Goldman Sachs has been running the ruler over a number of shares that presented at its recent Emerging Leaders Conference.

Two growing ASX tech shares that the broker is particularly positive on are listed below. Here’s why it rates them highly:

Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG)

Hipages is an online platform and software as a service (SaaS) provider that connects tradies with residential and commercial consumers. At the last count, over three million Australians had used its platform, providing work to over 34,000 trade businesses that are subscribed to the platform.

Goldman Sachs is a big fan of the company and believes it has a very long runway for growth. This is due to its belief that it could one day win the same share of advertising spend as Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) and REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) do in their respectively industries.

Goldman explained: “We see HPG as an attractive medium-term growth stock – HPG currently captures c.5% of the total industry advertising spend; by contrast REA/CAR capture c.40-60% of spending in their respective categories. As HPG builds out its ecosystem (including the imminent launch of the new “TradieCore” field service software solution), we see scope for HPG to increase its share towards these levels over the long term as the marketplace leader.”

The broker has a buy rating and $3.35 price target on its shares.

PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

Another growing company that Goldman is a fan of is PointsBet. It likes the sports betting company due to its strong position in a market expected to grow materially in the future.

In fact, the broker estimates that the US sports and iGaming market could be worth upwards of US$53 billion in the future. And thanks to its partnerships with sports teams and broadcasters, it feels it is well-placed to win market share.

Goldman said: “We like PBH due to i) PBH’s leverage to the burgeoning US Sports Betting and iGaming market which we forecast to be a US$53 bn TAM opportunity at maturity, ii) our view that PBH is well-placed to achieve 10% share in states it operates in, iii) upside risk to long-run sustainable margins in Aus and the US which was reaffirmed by the strong margin result in 3Q21, iv) Scalability benefits ahead noting positive impacts from the NBCUniversal deal to come and imminent launch of iGaming (which we believe will provide both cost and revenue synergies), and v) strong management team and execution track record.”

The broker has a buy rating and $17.20 price target on its shares.

More reading

• 2 ASX tech shares with bags of potential
• 2 fantastic ASX shares with long runways for growth
• 2 top mid cap ASX shares for growth investors
• 2 stellar ASX growth shares rated as buys
• US market bounces back, ASX 200 tech shares on watch

The post Leading broker names 2 ASX growth shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3fib6OG

At the current Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME) share price, is it a high-flying opportunity right now?

What does Pro Medicus do?

The key offering of Pro Medicus is its Visage Imaging business, which is a global provider of enterprise imaging solutions that enables picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) replacement with local, regional and national scale.

The Visage platform can be delivered entirely from the cloud or on the premise. It enables diagnostic, clinical, specialty, research and mobile imaging workflows from a singular platform.

Its systems can also be used for streamlining medical practice management. That includes medical accounting, clinical reporting, appointments, scheduling, marketing and management information applications.

How have things been going recently?

The medical technology business has been rapidly winning major contracts which is likely to drive revenue and profit for a number of years.

In the six months to 31 December 2020, Pro Medicus saw revenue growth of 7.8% to $31.59 million. Net profit increased 12.4% to $13.54 million. Underlying net profit before tax went up 25.9% to $18.76 million.

The business remains debt-free and its profit margins continue to grow. The cash reserves went up $7.53 million to $50.93 million. Pro Medicus’ board decided to increase the final dividend by 16.6%.

Thanks to all of the contract wins in recent times, the business is expecting an incremental step up in exam volumes in the second half of FY21 as those sites come online. Pro Medicus is expecting a major step up in FY22.

At the time of the HY21 result release it had won six out of six major contracts in its industry, across both academic and non-academic spaces.

Pro Medicus says its pipeline is still healthy and it’s benefiting from the network effect generated by its growing customer base.

The latest win

Earlier this month, Pro Medicus revealed an 8-year, $14 million deal with The University of Vermont Health Network where Visage will replace multiple legacy PACS. This deal extended the company’s US academic institution footprint. It’s a transaction-based model with potential upside.

Planning for the rollout commenced immediately and initial go-lives are targeted for the second half of the calendar year.

Pro Medicus CEO Dr Sam Hupert said:

We continue to build momentum in the market with this, our seventh contract win in a row, adding to other recent major announcements. UVM Health Network is the fourth of these to opt for a cloud-based solution, a trend we see increasing rapidly amongst healthcare systems in North America.

Our pipeline continues to grow. Visage 7 with its proven cloud-native capability provides us with a significant strategic advantage that enables us to address these opportunities across a growing segment of the market both in North America and other regions.

Is the Pro Medicus share price an opportunity?

Since 5 August 2020, the Pro Medicus share price has almost doubled after the effects of COVID-19.

The broker UBS recognises that Pro Medicus is winning important contracts and that it has a much better offering compared to competitors.

However, UBS currently rates Pro Medicus as a hold with a price target of $46. At the current Pro Medicus share price, it thinks it’s valued at 121x FY22’s estimated earnings.

More reading

• 2 quality ASX healthcare shares this leading broker rates highly
• The 6-bagger ASX share that I now regret selling: fundie
• Is the Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price a buy after its contract win?
• Why GrainCorp, Pro Medicus, Redcape, & Treasury Wine are pushing higher
• ASX 200 down 0.4%: Xero sinks, Telstra hit with $50m fine

The post Is the Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price a high-flying opportunity? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3unpUQi

Some ASX tech shares have been rated as buys by multiple brokers, which may indicate a possible opportunity for investors.

These two businesses could be interesting ideas over the next 12 months considering the price targets of some brokers on them:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Altium is currently rated as a buy by at least four brokers at the moment. Some of those buy ratings have quite sizeable returns expectations.

For example, Morgan Stanley has a price target on Altium of $37 – that suggests a potential upside of not far off 40% over the next 12 months.

Citi is another broker with a buy rating on Altium, the price target is a more modest $33.50.

What is Altium? It’s a global software business that focuses on electronics design systems for 3D PCB design and embedded system development. Its software is used by world-leading electronic design teams as well as the grassroots electronic community.

Altium offers a number of different solutions for clients included Altium Designer, NEXUS, Ciiva and Octopart.

Growing Altium 365 is a key part of Altium’s future. It’s the cloud offering from the company which allows teams to easily collaborate and access their work from anywhere. That is useful in this current COVID-19 pandemic environment that the world is in.

The ASX tech share is planning for Altium 365 to be used for the dominance and industry transformation.

Altium CEO Mr Aram Mirkazemi said:

Altium 365 is key to our future success through indirect monetization from our CAD software tools and, in time, direct monetization from the broader ecosystem. I am most heartened by the strong adoption of Altium 365 and, with our Netflix organizational changes behind us, I am confident of a much stronger second half. Early signs are positive for this.

According to Citi, the Altium share price is valued at 64x FY21’s estimated earnings.

Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT)

Nextdc is a business that is rated as a buy by at least six brokers.

There are also some hefty price targets for the national data centre operator. For example, the broker UBS has a price target on Nextdc of $15.40. That suggests a potential upside of more than 40% over the next 12 months.

The broker notes that there is a lot of demand in key markets for Nextdc. The first half of FY21 was better than expected.

That half-year result showed data centre services revenue grew 27% to $121.6 million. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 29% to $65.7 million. Operating cash flow went up by 219% to $64.1 million.

The data centre business pointed out that whilst COVID-19 has presented headwinds for many businesses and industries globally, it continues to be a positive catalyst for digital services and technology providers supported by its data centre platform.

Based on the current billing and contracted utilisation levels as well as expected new customer contracts during the second half of FY21, Nexdct is now expecting FY21 underlying EBITDA to be in the range of $130 million to $133 million, whilst data centre services revenue is expected to be in the range of $246 million to $251 million.

The business is expecting further strong demand for its premium data centre services into FY22.

More reading

• Why Zip (ASX:Z1P) and these ASX growth shares are highly rated
• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week
• 2 fantastic ASX shares with long runways for growth
• 2 exciting ASX growth shares rated as buys
• 3 top ASX 200 shares that could be in the buy zone

The post 2 ASX tech shares rated as buys by brokers appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3yMxQhN

More reading

• 2 ASX tech shares rated as buys by brokers
• 2 top ASX dividend shares with 4%+ yields
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Where to for the A2 Milk and Afterpay share price, and US economic growth? Motley Fool CIO Scott Phillips on Nine’s Late News
• 2 ASX shares that could be top buy and hold options

The post LIVE COVERAGE: ASX to fall; Fletcher Building announces buyback appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2Arppiz

If you’re looking to beat low interest rates in 2021, then you might want to look at the dividend shares listed below.

Both shares offer investors attractive yields that are vastly superior to term deposits and savings accounts. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

Accent Group is a retail conglomerate focused primarily on the footwear market. It owns a number of popular store brands including HypeDC, Platypus, and The Athlete’s Foot.

Thanks to a combination of new store brand launches, the expansion of its existing footprint, and strong sales in-store and online, Accent has been growing both its earnings and dividends at a solid rate in recent years.

Positively, this strong form has continued in FY 2021 despite the pandemic. During the first half, the company reported a 6.6% increase in first half sales to $541.3 million and a 57.3% increase in net profit after tax to $52.8 million. It then followed this up with even stronger sales growth during the third quarter.

One broker that is positive on the company is Bell Potter. It currently has a buy rating and $3.30 price target on its shares.

Bell Potter is also forecasting an 11.7 cents per share dividend in FY 2021 and then a 12.3 cents per share dividend in FY 2022. With the Accent share price currently fetching $2.74, this will mean fully franked yields of 4.3% and 4.5%, respectively.

Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)

Another ASX dividend share to consider is Rural Funds. It is a real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns a diversified portfolio of high quality Australian agricultural assets that are leased to experienced agricultural operators.

At the last count, the company had a total of $1.1 billion in assets, revenues derived from leases across five sectors, and boasted a weighted average lease expiry of 11.1 years. Given that the latter includes periodic rental increases, this leaves Rural Funds well-positioned to deliver on its target of 4% distribution growth each year over the next decade.

In FY 2022, Rural Funds intends to do exactly that. It is planning to reward its shareholders with a distribution of 11.73 cents per share. Based on the current Rural Funds share price of $2.42, this will mean a yield of 4.8%.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 shares that could be great for dividends
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could be a buy for income today
• 2 attractive ASX dividend shares that could be a buy
• Retail sales rose 1.1% in April, but some ASX retail shares are selling off in May
• 2 high quality ASX dividend shares with yields above 4%

The post 2 top ASX dividend shares with 4%+ yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3fHmWBa

On Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form and charged notably higher. The benchmark index rose 1% to 7,115.2 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to fall

It looks set to be a disappointing day of trade for the Australian share market on Wednesday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 34 points or 0.5% lower this morning. This follows an underwhelming night of trade on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones fall 0.25%, the S&P 500 drop 0.2% and the Nasdaq trade broadly flat.

ALS results

The ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ) share price will be one to watch closely on Wednesday. This morning the leading global testing, inspection and certification company is due to release its full year results. During the first half, ALS reported an 8.7% decline in revenue to $838.8 million and a 17.9% reduction in underlying net profit after tax to $80.6 million. A better second half performance is expected.

Oil prices mixed

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could have a subdued day on Wednesday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 0.25% to US$65.89 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is flat at US$68.46 a barrel. Traders appear nervous while they await news on Iranian sanctions.

Link’s PEXA update

The Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK) share price could be on the move today after releasing an update on its PEXA business. According to the release, the business is expected to deliver revenue of $218 million in FY 2021. This will be a 40% increase on the prior corresponding period.

Gold price higher

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) will be on watch after the gold price pushed higher overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.85% to US$1,900.30 an ounce. The precious metal hit a four and a half month high after bond yields weakened. 

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 shares that could be great for dividends
• ASX 200 rises, TechnologyOne up, Airtasker jumps
• An ASX investor’s guide to ESG-focused ETFs
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide steady income in retirement
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2T9Ci9K

Motley Fool Australia Chief Investment Officer Scott Phillips joined Nine’s Late News on Sunday night to discuss the week ahead for investors, as well as broker upgrades for a2 Milk (ASX: A2M) and Afterpay (ASX: APT)

 

https://fast.wistia.com/embed/medias/fmerk1znvy.jsonphttps://fast.wistia.com/assets/external/E-v1.js

More reading

• A2 Milk and EML were among the most traded ASX shares last week
• Move over A2 Milk (ASX:A2M), there’s a new company on the block
• How to tell if an ASX 200 share is risky
• Where next for the a2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price?
• Synlait (ASX:SM1) share price on watch after guidance downgrade

The post Where to for the A2 Milk and Afterpay share price, and US economic growth? Motley Fool CIO Scott Phillips on Nine’s Late News appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3wrHRPc

Arguably one of the best ways to generate wealth is to make long term investments. This is because investing for long periods allows you to benefit from compounding.

Compounding is what happens when you earn interest on interest. It explains why a 10% return per annum will turn $10,000 into $11,000 in one year and then into $50,000 in 17 years.

With that in mind, I have picked out two ASX shares that have been tipped to grow strongly over the long term. They are as follows:

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

Breville is one of the world’s leading appliance manufacturers. As well as the eponymous Breville brand, it also has the Sage, Kambrook, and Baratza brands. It has been growing at a consistently solid rate for the last decade. This has been driven by the popularity of its brands in the ANZ market and internationally.

This has continued in FY 2021, with Breville reporting a 28.8% increase in first half revenue to $711 million and a 29.2% increase in net profit after tax to $64.2 million. This was partly driven by favourable tailwinds brought about by COVID-19 such as working from home and more dining in. 

The good news is that it still has a long runway for growth thanks to its international expansion and expanding product range.

UBS is positive on the company. Its analysts are tipping Breville to deliver strong growth over the long term and currently have a buy rating and $35.70 price target on its shares.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Another buy and hold share to look at is Xero. It provides small and medium sized businesses with a cloud-based business and accounting solution. Xero has been growing strongly thanks to its international expansion, acquisitions, and the transition to the cloud.

The good news is that these drivers are very much still in place and should be boosted further by its growing app ecosystem. If Xero can monetise this ecosystem and execute its international expansion successfully, it has the potential to underpin growth for a long time to come.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company and has a buy rating and $153.00 price target on its shares.

Responding to its recent full year results, Goldman commented: “Overall we view the FY21 result as a positive, with Xero showing earlier than expected subscriber traction across all of its key international markets, but without sacrificing unit economics. As a result, we believe the accelerated investment is more than justified, given the enormous TAM the company is targeting.”

More reading

• An ASX investor’s guide to ESG-focused ETFs
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX whipsaws in volatile week
• 2 exciting ASX growth shares analysts rate highly
• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week
• Why the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is up 10% this week

The post 2 ASX shares that could be top buy and hold options appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3oMnklT

There are some S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares that might be good options to consider for dividends.

Businesses in the ASX 200 can be large enough to be leaders in their industry, generate reliable earnings and pay solid dividends.

Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)

Rural Funds is an agricultural real estate investment trust (REIT) that has a market capitalisation of $826 million.

It has a farmland portfolio across different farm types including cattle, vineyards, almonds, macadamias and cropping (cotton and sugar).

Rural Funds is one of the ASX 200 shares that have a stated distribution growth target. The ASX 200 dividend share wants to increase the distribution by 4% per annum.

The income growth by the ASX 200 share is achieved through lease indexation, productivity improvements and conversion of assets to higher and better use.

Rental indexation is either linked to CPI inflation, or there’s a fixed 2.5% annual increase. Some of the contracts have infrequent market reviews as well.

Rural Funds’ adjusted net asset value (NAV) per unit has been steadily growing since it listed. It has increased from $1.22 to $2.01 at the time of the FY21 half-year result. The NAV growth reflects productivity and development gains.

The ASX 200 dividend share says that it has existing earnings and balance sheet capacity to fund developments, whilst continuing to fund growing distributions.

Rural Funds has forecast a 11.73 cents per unit distribution in FY22. That translates to a forward distribution yield of 4.8%.

Amcor CDI (ASX: AMC)

Amcor describes itself as a global leader in developing and producing high-quality, responsible packaging for a variety of food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical-device, home and personal care and other products.

It has 230 sites with 47,000 employees spread across 40 countries.

The ASX 200 business is currently extracting synergies after going through its merger with Bemis in the US.

Amcor continues to grow despite all of the impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and its respective markets.

In the nine months ending 31 March 2021, it reported earnings per share (EPS) growth of 63% to 43.8 cents. Adjusted EPS grew 16% on a comparable constant currency basis to 51.5 cents.

In that quarterly update, it revealed a quarterly dividend that was higher than that prior corresponding period at 11.75 cents per share.

It’s also going through a share buyback program, which boosts the per-share profit statistic. Approximately 2% of outstanding shares were repurchased in the year to date.

The business recently increased its adjusted EPS growth in constant currency terms to a range of 14% to 15%, up from 10% to 14%.

Amcor CEO Ron Delia said:

Amcor has a clearly defined, consistent capital allocation framework which starts with strong annual free cash flow in excess of $1 billion and growing. We are actively investing in the future, expanding capacity in higher value segments and higher growth markets and increasingly using open innovation and now corporate venturing to identify new avenues of growth. Growth investments like these, along with continued strong execution, will enable continued momentum and reinforce our belief that the Amcor investment case has never been stronger.

Using the last 12 months of dividends, Amcor has a dividend yield of 4.1%.

More reading

• ASX 200 rises, TechnologyOne up, Airtasker jumps
• An ASX investor’s guide to ESG-focused ETFs
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide steady income in retirement
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could be a buy for income today

The post 2 ASX 200 shares that could be great for dividends appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3hPX9sW

At the small end of the Australian share market, there are a number of companies with the potential to grow materially in the future.

Three standouts are listed below. Here’s why they should be on your watchlist:

Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T)

The first small cap ASX share to watch is Mach7. It is a medical imaging data management solutions provider that allows users to create a clear and complete view of the patient. Users then use this to help them inform diagnosis, reduce care delivery delays and costs, and improve patient outcomes.

Thanks to the quality of this software and trends such as telehealth, demand for its offering is expected to grow strongly in the future. In respect to the latter, the company notes that telehealth services are creating a need for this type of technology. According to management, the company’s total addressable market is estimated to be US$2.75 billion. This gives it a long runway for growth over the next decade.

Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)

Another small cap ASX healthcare share to watch is Volpara. It is a healthcare technology company that provides software which leverages artificial intelligence imaging algorithms to help with the early detection of breast cancer. Its key solution is the VolparaEnterprise product, which is supported by add-on solutions such as VolparaDensity, VolparaDose, VolparaPressure, VolparaLive, and VolparaPositioning.

Management estimates that its whole suite of products equates to US$10 per user, which is many times greater than its current ARPU of US$1.40. Combined with further market share gains, this could support significant revenue growth in the future. Positively, management is making great progress with this. It notes that some contracts during the last quarter were achieved with an ARPU of up to US$5.65.

Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)

A final small cap share to watch is Whispir. It is a cloud-based communications platform that uses cutting edge technology to bring all communications channels like email, text messaging and web chatting together in one easily accessible space. This helps businesses large and small to eradicate communication inefficiencies and redundancies so their staff and clients can connect in new and productive ways.

Demand has been increasing strongly for its offering, leading to rapid recurring revenue growth in recent years. The good news, though, is that Whispir is still only scratching at the surface of its total addressable market (TAM). At the end of the third quarter, the company’s annualised recurring revenue stood at $50.3 million, which was up 20.3% over the prior corresponding period. This compares to its TAM of US$4.7 billion in the just United States market. 

More reading

• 3 exciting ASX growth shares rated as buys
• 2 growing small cap ASX shares you need to know
• 2 little known ASX growth shares to buy
• 3 outstanding small cap ASX shares to watch
• 2 rapidly growing small cap ASX shares to watch

The post 3 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3fiPNwp