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 option for income investors to consider is Coles. This supermarket operator could be a good option due to its solid business model and very positive long term growth outlook.

And while its growth may be limited in the immediate term due to elevated sales in the prior corresponding period, this short term headwind will soon ease and then Coles has been tipped to resume its growth. This should lead to growing dividends over the coming years.

Goldman Sachs expects this to be the case and is forecasting dividends per share of 62 cents in FY 2021 and then 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.

The broker has a buy rating and $20.50 price target on the company’s shares.

More reading

• The ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price leads the ASX 200 banks this week
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could offer yields of 5% or more today
• Consumer sentiment is down 5% this month: Westpac
• ASX bank shares primed for dividend bonanza
• 2 high quality ASX shares for your retirement portfolio

The post 2 ASX dividend shares analysts rate as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished a mildly positive week with a small gain. The benchmark index rose 0.15% to 7,030.3 points.

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

ASX 200 futures pointing lower

The Australian share market looks set to start the week on a subdued note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the week 5 points or 0.1% lower this morning following a mixed finish on Wall Street. In the United States on Friday, the Dow Jones rose 0.35%, the S&P 500 fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq tumbled 0.5%.

Aristocrat Leisure half year results

The Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price will be one to watch this morning when it releases its half year results. The gaming technology company expects to report a 12% increase in normalised net profit after tax and before amortisation of acquired intangibles (NPATA) to $412 million. This has been driven by stronger than expected performances from both its Gaming and Digital businesses.

Oil prices jump

It could be a good start to the week for energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) after oil prices jumped on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price rose 2.7% to US$63.58 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price climbed 2% to US$66.44 a barrel. This wasn’t enough to stop both benchmarks from recording weekly declines.

Gold price softens

Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch today after the gold price softened on Friday night. According to CNBC, the spot gold price fell 0.3% to US$1,878.9 an ounce. Despite this, the precious metal recorded a 2.2% gain for the week.

Iron ore price slides again

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) shares could come under pressure today after the iron ore price continued to slide. According to Metal Bulletin, the spot iron ore price has fallen a sizeable 5.3% to US$200.72 a tonne.

More reading

• ASX gold shares can thank bitcoin for their brightening outlook
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week
• These were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week
• ASX 200 shares cashing in on the rising gold price this week

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3fdwMf1

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 that investors might want to get better acquainted with are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8)

Audinate is the digital audio-visual networking technologies provider behind the popular Dante audio over IP networking solution. This solution is used across a number of industries and is the clear industry leader. This puts the company in a great position to benefit from increasing demand once the pandemic passes. In fact, pent-up demand is already showing, with Audinate reporting its highest ever quarterly revenue during the third quarter.

Booktopia Group Ltd (ASX: BKG)

The second small cap ASX share to watch is Booktopia. This online book retailer has been growing at an explosive rate since its IPO late last year. 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. It then followed this up with a 53% increase in quarterly 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 ship more books than ever.

Pointerra Ltd (ASX: 3DP)

A final small cap to watch is Pointerra. It is a technology company that provides a powerful cloud-based solution for managing, visualising, working in, analysing, using, and sharing massive 3D point clouds and datasets. Pointerra’s platform can extract vital information from the data that would otherwise take many hours to do. Management estimates that its market opportunity is currently worth an enormous $500 billion annually. While it might be best to take that estimate with a pinch of salt, it does demonstrate its material growth potential over the next decade and beyond.

More reading

• 2 exciting ASX tech shares that could be buys
• The 6-bagger ASX share that I now regret selling: fundie
• 3 outstanding small cap ASX shares to watch
• 3 stellar small cap ASX shares to watch
• 3 exciting ASX growth shares rated as buys

The post 3 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch in 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

ASX gold shares have finally been playing catch-up with the rest of the market and investors can thank cryptos like bitcoin for the outperformance.

Cryptocurrencies have been one of the drags on the gold price as some experts believe digital currencies are a good substitute for the yellow metal.

This is why the brightening outlook for gold coincided with the crash in the crypto market. The price of bitcoin and ether both tumbled by around 30% to 40% in a day, reported CNBC.

Gold rises as cryptos like bitcoin crashes

There are a few reasons for the sudden reversal in sentiment towards cryptos. Unfavourable tweets by Tesla Inc’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) founder Elon Musk and warnings by China that it won’t accept digital tokens for payments were two big drivers.

Meanwhile, the gold price jumped to a more than four-month high when it hit around US$1,882 an ounce at the end of last week.

Gold has been rising steadily for most of this month.

ASX gold shares are shining bright

This helped major ASX gold shares, like the Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) share price, the Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price outrun the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO).

While the big sell-off in cryptos won’t discourage the legion of fervent supporters, it only goes to show why digital tokens aren’t ready for prime time.

If anything, recent events show why cryptos are not a good replacement for gold – at least not yet.

Crypto fails test as a gold substitute

Investors buy gold for safety during times of fear. It has been trusted as a store of value for over 3,000 years.

The wide gyrations of cryptos undermines the belief that they can protect your wealth. This is particularly so if the asset class can be rocked (or rocketed) by a single tweet!

Cryptos hardly fit the definition of a safe haven.

Right investment, wrong reason

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of Ferrari-driving millennial millionaires thanks to the crypto craze, but they bought in to make big profit, not as a hedge.

The truth is, you don’t buy gold to become an overnight rich-lister. That’s not what investing in gold is all about.

This is a lesson many investors are about to learn, regardless of where cryptos trade next week or month.

Can ASX gold shares keep outperforming?

Another factor that is likely to drive investors away from cryptos and back to gold is waning risk appetite.

There is a clear trend showing capital flows are draining from more speculative assets, including high-flying tech shares.

For these reasons, we could see ASX gold shares continue to outperform in the short- to medium-term.

Beware making investment decisions that are based on the wrong reasons.

More reading

• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week
• These were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week
• ASX 200 shares cashing in on the rising gold price this week
• ASX 200 rises, Kogan sinks, EML soars
• 3 top-performing ASX shares this week

The post ASX gold shares can thank bitcoin for their brightening outlook appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

There could be some good in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dividend shares that may be candidates for income.

Businesses that have grown to a certain large size have the potential to sustain a high dividend payout ratio and continue to keep growing earnings.

These two ASX 200 dividend income shares could be interesting candidates.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)

Magellan is predominately a funds management business. It has over $100 billion of funds under management and it’s rated as a buy by the broker Morgans with a price target of $58.26.

The company has a dividend policy of interim and final dividends being based on 90% to 95% of profit of the funds management business excluding crystallised performance fees. It also pays an annual performance fee dividend of 90% to 95% of net crystallised performance fees after tax.

Magellan makes a lot of profit from its funds management business. Higher funds under management (FUM) leads to higher management fees which largely falls to the net profit line.

In the FY21 half-year result, its management fees grew 8% to $309.4 million and the funds management business’ profit before tax and before performance fees increased 8% to $256.2 million. That helped the interim dividend increase by 5% to 97.1 cents per share.

The ASX 200 dividend share continues to see long-term growth of FUM – in April 2021, total FUM rose from $106 billion to $110.4 billion. It’s also making investments into private businesses that have long-term growth potential and can provide useful information to Magellan such as Barrenjoey and Guzman y Gomez.

Morgans thinks that Magellan is going to pay a FY21 dividend that amounts to a yield of 4.5% in FY21.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

This is a real estate investment trust (REIT), it’s one of the larger ones on the ASX with a market capitalisation of around $3 billion.   

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT is currently rated as a buy by Citi with a price target of $5.30. The aim of the ASX 200 dividend share is to have a portfolio of properties that are rented to high-quality tenants with long leases.

The REIT recently announced acquisitions for a total cost of $415.4 million. It’s buying the Services Australia building in Tuggeranong, ACT, for $153 million, the ATO building in Box Hill, Victoria, for $115 million, the Red Cross building in Alexandria, NSW, for $79.5 million and the ATO building in Albury, NSW, for $42.5 million.

It also settled the acquisition of a 100% interest in an Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD) anchored long weighted average lease expiry (WALE) convenience retail property in Redbank Plains, Queensland, for $25.4 million.

These acquisition reflect a passing yield of 5.2%, with a long WALE of 9.2 years and a weighted average revenue review (WARR) of 3.6% per annum. It increases the exposure to government tenants from 16% to 21%.

Management believe the acquisition supports the ASX 200 dividend share’s secure and growing income profile.

It now has 464 properties worth almost $5 billion with a 97.7% occupancy rate, a WALE of 13.8 years and a WARR of 2.3%.

The REIT aims to have a distribution payout of 100% of operating earnings per security (EPS). It’s expecting to generate 29.2 cents of EPS in FY21, translating into a yield of 6.1%. The property business also provided FY22 operating EPS guidance of growth of at least 2.75% compared to FY21. That suggests an FY22 yield of around 6.3%.

More reading

• Why the Charter Hall REIT (ASX:CLW) share price is frozen
• 2 ASX dividend shares to buy with yields above 5%
• Why is the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price up 4% today?
• 2 ASX 200 shares to buy for dividends
• ASX 200 rises, Macquarie falls, Magellan declines

The post 2 ASX 200 dividend shares that could offer good income appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3uedFp8

While investors will be very familiar with tech shares like Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), there are some quality options in the sector flying under the radar.

Two such ASX tech shares are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG)

The first ASX tech share to take a look at is Hipages. It is a leading Australian-based online platform and software as a service (SaaS) provider that connects tradies with residential and commercial consumers.

Over three million Australians have used Hipages increasingly popular platform, providing work to over 34,000 trade businesses that are subscribed to the platform. In addition to this, the company’s Call of Service job management software improves tradies’ productivity by streamlining their workflow and taking away the stress of admin.

At present the company is capturing approximately 5% of total industry advertising spend, but has been tipped to grow its market share materially in the future. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts see scope for Hipages to capture upwards of 40% to 60% in the future as the company builds out its ecosystem. 

In light of this, it will come as no surprise to learn that Goldman is very positive on the company. It recently reiterated its buy rating and $3.35 price target on its shares. This compares to the current Hipages share price of $2.43.

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

Another ASX tech share to look at is San Francisco-based app maker Life360.

The company’s app offer families a wide-range of safety solutions for the modern world. This includes real-time location sharing and notifications, driving safety features like Crash Detection and Roadside Assistance, and messaging. Life360 is ultimately on a mission to create tools that remove uncertainty from modern life.

These features appear to be resonating well with families, with Life360 recently revealing 28 million monthly active users.

Pleasingly, the company continues to add to its offering. In April, it announced the acquisition of Jiobit for US$37 million. Management notes that the acquisition of the wearable location device provider is supportive of its growth strategy and opens up cross-selling opportunities.

One broker that is particularly positive on the company is Credit Suisse. It currently has an outperform rating and $8.30 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest Life360 share price of $5.45.

More reading

• 2 top mid cap ASX shares for growth investors
• 2 highly rated mid cap ASX shares given buy ratings
• Leading broker names 5 emerging ASX shares to buy today
• 2 exciting ASX tech shares that have been tipped as buys
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy now

The post 2 ASX tech shares with bags of potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

There are some ASX dividend shares that might be worth looking into for income.

Businesses that are paying dividend yields that are much higher than what investors might be able to get out of a bank account might seem attractive.

These two could be interesting ideas for income:

Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP)

This real estate investment trust (REIT) is Australia’s largest domestic pure play industrial option.

It’s currently rated as a buy by the broker Morgan Stanley with a price target of $3.77.  

Centuria Industrial REIT now has a portfolio of 61 investment properties worth more than $2.6 billion with a weighted average capitalisation rate (WACR) of 4.95%, an occupancy rate of 98.8% and an overall weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 9.7 years as at 31 March 2021.

One example of the type of tenant that the ASX dividend share has is Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) which is leasing the Warnervale Distribution Centre in NSW. It recently doubled this lease to 10.2 years. The ASX dividend share said that this demonstrated tenant demand for strategic food logistics assets.

Centuria Industrial REIT fund manager Jesse Curtis said:

We are seeing growing market demand for leasing of food logistics assets reflecting increasing consumer demand for fresh food and rise of food-related e-commerce. This is a structural trend we identified when we took over management of CIP in 2017 and have since focused on leveraging in this area, by adding strategic food-related assets to our portfolio and securing long-term leases with blue chip tenants.

Our Warnervale lease extension is a testament to this strategy. It builds on CIP’s acquisition of $214 million worth of cold storage assets and $236 million of food manufacturing facilities since FY19 – all of which are delivering significant value and attractive returns for CIP unitholders.

Morgan Stanley thinks that Centuria Industrial REIT will pay a FY21 distribution of 17 cents per unit, translating to a yield of 4.9% from the ASX dividend share.

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

Accent is a large Australian retailer of shoes. It sells a number of different brands including CAT, Dr Martens, Platypus, Skechers, Vans, Timberland and The Athlete’s Foot. The Glue Store is the latest business to be added to the portfolio.

The business is heavily focused on growing its store network – where it is seeing solid same store sales growth – as well as its digital presence. Online shopping is booming and Accent Group is taking advantage of that. The HY21 result saw digital sales grow 110% to $108.1 million, representing 22.3% of sales.

HOKA ONE ONE is one of the latest brands that Accent has been appointed to be the exclusive distributor in Australia for an initial 3-year term. Accent said that it’s one of the fastest growing performance brands globally.

In the first eight weeks of the second half of FY21, the ASX dividend share’s like for like retail sales were up 10.7% and digital sales were above 65.4%.

It has a goal of at least 10% compound earnings per share (EPS) growth. Citi has a price target on Accent of $3.10 and thinks the FY21 grossed-up dividend yield will amount to 6.5%.

More reading

• Retail sales rose 1.1% in April, but some ASX retail shares are selling off in May
• Which ASX 200 shares withstood today’s selloff?
• 2 top ASX dividend shares rated as buys
• Here’s why Centuria Capital (ASX:CNI) shares are falling 6% today
• 3 little-known ASX dividend shares offering big income

The post 2 attractive ASX dividend shares that could be a buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

Last week saw a number of broker notes hitting the wires once again. Three buy ratings that caught my eye are summarised below.

Here’s why brokers think investors ought to buy them next week:

A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

According to a note out of UBS, its analysts have retained their buy rating and NZ$13.50 (A$12.50) price target on this infant formula company’s shares. UBS believes that A2 Milk’s efforts to tighten its inventory are working without damaging its brand. In addition to this, the broker’s research indicates that pricing for a2 Platinum is improving. The a2 Milk share price ended the week notably lower than this price target at $5.55.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

A note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have upgraded this payments company’s shares to an outperform rating with a $120.00 price target. Macquarie has been looking into the US market and believes that Afterpay is well-positioned thanks to its wide merchant network. This is because the broker’s research indicates that shoppers are showing little loyalty with BNPL providers and would sooner use another provider instead of shopping elsewhere. Looking ahead, the broker expects the BNPL market to continue to grow over the next decade. So much so, it estimates that it could be worth a total of $3.8 trillion by 2030. The Afterpay share price ended the week at $93.00.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

Another note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have retained their outperform rating and $57.00 price target on this mining giant’s shares. Macquarie notes that production has commenced at its South Flank iron ore project. And while it will ramp up production over the coming years, it doesn’t impact Macquarie’s forecasts. This is due to South Flank replacing the Yandi mine, which is reaching the end of its mine life. Outside this, the broker is expecting a record second half result in FY 2021 thanks to sky high iron ore prices. This could lead to greater than expected dividends. The BHP share price was fetching $47.75 at Friday’s close.

More reading

• Encounter (ASX:ENR) share price rockets 30% on BHP copper joint-project
• Why the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is up 10% this week
• Why is the A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price up 7% today?
• Why a2 Milk, EML Payments, Webjet, & Xero shares are pushing higher
• ASX 200 down 0.25%: Kogan sinks, EML & A2 Milk jump

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3f8bcIK

Are you looking to add some dividend shares to your portfolio next week? Then take a look at the ones listed below.

Here’s why they could be top options for income investors:

BWP Trust (ASX: BWP)

The first dividend share to look at is this retail property company.

BWP is the largest owner of Bunnings Warehouse sites across Australia, making it the envy of many retail landlords. At the last count, the company had a total of 68 properties which were leased to the home improvement giant.

Thanks to Bunnings’ strong performance over the last 12 months, BWP has been able to collect rent as normal this year. This even led to BWP reporting a 6% increase in profit during the first half of FY 2021, allowing the the company’s board to reaffirm its plans to pay a full year distribution of ~18.3 cents per share.

Based on the current BWP share price of $4.14, this equates to an attractive 4.4% dividend yield.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

Another dividend share to consider is Fortescue. It is one of the world’s leading iron ore producers. And what a time to be one!

With spot iron ore prices above US$200 a tonne, iron ore producers are currently generating significant free cash flow. And while Fortescue’s lower grade ore doesn’t command as great a price, it is still materially more than its cash costs per tonne.

In light of this and its favourable dividend policy, the company looks set to reward shareholders handsomely with dividends in the near term.

Ord Minnett expects this to be the case and is forecasting fully franked dividends of $3.29 per share in FY 2021 and $2.86 per share in FY 2022. With the Fortescue share price currently fetching $22.30, this will mean massive dividend yields of 14.7% and 12.7%, respectively.

The broker has a buy rating and $28.00 price target on the company’s shares.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX dividend shares to buy today
• Why the Fortescue and BHP share prices are sinking this week
• ASX 200 sinks, EML plunges, Appen soars
• Should ASX iron ore producers worry as China plans to up its own production?
• Why these ASX lithium shares are down for a 5th straight session?

The post 2 ASX dividend shares with generous yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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:

Ardent Leisure Group Ltd (ASX: ALG)

According to a note out of Ord Minnett, its analysts have retained their sell rating and 75 cents price target on this entertainment company’s shares. Although the broker was pleasantly surprised by the strong performance of its Main Event business in the United States, it isn’t convinced that this will be maintained. Ord Minnett suspects that COVID stimulus payments have supported its strong performance and may not be repeated in the coming months. Overall, the broker feels the company is still some way of becoming profitable. The Ardent Leisure share price ended the week at 94 cents.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH)

A note out of UBS shows that its analysts have retained their sell rating but lifted their price target on this medical device company’s shares to NZ$24.80 (A$23.00). According to the note, UBS is expecting Fisher & Paykel Healthcare to deliver a strong full year result next week. However, this is being driven by COVID-19 tailwinds, which are unlikely to be repeated in FY 2022. In light of this, the broker is forecasting a sharp decline in its earnings next year. As a result, it feels its shares are overvalued at the current level. The Fisher & Paykel Healthcare share price was fetching $31.22 at Friday’s close.

Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU)

Analysts at Credit Suisse have retained their underperform rating and cut the price target on this mineral sands company’s shares to $5.30. This follows an announcement which reveals that Iluka plans to suspend its Sierra Rutile operation for six months later this year. Credit Suisse notes that the decision further clouds the outlook for the Sembehun project, which needs the Sierra Rutile infrastructure to be operational. The Iluka share price ended the week at $7.56.

More reading

• These were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week
• ASX 200 jumps, Qantas flies, Nufarm rises
• Why Flight Centre, Iluka, Nuix, & Oil Search shares are tumbling lower
• ASX 200 up 0.95%: Qantas update, Nufarm’s profits surge
• The Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) share price is falling today. Here’s why

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/348I4uM