I’d bet everyone who has either invested in ASX shares, or wants to, has one goal in mind: making money. Or, to put it in a more palatable way, building wealth.

Everyone knows that it’s possible to build wealth using ASX shares and the share market (as well as lose it). But that’s where the commonalities end.

Some ‘investors’ like to bet big on penny stocks, trying to find that lottery ticket that will deliver a 1,000% return in a week.

Others like to invest only in dividend shares, enjoying the slowly-rising stream of passive income these can generate.

Some investors like to find fast-growing growth companies to hitch their wagon to. Others enjoy having a mix of growth and dividend shares.

There’s no right answer when it comes to the question of ‘how should I invest?’. Warren Buffett has built his wealth by steadily assembling a portfolio of other successful businesses under his own umbrella company Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B).

Berkshire is famous for investing in mature, quality companies like Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) by buying and holding.

In contrast, Masayoshi Son, of Japan’s SoftBank, has built up his company by investing in fast-growing tech businesses. Businesses like Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER) and Doordash Inc (NASDAQ: DASH). Different paths, same result.

Successful investing has many doors

All successful investors have something in common: they have a goal and a method that works for them. And they stick to it.

This is something all investors might want to consider adopting.

There are some investors out there who just stick with dividend-paying shares. They know the companies that fund dividends, and what it takes for these companies to grow their dividends over time. It might make sense to them in a way that investing in other kinds of companies might not.

By contrast, other investors like finding companies that are in the early stages of their development but can go on to prove big winners. To these investors, dividend companies might seem boring.

Growth investors pride themselves on being able to sniff out a developing business that has the secret ingredients necessary for it to rapidly grow from a small company to a large one.

Finding the strategy that resonates with you, your personality, and your investing style is of utmost importance. Warren Buffett probably wouldn’t be any good at start-up tech investing, and Mr Son likely wouldn’t be adept at ‘Buffett-style’ buying and holding’.

Part of these investors’ genius is that they fully understand their investment strategies and they stick to them.

That’s something we can all aspire to do when attempting to become successful investors.

More reading

• Here’s why billionaire Warren Buffett’s net worth is surging
• Warren Buffett’s share portfolio revealed!
• Here’s why Warren Buffett prefers buybacks to dividends
• Warren Buffett just told us to stay away from this asset class
• 3 key takeaways from Warren Buffett’s latest letter to shareholders

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Coca-Cola. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Uber Technologies and recommends the following options: short January 2023 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short March 2021 $225 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and long January 2023 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). 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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Once again, a large number of broker notes hit the wires last week. Some of these notes were positive and some were bearish.

Three sell ratings that caught my eye are summarised below. Here’s why top brokers think investors ought to sell these shares next week:

Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)

According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have retained their sell rating and $16.90 price target on this travel agent’s shares. While the broker believes that Flight Centre will benefit from the recently announced government stimulus program in the tourism sector, it isn’t enough for a change of rating. The broker suspects that some of the revenue generated by the stimulus will be offset by the end of JobKeeper. Looking ahead, the broker expects Flight Centre to make a loss this year and next year. The Flight Centre share price ended the week at $18.65.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

A note out of UBS reveals that its analysts have retained their sell rating but lifted their price target on this business and accounting platform provider’s shares to $79.50. According to the bote, the broker sees positives in its acquisition of workforce management platform Planday. It also notes that even after the deal, Xero will still have over NZ$1 billion of liquidity to consider other acquisitions. However, due to its current valuation, UBS isn’t in a rush to change its rating. The Xero share price was trading at $115.01 on Friday.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

Another note out of UBS reveals that its analysts have downgraded this buy now pay later provider’s shares to a sell rating with a $6.40 price target. According to the note, the broker was pleased with Zip’s first half performance and expects more of the same in the short term. Though, it does note that there are execution risks, particularly in the UK. In addition to this, the broker has concerns about rising bond yields. It notes that these could weigh on its valuation and also its funding. The Zip share price ended the week at $8.59.

More reading

• 10 of the best ASX shares to buy in March
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• What this broker thinks about ASX travel shares after government’s stimulus package
• Why Flight Centre, Northern Star, Southern Cross Media, & Treasury Wine are sinking
• ASX 200 up 0.95%: Afterpay rises, Westpac’s APRA update, Qantas upgraded

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 ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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There are a large number of quality shares on the ASX that could deliver strong returns over the next 12 months and beyond.

Ten that are highly rated are listed below. Here’s why investors might want to consider them this month:

Adore Beauty Group Limited (ASX: ABY)

Adore Beauty is Australia’s leading online beauty retailer. Like many ecommerce businesses, it has been growing very strongly during the pandemic. For example, the company recently reported half year revenue of $96.2 million and EBITDA of $5.2 million. This was up 85% and 188%, respectively, over the prior corresponding period. This result went down well with analysts at UBS. In response to its release, the broker put a buy rating and $6.20 price target on its shares. It appears confident its strong market position and growing active customer numbers will support more strong growth over the 2020s.

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Altium is an electronic design software provider. It is best-known for its Altium Designer and Altium 365 platforms. These platforms are regarded as the best in the industry and are used by many of the world’s largest companies such as BAE Systems, Microsoft, and Tesla. Altium looks well-placed for growth over the next decade thanks to the internet of things and artificial intelligence booms. These are driving strong demand for electronic design software. One broker that likes what it sees here is UBS. Last month it upgraded Altium’s shares to a buy rating with a $34.00 price target.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

Appen is a leading developer of high-quality, human annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Though its team of one million+ contractors, Appen prepares or creates the data for the machine learning models of some of the largest tech companies. These includes Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft. Late last month Ord Minnett upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $24.75 price target.

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

CSL is one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies, comprising the CSL Behring and Seqirus businesses. Both are leaders in their respective fields – plasma therapies and vaccines. While plasma collection headwinds have been weighing on collections and investor sentiment this year, CSL appears well-placed for growth once conditions ease. Particularly given its lucrative R&D pipeline. Last week Citi upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $310 price target.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

Kogan is one of Australia’s leading ecommerce companies. Like Adore Beauty, it has been growing very strongly thanks to the accelerating shift to online shopping caused by the pandemic. For example, during the first half of FY 2021, Kogan reported a 97.4% increase in gross sales to $638.2 million and a 250.2% lift in adjusted net profit after tax to $36.5 million. Analysts at Credit Suisse were impressed. The broker has put an outperform rating and $20.85 price target on its shares.

NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

NEXTDC is Australia’s leading data centre operator with a total of nine centres located across Australia. It has been experiencing very strong demand for capacity in its data centres thanks to the shift to the cloud. This led to NEXTDC reporting a 29% increase in EBITDA to $65.7 million for the first half of FY 2021. Pleasingly, more of the same is expected in the second half. In addition to this, the company is looking into expanding into Asia. This could provide it with a very long runway for growth. UBS is positive on the company. It has a buy rating and $15.40 price target on its shares.

Pushpay Holdings Group Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Pushpay is leading donor management and community engagement platform provider for the faith sector. It has also been a strong performer during the pandemic. This has been driven partly by the accelerating digitisation of the church. In fact, demand has been so strong, Pushpay is expecting to achieve full year operating earnings of US$56 million and US$60 million. This will be up 123% to 139% year on year. Goldman Sachs is a fan of the company. It has a conviction buy rating and $2.59 price target on its shares.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

REA Group is the dominant player in real estate listings in the Australian market. It looks well-placed for growth in the coming years thanks to the improving housing market, new revenue streams, cost cutting, price increases, and its international operations. Morgan Stanley is very positive on the company’s prospects. As a result, it has an overweight rating and lofty $175.00 price target on its shares.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

ResMed is a sleep treatment-focused medical device company. Thanks to its industry-leading products, growing software business, and the increasing awareness of sleep disorders, it has been growing at a strong rate for a good number of years. Pleasingly, it still has a significant market opportunity to grow into. Management estimates that there are ~1 billion people suffering from sleep apnoea worldwide, with only ~20% of these sufferers currently diagnosed. It also looks well-placed to benefit from the shift to home healthcare. Morgans is a fan of ResMed. It recently retained its add rating and put a price target of $30.09 on its shares.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is a provider of a cloud-based business and accounting solution to small and medium sized businesses. It has been growing strongly over the last few years and looks well-positioned to continue the trend in the years to come. This is thanks to its international expansion, acquisitions, the transition to the cloud, and its burgeoning app ecosystem. Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company. It has a buy rating and $157.00 price target on its shares. The broker believes Xero is capable of delivering strong revenue growth over multiple decades.

More reading

• 2 fantastic ASX shares with long runways for growth
• Will the ASX share e-commerce boom last?
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Why this ASX 200 tech share is leading the pack this week
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now

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 recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd, CSL Ltd., Kogan.com ltd, and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Kogan.com ltd, PUSHPAY FPO NZX, REA Group Limited, and ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Fortunately, in this low interest rate environment, there are countless dividend shares for investors to choose from on the Australian share market.

But with so many to choose from, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy.

To narrow things down, I have picked out three ASX dividend shares that brokers think investors should buy:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

According to a note out of Bell Potter, its analysts have a buy rating and $2.65 price target on this footwear retailer’s shares. The broker was impressed with Accent’s performance in the first half and appears confident more of the same is coming in the second half and beyond. In respect to dividends, Bell Potter is forecasting an 11.9 cents per share dividend in FY 2021 and then a 12.2 cents per share dividend in FY 2022. Based on the latest Accent share price of $2.34, this will mean fully franked 5.1% and 5.2% yields, respectively, over the next couple of years.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

A note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have an outperform rating and $55.00 price target on this mining giant’s shares. According to the note, the broker has upgraded its copper prices for the coming years to reflect an expected increase in demand for the base metal. This has led to Macquarie boosting its earnings and dividend forecasts. The broker has pencilled in fully franked dividends of ~$2.99 per share in FY 2021 and ~$2.74 per share in FY 2022. Based on the current BHP share price of $47.97, this represents generous yields of 6.2% and then 5.7%.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Analysts at Citi have a buy rating and $26.00 price target on this banking giant’s shares. According to the note, the broker believes the banking sector could continue to outperform in the near term. This is partly thanks to rising bond yields causing investors to rotate into the sector. In addition to this, it sees value in Westpac’s shares at the current level, particularly given its balance sheet strength. Citi expects Westpac to pay fully franked $1.30 per share dividends in FY 2021 and FY 2022. Based on the latest Westpac share price of $24.45, this will mean an attractive 5.3% yield for investors.

More reading

• ASX 200 climbs, Westpac in the clear, Nine reveals a WIN-ning deal
• Morgans just added this ASX 200 share to its model portfolio
• ASX 200 up 0.95%: Afterpay rises, Westpac’s APRA update, Qantas upgraded
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price higher following APRA update
• 2 ASX dividend shares with 5% fully franked yields

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Accent Group. 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 a few ASX shares that many brokers like right now.

Most brokers will have a different opinion about businesses. One broker could say that Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares are a buy whilst another broker could say that the CBA share price is a sell.

However, when multiple brokers think that an ASX share is a buy, then it could be worth paying attention.

These two ASX shares could be worth watching:

Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN)

Baby Bunting shares are liked by at least five brokers right now.

One of the brokers that has the most positive outlook for the Baby Bunting share price is Morgans – it has a price target of $6.39.

The broker likes Baby Bunting’s growth prospects, it thinks that the expansion to New Zealand can improve that growth even further.

In the ASX share’s half-year result, Baby Bunting reported 16.6% growth of total sales to $217.3 million. This was driven by comparable store sales increasing by 15%, or 21.8% when excluding Victorian stores.

Just like other ASX retail shares, Baby Bunting is seeing a large surge of online sales, with growth of 95.9% over the half-year – click and collect sales went up 218%.

But it wasn’t just the sales that went up, Baby Bunting’s gross profit margin improved by 41 basis points to 37.4%. Pro forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went up 29.7% to $18.5 million and pro forma net profit after tax (NPAT) grew 43.5% to $10.8 million and statutory NPAT jumped 54.7%.

The CEO of Baby Bunting, Matt Spencer, explained why the company’s demand had been so reliably strong:

Maternity and baby goods are essential products for parents and parents-to-be and are less discretionary in nature. Our strong comparable store and total sales growth performance demonstrates that we continue to deliver on our strategy of growing market share.

Idp Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

IDP Education is one of the world’s leading businesses when it comes to helping international students and doing England language testing.

The ASX share is liked by at least five brokers, including UBS which has a share price target of $29.80 for IDP Education.

UBS thought the recent FY21 half-year result was good considering the environment that IDP Education is operating in right now with COVID-19 impacts. The broker thinks IDP is a great business. It pointed out that online learning was able to pick up some of the slack.

As the global economy gets back to normal and COVID-19 vaccinations are rolled out, IDP Education could recover and be in a better position.

In the FY21 half-year result, the ASX share said that international English language test volumes had rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. Despite that, English language testing revenue was down 26% to $158.3 million and total company revenue was down 29% to $269.1 million.

EBITDA fell 33% to $68 million, EBIT fell 43% to $47.3 million and net profit dropped 45% to $29.7 million.

The company said it continues to invest in its various segments.

It must be noted that earlier this week, it was announced that Education Australia was going to divest its 40% shareholding of IDP Education. There will be a distribution of 25% to all of its 38 universities, which may or may not decide to sell shares over the coming year or so. The other 15% will be sold to the market and must be done before 11 December 2021.

IDP Education said this restructuring would not impact IDP’s operations or strategy.

More reading

• Will the ASX share e-commerce boom last?
• Here’s why the IDP Education (ASX:IEL) share price sank 6% today
• This unexpected second COVID boom will lift these ASX shares in 2021
• The worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• 5 ASX shares to buy in a market crash

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Idp Education Pty Ltd. 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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There are plenty of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that offer investors the ability to get global diversification.  

However, there are a few that are particularly popular for the low management fees, returns and amount of diversification.

These two in-particular may be able to fit the bill and deliver returns in a passive way that is useful:

Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)

This is Vanguard’s offering for Aussie investors to invest across the developed world’s share market in a single investment.

Inside the ETF’s portfolio are most of the world’s biggest companies. So, investing in this ETF gives exposure to the long-term growth of many international economies outside of Australia, according to Vanguard.

At the end of February 2021, it actually had 1,530 holdings.

Inside the portfolio are many of the world leaders like: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Tesla, Alphabet, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Visa, Nestle, NVIDIA, Berkshire Hathaway, Procter & Gamble, Walt Disney, Mastercard, PayPal, Roche, Intel, Netflix, ASML, Adobe, Salesforce, Novartis, Pfizer, Walmart, Cisco Systems, Broadcom, Qualcomm, LVMH, Nike, Costco, McDonald’s, Accenture, Unilever and so on.

In terms of the management fee, it has an annual cost of 0.18%. This is one of the lower-costing ETFs on the ASX.

Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF provides global diversification – around two thirds of the ETF is invested in US businesses. But there are also plenty of countries that make up more than 1% of the portfolio including Japan, the UK, France, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Sweden.

The ETF was listed on the ASX in November 2014. Since inception, the ETF has delivered total net returns of 11.9% per annum.

iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV)

This ETF has a much stronger focus on US businesses. The S&P 500 is made up of 500 big businesses that are listed in the US.

It gives exposure to all of the FAANG shares as well as many other industry-leading businesses like Walt Disney, Boeing, Starbucks, Caterpillar, Deere, 3M, Lockheed Martin, S&P Global, Activision Blizzard and Colgate-Palmolive.

iShares S&P 500 ETF also has a very low cost. Its management fees are actually just 0.04% – this is one of the cheapest on the ASX.

The US share market has performed strongly over the last decade, leading to the S&P 500 being one of the best-performing popular indices. Over the last five years the iShares S&P 500 ETF has returned an average of 14.7% per annum and over the last ten years the ETF has returned an average of 16.4% per annum.

There are five sectors in the ETF’s portfolio that have weightings of more than 10%. Those are: communication (11.1% weighting), financials (11.5% weighting), consumer discretionary (12.3% weighting), healthcare (12.8% weighting) and IT (26.7% weighting). Different FAANG shares count as different sectors – Amazon is classified as a consumer discretionary business, whilst Facebook and Alphabet are classified as communication companies.

More reading

• Why ASX income investors should consider this dividend ETF
• 2 ETFs to buy in this tech sell off
• 2 high quality ETFs for ASX investors to buy in March
• This investment is one of Warren Buffett’s favourite share ideas
• 2 top ETFs to buy in March

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended iShares Trust – iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF. 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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When looking for growth shares to buy, I like to focus on companies that have long runways for growth. This is because they have the potential to generate strong long term returns for investors, allowing them to benefit from the power of compounding.

Two ASX growth shares which have been tipped for big things in the future are listed below. Here’s why they are highly rated:

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Afterpay. It is a payments company that has grown at an explosive rate over the last few years thanks to the growing popularity of the buy now pay later payment method globally.

Positively, Afterpay is planning to increase its product portfolio very shortly with the launch of transaction accounts through the Afterpay Money app. After which, analysts at Bell Potter don’t expect the company to stop there. They believe that Afterpay could expand into other products such as mortgages in the future.

In addition to this, last week the company’s European acquisition completed. This means that it can now start its expansion onto mainland Europe. If this and its probable expansion into Asia are a success, this could provide it with a very long runway for growth over the next decade.

It’s no wonder then that Bell Potter is so positive on the company and its growth prospects. According to a recent note, the broker has a buy rating and $168.50 price target on Afterpay’s shares.

Pushpay Holdings Group Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Pushpay provides the faith sector with a donor management system, including donor tools, finance tools and a custom community app, and a church management system (ChMS).

Its increasingly popular solutions simplify engagement, payments and administration, enabling users to increase participation and build stronger relationships with their communities.

Last year the company acquired Church Community Builder. It provides a platform that churches use to connect and communicate with their community members, record member service history, track online giving and perform a range of administrative functions.

Since then, the company has developed and launched its all-in-one engagement solution, ChurchStaq. ChurchStaq combines Pushpay’s giving and engagement solution with Church Community Builder’s ChMS functionality. It notes that this results in a holistic software solution that equips customers of all sizes with the technology they need to seamlessly connect across different ministry touch points.

This appears to have put Pushpay in a strong position to dominate its market and deliver on its goal of growing its US market share to 50%, which is worth US$1 billion in revenue per annum at present. This will be a significant lift on FY 2020’s revenue of US$129.8 million.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs are positive on the company. They have a conviction buy rating and $2.59 price target on its shares.

More reading

• Afterpay (ASX:APT) and another ASX growth share to buy right now
• ASX 200 up 0.95%: Afterpay rises, Westpac’s APRA update, Qantas upgraded
• Why Afterpay, Piedmont Lithium, ResApp, & Santos are charging higher
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• ASX 200 unmoved, Flight Centre soars, Afterpay keeps falling

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 PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. 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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Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak has shared some interesting thoughts about the impacts of COVID-19 on the internet. His thoughts and comments could be relevant to e-commerce ASX shares.

Mr Nowak pointed out that the internet played a big part in helping households and businesses alike get through the COVID-19 lockdowns. People turned to online food shopping – my own household did too – streamed entertainment or perhaps played video games.

A big question for him is – are these changes permanent or will the world go back to “old habits and real-world experiences.”

Which ASX shares have seen online shopping booms?

Many businesses have seen an increase in sales and profit thanks to the rapid increase of e-commerce revenue.

There are some e-commerce ASX shares that are purely online and have seen large growth like Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW), Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) and Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL).

However, there’s also a larger group of ASX retail shares that have both in-store and online offerings, and the online sales have surged higher. Some examples are: Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH), JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN) and Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP).

Indeed, the supermarket businesses of Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) are also seeing elevated levels of online sales growth.

What is Morgan Stanley expecting to happen?

Mr Nowak said that COVID-19 has changed what people are willing to do. He pointed out that people may have preferred to do the food shopping themselves or try on clothes first before buying them when COVID-19 wasn’t around. Morgan Stanley thinks that COVID-19 has brought forward the adoption of e-commerce by three years. He wrote (referring to the US):

Could reopening reverse that trend? We don’t believe so. We do expect slower growth in 2021, with consumers eager to spend again on experiences such as travel and restaurants, but the rising trendline for online adoption should continue. We estimate that e-commerce grew by about 40%, or $240 billion, in 2020—three times more than in 2018 and 2019. For 2021, after accounting for the anticipated release of pent-up spending for travel and other live experiences, we expect e-commerce to grow by roughly 9%.

Mr Nowak went on to say that the environment for real estate investment trusts (REITs) and physical stores may never be the same again because of COVID-19 pressures and the adoption of online shopping.

He also commented that last-mile logistics will become increasingly important as customers expect faster delivery of their shopping and food delivery. Mr Nowak commented:

Shared mobility, e-commerce, food apps and grocery delivery leaders have already opened up a significant total addressable market—perhaps as large as $2.6 trillion in offline U.S. consumer spending. Execution and real-time tracking will matter and the platforms with subscription offerings and product bundles could see an advantage in the race to drive retention/frequency.

More reading

• 2 quality ASX dividend shares to buy next week
• 2 explosive mid-cap ASX shares to buy and hold
• 3 reasons why the Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) share price could be a great buy
• 3 blue chip ASX shares with dividend yields over 5% today
• Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price down as it savours potential Oakridge Wines purchase

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Kogan.com ltd and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET, Wesfarmers Limited, and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ADAIRS FPO, Kogan.com ltd, and Temple & Webster Group 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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Are you looking to add to your income portfolio in the near future? If you are, then you might want to look at the ASX dividend shares listed below.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is leading supermarket operator Coles.

It has been a strong performer over the last couple of years and particularly so far in FY 2021. For example, last month it released its half year results and revealed an 8% increase in revenue to $20,569 million and a 14.5% increase in net profit to $560 million.

This was driven by favourable trading conditions brought about by COVID-19. And while these tailwinds are fading, the company’s Refreshed Strategy and focus on automation look set to support its growth over the coming years.

Goldman Sachs remains confident in its growth trajectory and recently reaffirmed its buy rating and $20.70 price target.

The broker is also forecasting a 62 cents per share fully franked dividend for the 12 months. Based on the current Coles share price, this represents a 4% dividend yield.

National Storage REIT (ASX: NSR)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is National Storage. It is one of the ANZ region’s largest self storage operators with a total of over 190 centres. From these centres, it tailors self-storage solutions to residential and commercial customers.

National Storage looks well-placed for growth in the coming years thanks to the favourable housing cycle. A thriving housing market traditionally leads to solid demand for self-storage solutions.

In addition to this, the company has development and acquisition plans that look set to increase the size of its network further and boost its growth inorganically.

Based on the current National Storage share price and its guidance for FY 2021, its shares currently offer a forward 4.25% yield.

More reading

• 3 blue chip ASX shares with dividend yields over 5% today
• Why Coles (ASX:COL) shares could be perfect for retirees
• 2 top ASX dividend shares with generous yields to buy
• Top broker tips Coles (ASX:COL) share price to climb 30% higher
• Leading broker upgrades Woolworths (ASX:WOW) shares to buy rating

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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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A number of mid-cap ASX shares are delivering explosive growth at the moment, partly due to COVID-19 effects.

Mid-cap ASX shares could be interesting ones to consider because they have more growth potential than large caps – just look at how much their profit is growing right now – but they’re large enough that they could be more reliable than small caps or microcaps.

No-one can say when elevated levels of growth will change, but these two mid-cap ASX shares could be ones to watch right now:

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is a leading auto parts business across Australia and New Zealand.

The company operates a number of different businesses. Bapcor’s two key businesses are Burson and Autobarn. Burson provides auto parts to mechanic customers, whilst Autobarn is one of the biggest auto part retailers in the country. It also has a network of various wholesalers which are generally national leaders in their categories.

The FY21 half-year result included a high level of growth – total revenue went up 25.8% to $883.6 million, pro-forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 38.5% to $145.6 million, pro forma earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose by 45% to $106.8 million and pro forma net profit after tax (NPAT) increased by 54% to $70.2 million.

Actual NPAT grew 49.7% to $67.7 million and pro forma earnings per share (EPS) went up 28.9% to 20.7 cents.

The mid-cap ASX share added 27 new company locations throughout the network, which means it now has 1,100 locations throughout Australia, New Zealand and Thailand.

Bapcor’s trade segment, which includes Burson, saw revenue growth of 12.3% with same store sales up 11%. Autobarn same store sales went up 37.1%.

The mid-cap ASX share said that an element of stimulus created elevated discretionary spending and increased DIY positively impacted demand. Bapcor also said that online sales increased by around 300%, with over 80% of that being click and collect.

Bapcor thinks that it has several avenues to drive further growth including network growth, operational efficiencies and an expansion of its own brand product range.

In January 2021, business performance continued at similar levels as the first six months. The company has large growth aspirations for Asia with its Burson division. 

Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN)

Ansell is another mid-cap ASX share that is experiencing high levels of growth because of demand for its protective clothing and gloves.

The company reported that its sales increased by 24.5%, with organic growth of 22.9% – this was a mixture of 12.3% volume growth and a 10.6% increase due to the price and mix of products.

Ansell’s healthcare division achieved organic growth of 37.3% with strong volume growth across all of its business units.

Total EBIT went up 60.6% year on year to $147.4 million. This was an increase of 64.3% in constant currency terms. Overall net profit grew 61.9% year on year to $106.5 million, with EPS going up 65.5% to 82.9 cents.

Despite COVID-19 being the cause of the current strong numbers, Ansell is actually expecting continued good strong over the longer-term. The mid-cap ASX share said:

Our expectations are that COVID-19 will continue to impact the world for some time. Assuming the pandemic is under control towards [the] end of FY22, GDP will accelerate further and depressed sectors such as automotive, oil and gas and transportation will return to growth while hospitals return to normal operations to manage down the pent up demand for surgeries and other procedures.

We expect to see strong demand for PPE for the next twelve months. Even when 70% of the population is vaccinated, elevated demand for most of our products will continue due to (a) enhanced safety practices at plants and hospitals, (b) better protection awareness with increased glove use per capita (particularly emerging markets), (c) elevated research & testing activities worldwide, (d) potential need for annual COVID-19 vaccinations and (e) improving industrial activity.

Ansell is expecting to generate EPS of between $1.60 to $1.70 in FY21.

More reading

• 2 COVID-19 amplified ASX shares to buy
• 3 reasons why the Bapcor (ASX:BAP) share price could be a buy
• ASX 200 slides lower, A2 Milk surges, Gold Road sinks
• Here’s why Warren Buffett prefers buybacks to dividends
• ASX 200 up 0.3%: Mesoblast raises US$110 million, tech shares rebound

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell 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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