Even though the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is the most followed ASX index covering the Australian sharemarket, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is actually the oldest one. Established in 1980, the All Ords covers 500 of the ASX’s largest companies, as opposed to the more concentrated ASX 200.

This in itself is not uncommon by global standards. Over in the United States, the most tracked index is the S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX). And there are indexes that cover as many as 5,000 different US companies. You can even get an exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the ASX – the Vanguard U.S. Total Market Share Index ETF (ASX: VTS) – that covers 3,669 of these companies.

There is a plethora of ASX ETFs that cover the ASX 200. One of the most popular is the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ). There’s even one ETF in the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) that covers the ASX 300. But, to this writer’s knowledge, there is no ASX ETF that tracks the All Ordinaries. None. Zilch. That is rather uncommon, and unusual, one would think.

So why is our oldest index not ‘investable’?

The All Ords and liquidity

Well, there’s one strong possibility: liquidity. ETFs that track indexes are more effective when the index holds large companies with liquid shares. The smaller a company’s market capitalisation becomes, the fewer buyers and sellers it will inevitably have, and thus, the more illiquid its pool of shares will be. The ASX 200 functions quite well in terms of liquidity. But when you throw in another 300 smaller companies, it throws a few spanners into the works.

To illustrate, let’s look at one company that is near the bottom of the All Ords pile – Zoono Group Ltd (ASX: ZNO). Zoono has a market cap of $104.3 million. According to ASX data, 220,000 shares traded hands on 23 March. In comparison, 30.9 million Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) shares swapped hands on the same day.

It’s probably just not efficient for an index fund to track dozens or hundreds of companies that small. Especially in what is already a relatively small capital market here in Australia. And it can also cause liquidity issues (like dramatic share price moves) if an index fund enters such a small market.

It’s most likely a combination of these reasons why we don’t see an All Ordinaries ETF. Who knows what the future will hold. But for now, investors will have to either buy their favourite All Ords companies themselves or just stick with the ASX 200 or the ASX 300.

More reading

• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?
• How is Australia’s jobs rebound affecting ASX shares?
• Could a restructure spell a new era for the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price?
• 8 ASX 200 shares rated as ‘outperform’ by brokers
• What experts are saying about Telstra’s (ASX:TLS) big restructuring plans

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Why is there no ASX All Ordinaries ETF? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

The Renascor Resources Ltd (ASX: RNU) share price broke a new high today after announcing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a leading Japanese trading company.

Renascor shares reached as high as 18.5 cents at the market open before losing ground throughout the day. By the close of trading, the Renascor share price was up 6.67% at 16.2 cents.

What’s pushing the Renascor share price higher?

In today’s release, Renascor advised it had signed a non-binding MOU with Hanwa CoLtd (Hanwa) to supply purified spherical graphite (PSG).

Founded in 1947, Hanwa is one of the largest traders of battery chemicals in the Asian region. The Japanese company operates a dedicated battery team that supplies graphite across the global battery chain.

Hanwa also deals with the wholesale, import, and export of steel products, non-ferrous metals, industrial machines, and food products. Last year, the company reported more than $21 billion in sales, reflecting its size and scale of operations.

Details of the agreement

Under the framework, Renascor will provide up to 10,000 tonnes per annum of PSG over 10 years. This will be manufactured and delivered from the company’s planned Battery Anode Material operation in South Australia.

Renascor highlighted that the potential purchase covered more than one-third of its projected initial PSG production capacity at the plant.

Additional product validation tests will be carried out before any formal binding agreement being signed. Once successful, both the final annual delivery amount and the contract duration will be finalised. This includes price, product quality, and other parameters.

Management commentary

Renascor managing director David Christensen commented:

Our MOU with Hanwa is a further significant step toward Renascor constructing, in Australia, the first integrated, in-country mine and Purified Spherical Graphite operation outside of China.

We are particularly pleased to be working with Hanwa, a leading Japanese-based global trading company, providing access to the Japanese anode market, which is the largest market for PSG outside of China.

Mr Christensen said the Hanwa MOU, together with MOUs with Minguang New Material and Zeto, potentially accounted for 100% of the company’s planned Stage 1 PSG production.

As a result of an increase in inbound enquiries from globally recognised anode and battery companies for Siviour PSG, we are now considering an expanded Stage 1 production capacity and/or an additional Stage 2 PSG production capacity.

The Renascor share price has gained an astonishing 3,100% over the past 12 months and is up more than 1,200% year-to-date.

More reading

• Why is there no ASX All Ordinaries ETF?
• 2 stellar ASX shares to buy and hold
• Genex Power (ASX:GNX) can count Atlassian founders as major backers
• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price hits 3-month low: Time to buy?
• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

The post Why the Renascor (ASX:RNU) share price reached a new high today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2P6rs2z

If you are looking to emulate Warren Buffett’s strategy of buy and hold investing, then you may want to take a look at the two shares listed below.

Both have significant potential and have been rated as buys recently. Here’s what you need to know about these top ASX shares:

Adore Beauty Group Limited (ASX: ABY)

Adore Beauty is a growing online beauty retailer that has almost 800,000 active customers in an Australian beauty and personal market currently worth ~$11 billion a year.

Last month the company released its half year results and revealed an 85% increase in first half revenue to $96.2 million. This was well ahead of its prospectus forecast of $89 million. It is also only a very small slice of its overall market opportunity, even when annualised.

This means it has a significant runway for growth over the next decade, particularly given the low penetration of online beauty and personal care sales in Australia.

According to its prospectus, Frost & Sullivan estimate the online penetration rate of the beauty and personal care market in Australia is just 7.3%. This lags international markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, with estimated online penetration levels of 15.4% and 12.7%, respectively.

Morgan Stanley is a fan of the company. Last month its analysts reiterated their overweight rating and lifted their price target on its shares to $8.75.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Another ASX share to consider buying and holding is Xero. It is a leading cloud-based business and accounting software provider which provides a full service solution to small businesses.

Thanks to the quality and stickiness of its platform, Xero has been growing its customer numbers and subscription revenues at a rapid rate over the last few years.

This has even continued in FY 2021 despite the impact that COVID-19 has had on many small businesses. During the first half of FY 2021, Xero’s subscriber numbers grew to 2.45 million, underpinning a 21% increase in operating revenue to NZ$409.8 million.

This is still scratching at the surface of its enormous global market opportunity. In fact, Goldman Sachs believes Xero is well-placed to grow its subscribers to 7.4 million by 2030. This is triple its current numbers.

In light of this, Goldman believes Xero is a growth share to own and has recently reaffirmed its buy rating and $157.00 price target on its shares.

More reading

• Adore Beauty (ASX:ABY) calls for a more inclusive beauty industry
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• How are New Zealand-based ASX shares performing ahead of a likely recession?
• ASX 200 up 0.45%: Premier Investments results, Xero acquisition, Computershare halted
• Why Alcidion, GrainCorp, Premier Investments, & Xero are storming higher

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post 2 stellar ASX shares to buy and hold appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

The Genex Power Ltd (ASX: GNX) share price is still motionless today as the renewable energy developer finalises its capital raising, which was launched yesterday.

This leaves the attention on who is pouring money into the company to make the hydro project possible. It appears Australian rich listers and Atlassian Corporation PLC (NASDAQ: TEAM) founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar are in the mix.

At the time of writing, the Genex share price is frozen in a trading halt at 27.5 cents per share on the ASX.

Funding a renewable future

The ASX-listed Genex Power share price remains halted as the company finalises the financing for stage 2 of its Kidston hub. As part of funding the $777 million hydro development, Genex Power tapped the market yesterday to source $115 million. Reportedly, Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar substantially contributed.

Mike’s wife Annie and her firm Grok Ventures, as well as Scott’s wife Kim Jackson and her firm Skip Capital, were backers of the Genex Power capital raising. The funds will go towards constructing and bringing online a 250MW pumped storage hydro energy development.

Genex is one of the many companies investing in a renewable energy future. The Kidston clean energy hub already has established a 50MW solar firm that powers 26,000 homes and offsets 120,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Following the completion of stage 2, Genex plans to develop a further 150MW wind project and solar farm expansion.

The addition of Genex Power to the Grok Ventures portfolio fits alongside the numerous other renewable investments the private fund has made. Such investments include the world’s largest solar energy infrastructure in the making, Sun Cable; and interest-free solar payment provider, Brighte.

When will Genex Power resume trading on the ASX?

Based on the capital-raising presentation, the institutional offer was conducted yesterday. The retail portion of the offer is expected to open on Tuesday 30 March and close on Friday 16 April. The trading halt should be lifted tomorrow, allowing the market to once again trade in the ASX-listed company.

However, a reminder for those hoping to squeeze into the capital raise, you’ll need to already own shares. This is due to the ASX T+2 settlement, meaning it takes 2 business days for purchases to settle. Unfortunately, you need to be on the share registry prior to 7 pm Friday to participant in the capital raising. 

More reading

• Genex (ASX:GNX) share price frozen on hydro project fund raising
• Why are the Nasdaq’s highest-growth stocks panicking about a strong economy?
• Could Australia be the next tech hub? Afterpay (ASX:APT) CEO thinks it should be

Mitchell Lawler 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 Atlassian. 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.

The post Genex Power (ASX:GNX) can count Atlassian founders as major backers appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has continued its poor run and dropped lower again on Thursday.

In fact, at one stage today the payments company’s shares were down as much as 4% to a three-month low of $103.20.

When the Afterpay share price hit that level, it was down more than 35% from its record high of $160.50.

Why is the Afterpay share price at a three-month low?

Investors have been selling Afterpay and other tech shares in 2021 due to concerns over rising bond yields.

Last week the yields on U.S. Treasuries surged to their highest level in more than a year after investors began betting that economic growth and inflation will pick up.

And while bond yields are still relatively low in the grand scheme of things, even small rises can have big impacts on valuations. This is particularly the case for richly valued stocks like Afterpay and rival Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P).

This is because as the risk-free rate rises, the premium that investors are willing to pay to put their money into risk assets decreases.

Is this a buying opportunity?

One broker that that sees the weakness in the Afterpay share price as a buying opportunity is Morgan Stanley.

Earlier this month the broker put an overweight rating and $159.00 price target on its shares. Based on the current Afterpay share price, this implies potential upside of approximately 52% over the next 12 months.

According to the note, Morgan Stanley believes that Afterpay has developed a moat thanks to its merchant marketplace, its strong global brand, and its integrated shopping experience.

In light of this, the broker isn’t concerned by increasing competition in the industry from the likes of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA).

Ord Minnett appears to agree with this view. At the start of the month the broker reiterated its buy rating and lifted its price target to $150.00.

Its analysts have been pleased with the company’s performance in the UK and United States and believe the Afterpay Money app has a lot of potential.

More reading

• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?
• Is the Affirm share price dragging ASX BNPL shares lower?
• Macquarie sees near-term pain for the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price
• Why the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price is outperforming today
• Afterpay and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week

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 AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price hits 3-month low: Time to buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has certainly had an interesting week. Over the past five trading days, the ASX 200 is up 0.6%. But that 0.6% hides a ‘2-speed market’.

In one lane, we have seen some ASX tech shares like Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) sold off. In the other, we have seen strength from the ASX banks and most of the ASX 200’s blue chip shares. One of those points of strength has been the Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price.

Yes, Woolworths shares are up roughly 5% over the past five trading days. That’s a pretty strong move for an ASX giant like Woolies. To put this in perspective, Woolworths shares have risen 7.54% on today’s prices since 30 May 2014.

So why the sudden rush to buy this grocery giant?

3 reasons why the Woolworths share price might be moving higher

Dividends, baby

Firstly, we did get a market update on Tuesday that might have gotten investors a little hot under the collar. That was a dividend notice for Woolies’ interim dividend of 53 cents per share that will be paid out on 14 April (which will incidentally be the 109th anniversary of the Titanic’s unsuccessful marriage with an iceberg, not that that is relevant).

But investors would have already known that was coming, seeing as Woolies announced it as part of its earnings report last month.

Woolworths is about to get a divorce of sorts

Secondly, perhaps investors are getting excited for Woolworths’ upcoming demerger of its Endeavour Group. The company also informed investors last month that the divorce is scheduled for June 2021 after being delayed by the events of last year. Endeavour Group houses Woolworths’ bottle shop chains (Dan Murphy’s and BWS). As well as a collection of pubs the company owns.

If all goes well, Woolworths shareholders will most likely receive shares of the new company come June. Demergers tend to generate value for shareholders. We saw this displayed in dramatic form when Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: COL) offloaded Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) back in 2018. Both companies have gone on to rise substantially in value from that point.

Perhaps investors are hoping for a repeat performance from Woolworths, and are piling in this week as the date nears.

The old ‘rotation’

Finally, as we have touched on earlier, this could just be the result of investors seeking out safety. The last month or two has seen the market abandon what some might call ‘risky’ shares like Afterpay for shares that could be considered ‘safe harbours’ like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Woolies. Coles has also had a decent week too.

Often, the large fund managers that are responsible for most of the ASX’s short-term fluctuations tend to move in packs. Some commentators call this a ‘rotation’. It’s possible that all we are seeing in the Woolworths share price over the past week or so can just be put down to that.

More reading

• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price hits 3-month low: Time to buy?
• 2 ASX 200 shares that keep growing their dividends
• Some of the ASX 200 companies that drove Australian exports to record levels
• Here’s why the Oceania Healthcare (ASX:OCA) share price is falling today
• What is pushing up the Atlas Arteria (ASX:ALX) share price today?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO, COLESGROUP DEF SET, Wesfarmers Limited, and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) share price is tumbling today following the launch of a renounceable rights issue. In late afternoon trade, the emerging lithium miner’s shares are swapping hands for 3.7 cents, down 5.1%.

What did Sayona announce?

Investors are offloading the Sayona share price after the company announced a rights issue that will dilute shareholdings.

According to its release, Sayona advised it has launched a renounceable rights issue to raise up to $20.4 million before costs. The 1-for-6 offer will be available to all eligible shareholders with a registered address in Australia and New Zealand.

The company has determined the issue price to be 3.2 cents per share, representing a 10.5% discount on the 30-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP).

Sayona noted that its major shareholder, Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX: PLL), will participate in the rights issue.

The funds received will support the company’s growth plans in Québec, Canada. This entails advancing its flagship Authier Lithium Project and the upcoming Tansim Lithium Project together with Piedmont.

The rights issue will close on 20 April 2021, with the new ordinary shares to start trading on 28 April 2021.

Words from management

Sayona managing director Brett Lynch touched on the potential market opportunity, saying:

Québec offers enormous competitive advantages as a lithium producer and downstream processor due to its world-class infrastructure and labour, environmentally friendly hydropower and access to the fast- growing North American battery market.

This funding will help ensure we can cement our lithium projects as key to the region’s clean energy future, with the potential for clean and green lithium hydroxide production direct to Ontario automakers and North Carolina battery makers.

About the Sayona share price

Despite today’s fall, the Sayona share price has lifted more than 400% since this time last year. However, most of the strong gains came from the start of 2021 on the back of renewed optimism in the lithium market.

Sayona commands a market capitalisation of roughly $140 million, with more than 3.7 billion shares outstanding.

More reading

• Why Airtasker, Netwealth, Piedmont Lithium, & Resolute Mining are tumbling lower
• Here’s why the Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) share price is crashing 17% lower
• Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) successfully completes US public offering
• Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) shares in trading halt after proposed US public offering
• Why the Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA) share price is rocketing 25%

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

The post The Sayona (ASX:SYA) share price is tumbling 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3rtn8I9

The Cirralto Ltd (ASX: CRO) share price has plunged almost 20% this month, with no major news announced. What’s behind the Software as a Service (SaaS) company’s share price fall seems to be a mystery.

Even more perplexing is Cirralto’s rise over the last 12 months. An investor who bought shares in the company this time last year would find themselves up by 4,810% today. Even if you bought in at the start of this year, you’d be up by 127%.

So, what’s the go with the Cirralto share price? Let’s take a look.

Crashing on the pay now, pay later wave

Cirralto may well be the horse left at the start gate amongst buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers such as Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) and IOUpay Ltd (ASX: IOU).

All the above-mentioned company’s share prices had incredible gains in February, and Cirralto was alongside them. In fact, in a single day in February, the company reached an intraday high of 22 cents, a 200% gain, without any news having been released.

When the ASX inevitably noticed this unexplained share price rise, the company stated it resulted from social media and market attention because of the BNPL frenzy of the time.

Cirralto provides digital payment services in the business to business (B2B) sphere, with one service that is essentially BNPL for B2B transactions.

Yet, the company hasn’t seemed to rise to the opportunity as investors might have hoped. Next to nothing has been announced from Cirralto since.

Capital raising

While investor excitement in Cirralto bloomed, the company took the opportunity to raise some capital.

On February 22, the company announced an $18 million placement with firm commitments, mostly from institutional investors.

While the $18 million was to develop its BNPL technology, aside from a single update, we haven’t heard much about it since.

Cirralto share price fall from grace

Between 26 February and 2 March, the company’s share price fell by 27.27%.

Cirralto managed to gain 3 cents back when it announced news of an update to its B2B BNPL service, but that quickly petered out with only 0.9 cents able to stick.

The current Cirralto share price is 20% lower than it was at the start of the month, trading for 8.8 cents. Hopefully, any investors who bought at 22 cents are still holding out hope that the company can return to its former glory.

Cirralto has a market capitalisation of around $183.7 million, with approximately 2 billion shares outstanding.

More reading

• Is the Affirm share price dragging ASX BNPL shares lower?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Why Zip (ASX:Z1P) and this growth share are in the buy zone today
• Afterpay and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week
• ASX 200 crash anniversary: 5 of the best performing shares of the last 12 months

The post Down 20% with no news, what’s with the Cirralto (ASX:CRO) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3skxvz5

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

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

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) has long resisted the traditional broadcast formula of the weekly release schedule, sticking to its roots of releasing an entire seasons’ worth of episodes all at once and encouraging viewers to binge-watch the whole series.

The streaming pioneer now appears willing to at least experiment with other options. In a blog post on Tuesday, the company announced the pending release of new seasons of “two of our biggest unscripted competition series.” Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s VP of unscripted and documentary series, went on to reveal that company was “experimenting with the release format,” forcing viewers to wait for additional episodes to be released. 

The Circle challenged players to “quarantine in their individual apartments and only communicate with each other via social media,” while Too Hot to Handle, offered a twist on the dating competition. In order to win, players had to keep “their hands off each other.” Riegg said the distribution schedule would give viewers “time to dissect and dish on every step of the competition as it unfolds.”

The two programs will premiere their new seasons on Wednesdays in April and June, respectively. The Circle will release four episodes at a time for three successive weeks, beginning 14 April, before the finale on 5 May. Too Hot to Handle will debut new episodes every Wednesday in June.

This isn’t the first such experiment with a weekly release schedule. Netflix released episodes of The Great British Baking Show each week in the US after the episodes originally aired in the UK. It also tested a modified release schedule with Rhythm + Flow.

Walt Disney has been wildly successful using a weekly release schedule with The Mandalorian and WandaVision, which have had longer runs in the Top 10 according to data compiled by Nielsen. This likely contributed to Netflix’s willingness to try a new format. 

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

More reading

• How much does password sharing cost Netflix?
• I want to double your money every 5 years: fundie
• ASX tech shares: A once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunity?
• 3 reasons to buy Netflix stock now
• The tech-heavy Nasdaq is now in a correction!

Danny Vena owns shares of Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Netflix is experimenting with releasing new episodes over a longer timeframe appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3d3RBHh

There are a few S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) that keep increasing their dividend to shareholders every year.

Not many businesses in the ASX 200 have grown their dividend consistently over the last several years. The COVID-19 year of 2020 alone saw many dividend records come to an end.

But not for these two ASX 200 shares, which just announced further dividend increases:

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)

Soul Patts reported its FY21 half-year result today, it announced a 4% increase of the interim dividend to 26 cents.

The investment conglomerate reported that its diversified portfolio showed resilience against market volatility.

It’s the only company in the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries (ASX: XAO) to have increased the dividend every year for the past 20 years. It also boasts that its total shareholder return over the past two decades has been 1,189%, outperforming the market by 5.6% per annum over the last 20 years.

The ASX 200 dividend share continues to make new investment to diversify its portfolio. For example, it just gained exposure to kiwi fruit farming in Western Australian thanks to an acquisition.

A key highlights for the Soul Patts business was the performance of Round Oak Minerals which is benefiting from strong commodity prices such as copper.

Soul Patts managing director Todd Barlow said:

WHSP maintained good cash generating across the portfolio throughout the period impacted by COVID-19. Cash generation from the portfolio continues to be strong and supports our ambitions to maintain increasing dividends over time.

We continue to have liquidity available for new investments and have a strong pipeline of opportunities which we believe will deliver superior risk adjusted returns.

At the current Soul Patts share price, it has a grossed-up dividend yield of 2.7%.

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks is a diversified property business which has buildings product divisions in both Australia and the US.

Today’s result showed that the Australian division is performing strongly, whilst there are signs of higher demand in the US.

The Brickworks board decided to increase the dividend by 5% to 21 cents.

It is the other two asset groups that funds Brickworks continually growing dividend. During the period, Soul Patts paid $33 million of dividends to Brickworks – an increase of 3%. The defensive portfolio of Soul Patts is expected to continue to generate growing earnings and dividends to Brickworks.

Brickworks also owns a 50% ownership of a good industrial property trust, which saw net trust income increase by 7% to $16 million thanks to rent reviews and additional developments. It also benefited from a $40 million revaluation profit on the value of the properties.

The ASX 200 share hasn’t cut its dividend for 45 years. It currently offers a grossed-up dividend yield of 4.3%.

Brickworks is expecting that the completion of facilities being constructed in its property trust over the next two years will lead to a significant uplift in rental income and the asset value.

More reading

• Some of the ASX 200 companies that drove Australian exports to record levels
• Here’s why the Oceania Healthcare (ASX:OCA) share price is falling today
• Why the Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL) share price is climbing higher today
• What is pushing up the Atlas Arteria (ASX:ALX) share price today?
• Why Brickworks, McPherson’s, MedAdvisor, & Premier Investments are storming higher

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post 2 ASX 200 shares that keep growing their dividends appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2NQ7icB