it could help you make a lot of money in the stock market.

A more resilient investment

The S&P 500 is comprised of 500 of the largest and most stable companies in the United States. When you invest in an S&P 500 index fund, you’re investing in all the stocks that make up the S&P 500 in order to mirror the index’s performance.

Because the S&P 500 contains some of the strongest companies in the country, it’s more likely to see positive long-term growth. In addition, it’s more resilient in the face of market crashes.

This isn’t to say that the S&P 500 is immune to market downturns. However, it’s more likely to recover from crashes than some other types of investments.

Since the S&P 500’s inception in 1957, it has faced countless corrections, downturns, and crashes. Given enough time, however, it’s been able to recover from every single one. And since its inception, it has earned an average rate of return of around 10% per year.

^SPX data by YCharts

This doesn’t necessarily mean the S&P 500 will continue earning 10% returns year after year. There will be years when you experience losses, while other years you’ll earn much higher-than-average returns. Over time, those good years and bad years should average out to around 10% per year.

The market will inevitably crash sooner or later. But by investing in S&P 500 index funds, there’s a very good chance your investments will recover.

How much can you earn with the S&P 500?

Although S&P 500 index funds are relatively safe investments, you can still potentially make a lot of money.

The key to getting rich with the S&P 500 is to give your money as much time as possible to grow. Ideally, you’ll have started saving early in life and can continue investing consistently for several decades. But if you’re off to a late start, it’s still important to start investing now instead of putting it off.

Let’s say you’re investing $300 per month in S&P 500 index funds, and you’re earning a 10% average annual rate of return. Here’s approximately how much you’d accumulate over time, depending on how many years you have left to save:

Number of Years to Save	Total Savings
5	$22,000
10	$57,000
20	$206,000
30	$592,000
40	$1,593,000

Source: Author’s calculations

Given enough time, it’s possible to become a millionaire by investing in S&P 500 index funds. But even if you don’t have 40 years left to save, you can still make a substantial amount of money.

Also, one of the best features of this type of investment is that it’s hands-off. In other words, your S&P 500 index funds will perform best when you don’t touch them for as long as possible. So all you need to do is invest consistently and then sit back and let your investments do the rest of the work for you.

Warren Buffett is a proponent of S&P 500 index funds, and it’s easy to see why. There are several advantages to choosing this type of investment, and by investing consistently, you can potentially earn more than you think.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Propel Funeral Partners Ltd (ASX: PFP) share price is moving higher today, up 5% in late morning trade.

Propel Funeral is the second-largest private provider of death care services in Australia and New Zealand. Below we take a look at the company’s internalisation proposal, released this morning.

What did Propel Funeral Partners propose?

Propel Funeral’s share price is gaining today after the company reported that it has entered into an Implementation Agreement with Propel Investments Pty Ltd, the current Manager.

The agreement follows on negotiations initiated and led by the company’s independent directors and is intended to internalise key senior management functions.

Propel Funeral has been externally managed by the Manager since September 2017 under a Management Agreement with an initial term of 10 years from the company’s November 2017 initial public offering (IPO). That agreement automatically extends for 5-year periods, unless the Manager agrees to end it earlier, or shareholders vote to terminate it after the end of the initial term.

Currently, the Manager entirely oversees Propel Funeral’s affairs in return for a range of fees.

Propel Funeral reported that its proposed internalisation will end the Management Agreement in return for a $15 million fee paid to the Manager. $7.5 million of that will come from a capital raising via new fully paid ordinary shares at $3.25 per share. That’s below the current $3.59 per share. The remaining $7.5 million will come from available funds and existing debt facilities.

Addressing the internalisation proposal, Propel Funeral’s chairman, Brian Scullin said:

Internalisation of Propel’s senior management functions brings the company into line with the market standard management structure for ASX listed operating companies and offers greater potential to broaden the shareholder base, among other expected benefits…

Each director has confirmed they will continue as directors of the internalised company. The executives, who co-founded Propel, will become employees by entering into executive services agreements… Importantly, with Propel’s operations increasing from 80 locations at IPO to 138 locations currently, the company will continue to undertake its acquisition led growth strategy following the internalisation of key senior management functions.

The independent directors stated that they believe the internalisation proposal is in the best interests of Propel Funeral and its shareholders.

The company plans to issue a Notice of Meeting seeking shareholder approval, with a General Meeting slated for July.

Propel Funeral share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Propel Funeral’s shares have gained 21%. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 25% in that same time.

Year-to-date, the Propel Funeral share price is up 26%.

More reading

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The Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1) share price is moving upwards during Monday’s session. At the time of writing, shares in the retailer are trading at $2.74, up by 0.74%. This is down from an intraday high of $2.77 achieved in morning trade. At the same time, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently sitting 0.1% lower.

The company comes into focus after it completed its purchase of the Glue retail business.

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

Why the Accent share price is moving

Investors are driving up the Accent share price after the company advised it has completed its “acquisition of the Glue Store retail business and the wholesale and distribution brands business of Next Athleisure Pty Ltd”.

News of the acquisition was first announced in late April. The news sent Accent shares rocketing 11.2% on the day of the announcement.

Other brands Accent has acquired today include Nude Lucy, Lulu & Rose, and Article One. As well, Accent will receive distribution rights for international brands such as le coq sportif, Kappa, K-Way, and Sebago.

The company will rename Next Athleisure to ‘Accent Lifestyle’, which will become a new division within the Accent business. Accent says it hopes to grow the business “in the underserviced and fragmented youth apparel market in Australia and New Zealand”.

Investors are seemingly buoyed by today’s announcement judging by the performance of the Accent share price.

Management commentary

Accent Group CEO Daniel Agostinelli commented:

The strong strategic alignment between the Accent and Next Athleisure businesses provides us with a significant opportunity to accelerate our growing apparel business.

Our strategy and plans are already well progressed to increase Glue Store’s store network over time, accelerate its digital and virtual offerings, grow its owned vertical brands and significantly increase the range of footwear in its stores.

Accent share price snapshot

During the past 12 months, the Accent share price has increased by around 102%.

Despite plunging by more than 70% at the height of the COVID-19 market sell-off, the company’s value has now surpassed its pre-pandemic levels. In April this year, Accent shares hit an all-time high of $3.08 each – the tail end of the Glue purchase announcement.

Accent Group has a market capitalisation of $1.48 billion.

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• Which ASX 200 shares withstood today’s selloff?

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