ASX bank shares will be on watch today as credit ratings agency Fitch upgraded its outlook for two of the majors.

Why are ASX bank shares worth watching?

National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB) last night provided a price-sensitive announcement after the market’s close. That update detailed Fitch Ratings’ revised outlook for the bank from ‘Negative’ to ‘Stable’.

According to the release, the change in ratings outlook “reflects Fitch’s view of the improved economic prospects in Australia”. Fitch affirmed both NAB and its New Zealand subsidiary, Bank of New Zealand’s, long-term issuer credit ratings at ‘A+’ and ‘F1’ for short-term.

However, NAB isn’t the only ASX bank share to watch today. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) provided a similar update early this morning.

Fitch has also revised the outlook on long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) for ANZ and ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited from ‘Negative’ to ‘Stable’.

ANZ and ANZNZ’s long-term IDR remains at ‘A+’. According to the ANZ release, Fitch has “greater confidence that ANZ’s financial profile is likely to remain consistent with its current ratings over the next two years”.

Notably, the ratings agency expects “GDP to expand by 4.7% in 2021”. ASX bank shares like ANZ and NAB could be worth watching as investors take in the latest forecasts from the likes of Fitch.

However, there was a cautionary note that “downside remains”, particularly until vaccinations are complete. The ratings agency said that this downside risk has reduced significantly since early 2020.

Foolish takeaway

ASX bank shares will be worth watching following the Fitch revisions in the last 24 hours.

Both the NAB and ANZ share price have been climbing higher in 2021 amid growing investor optimism for an economic recovery. These two ASX bank shares have jumped 17.0% and 25.3%, respectively, so far this year.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has climbed 4.3% higher despite getting off to a slow start this week. The benchmark Aussie index edged 0.3% lower to 6,974.00 points at Monday’s close.

More reading

• Is the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price a COVID recovery buy?
• How this ASX ETF is battling the biggest threat to Australian business growth
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX sees 7,000 points once more
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with generous yields
• Is it time to buy ANZ (ASX:ANZ) at today’s share price?

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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 NAB (ASX:NAB) and other bank shares are on watch today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX: CWY) share price will be one to watch this morning.

This follows news that its acquisition of Suez Australia’s business for $2.5 billion has hit the rocks.

What happened?

Overnight in Europe, French waste management giants Veolia and Suez announced an agreement to merge their operations.

According to Veolia, the agreement will create a global champion of ecological transformation, with revenues of around 37 billion euros.

Veolia also revealed that the agreement provides for: “The termination of the agreements with Cleanaway in accordance with their terms concerning the disposal of the assets in Australia (subject to the Sydney assets) and the suspension of any other significant disposal, which allows Veolia to acquire in particular all the assets designated as strategic in its draft offer document filed on February 8 with the Autorité des marchés financiers.”  

This is a bitter blow for Cleanaway, which has seen its share price surge higher since announcing a deal to acquire Suez’s Australian assets last week.

One small positive is that the deal with Suez for its Sydney assets remains in place. This comprises two landfill sites and five transfer stations for an agreed purchase price of $501 million.

What has been Cleanaway’s reaction?

This morning the company responded to the news.

It commented: “Cleanaway expects that the Suez R&R Acquisition will be terminated on, or prior to 6 May 2021, and that the Sydney Assets Acquisition will proceed. Suez has announced that the in‐principle agreement provides for the suspension of ongoing legal proceedings, and that all legal proceedings will be withdrawn upon entry into the definitive agreements between Suez and Veolia.”

Management remains positive on the acquisition of Suez’s Sydney assets and expects it to generate attractive returns. 

It said: “The Sydney Assets enhance and complement Cleanaway’s existing footprint, and deliver Cleanaway an immediate post collections solution for the Sydney region to internalise its waste. The acquisition of the Sydney Assets is expected to deliver attractive financial returns including pro forma EPSA accretion to FY20.”

During calendar year 2020, these assets generated net revenue of $193.1 million and normalised EBITDA of $72.9 million.

However, it may take some time before these assets are in the hands of Cleanaway.

Based on the expected timeline for completion of the takeover of Suez by Veolia, the Sydney assets acquisition is expected to complete in the second quarter of calendar year 2022.

Cleanaway intends to keep shareholders updated as and when information becomes available.

More reading

• Acquisitions and spin-offs put these 3 ASX shares on brokers’ “buy” list
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Why ASX 200 shares are at a 6-week high
• ASX 200 jumps, Cleanaway’s treasured acquisition, Afterpay soars
• Why the Cleanaway (ASX:CWY) share price is soaring 9% today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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.

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Ask A Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with fund managers so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In part 1 of our interview, Hyperion Asset Management lead portfolio manager Jason Orthman tells why Tesla shares are still great value.

Investment style

The Motley Fool: What’s your fund’s philosophy?

Jason Orthman: What we’re focusing on today is the Hyperion Gbl Growth Companies Fund (ASX: HYGG). HYGG is listed on the Australian stock exchange, so you can get exposure through that. 

Our investment strategy is really quality structural growth over a rolling 10-year investment period. So what we mean by that is we can find these really high-quality businesses that are growing structurally at high rates. We can compound capital over a long period of time. 

Some of the inefficiencies we exploit are, firstly, just that long-term versus short-term. I think a lot of people get caught in the short-term noise rather than acting as a business owner.

Secondly, actually identifying exceptional businesses. We think actually a lot of the best businesses are actually undervalued and mispriced. We’re after, again, that quality structural growth investing over a sort of 10-year period.

MF: Being a global fund, which markets dominate your holdings? Is it mainly the US and Australia?

JO: We’ve got a mandate where we can invest anywhere across the globe in terms of listed equities. But to your point, at the moment we don’t own any ASX or Australian listed names in the global fund. 

Over time we’ve had Australian listed companies. We don’t have any biases against Australian listed companies, but if they are the best in the world at what they do, we’ll own them and we’ve done that over time. 

But the only reason really over the last 12 months is the competitive set has got a lot harder for Australian managers to make the global fund because with COVID that’s changed consumers’ behavior. It’s been really quite disruptive, but it’s been positive for these sort of disruptive modern business models. 

So we’ve found just more attractive opportunities offshore. We can own Australian listed names in the global fund… [It’s] really more of a developed market product. We do own some businesses, predominantly Chinese, [in emerging markets] but we just think there’s lower risk in developed markets versus emerging markets. 

MF: To give our readers an idea, what are your two biggest holdings?

JO: Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)’s our largest holding still at around a 12% weight and then Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) is our second largest, which is around 8.5% weight. 

Even though those share prices have re-rated upwards as we were buying them over the last 12 months or so, we still believe that they’re fundamentally misunderstood and there’s a large shift in consumer behavior going on. 

So it’s still really day one for both Tesla and Square, hence the largest holdings.

MF: What would you say to the critics who say Tesla might be overvalued given it is now worth the same as the 8 biggest traditional car companies put together?

JO: Our first purchase was made in January 2020, and that was after watching it for 5 years.

MF: What great timing.

JO: It was off to a great start. Yeah, gone from US$100 when we started buying to, I think it was US$670 overnight. So it’s gone up 6 or 7 times in a bit over 12 months, but that was pretty unusual. We thought it was worth a fraction of what the market was pricing it at that time. 

But I think the [overvaluation] issue is too far away. The market values it as a traditional order company and there’s a whole bunch of other revenue streams there that you need to analyse. So that’s the first point. 

Thinking about all those other revenue streams — software autonomy, insurance, energy, solar batteries — that need to come into your calculation as well.

And the second point, which is where you’re coming from is you can’t value it on 500,000 cars. You’ve got to look forward and think, well, even if you value it as an older company, how many cars will [it] sell in 10 years? We think that they can challenge for market leadership, which means they can serve 10 million plus cars. 

Buying and selling 

MF: What do you look at closely when considering buying a stock?

JO: It’s a combination of quantitative and qualitative factors. Obviously quantitative is historical financials and track records… and that’s a good starting point. But I think the qualitative aspects are much more important because investing is about the future. 

You need to look forward… The strength of the value proposition of the business, the strength of the competitive advantage, the size of the addressable market. 

A lot of people look at a stock and you can trade it in and out in a second — so they forget that that ticker is actually a business and that business is actually a product. So actually focusing on who gets utility from using that product, why they use it, those competing products, or will they continue to use it in tough conditions. 

Those fundamental first-principle type questions are a good place to start in combination with the underlying economics of the business.

MF: What triggers you to sell a share?

JO: Again, it’s a combination of quantitative and qualitative. On the quantitative side, we forecast our 10-year internal rate of return… If that internal rate of return reduces, we’ll decrease our weight. And ultimately if the margin of safety above the risk-free rate is too low, we’ll completely exit. That’s something that we can measure day-to-day. 

But again, the qualitative side of things is probably more interesting and that really is: ‘Is something happening with the investment to change the status quo?’. 

Some examples are, if they make a large acquisition, well, the business that you own has fundamentally changed. So large acquisitions will cause us to exit. If there is a complete overhaul of the management team and the stewardship of that business, that will cause us to exit. Or if there’s just some disruption in the business model or economic environment around that business, that’ll cause us to exit. 

Overrated and underrated shares

MF: What’s your most underrated stock at the moment?

JO: That comes back to Tesla because our most underrated stocks are our largest weights. So even though these businesses… look optically expensive on traditional short term metrics, when we actually forecast out what its earnings and cash flows will look like in 10 years, we… think the stock is actually fundamentally cheap. 

We believe that [the] shift from combustion to electric vehicles is structural. And that Tesla [is] going to lead that and challenge for market dominance against the traditional incumbents. So we still think it’s back to that ‘day one’, to steal Jeff Bezos’ saying, that Tesla looks pretty good on that 10-year view to us. 

MF: Most of the traditional car makers are now also trying to churn out electric vehicles. What do you think about that threat? Because many of them have deep pockets as well.

JO: Yeah, they do. But we actually believe it’s a large positive for Tesla because Tesla doesn’t advertise, it doesn’t spend any money on traditional advertising platforms and [the growth] has been by word of mouth. Some of the Tesla owners are the biggest advocates.

We believe that moving the consumer away from combustion engines to electric vehicles will be a large positive for something like Tesla, which has got a better product. By shifting the consumers’ focus, putting real money behind it and making that shift real and structural, Tesla will pick up a large share of those consumers that changed their habits. 

Yeah, our thinking is probably contrary to most. We don’t see a lot of these — Volkswagen Group (ETR: VOW3), General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) and others — as large threats. Because we think the product of Tesla — the instant acceleration, its technology around batteries, its software, the product — is completely years ahead of those traditional manufacturers. 

MF: Electric cars are also essentially a different product, aren’t they? Just because you have expertise in combustion engines, it’s not like you have any advantage in making EVs?

JO: No, and that’s the thing. I think people think the scale will translate, but I mean, the legacy OEMs don’t have over-the-air software updates, for example, and the narrative that Tesla’s only 1 or 2 years ahead of these traditional manufacturers, we believe, is false. 

They’ve been going at this for the last 5 to 10 years and that’s the lead that they’ve got. I think [traditional car makers] are going to actually struggle to match the product.

More reading

• 2 investing approaches to help get you started on the ASX
• Is it riskier NOT owning Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)?
• With the Bitcoin price up overnight your crypto Tesla just got cheaper
• Saxo reveals its Australian clients’ top 5 most popular shares
• Tesla’s stock is way overblown and only worth $150, analyst says

Tony Yoo owns shares of Square. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Square and Tesla. 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 Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares are still cheap: fundie appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 2 blue chip ASX dividend shares to buy today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Got money to invest for income? Here are 2 ASX dividend shares
• 2 small cap ASX tech shares to buy now
• Why the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price outperformed today

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Kate O’Brien owns shares of Apple and Rio Tinto Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Apple. 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 wanting to boost your income portfolio with some reliable ASX dividend shares in April?

Then you might want to take a look at the blue chip dividend shares listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

This mining giant could be a dividend share to buy. Thanks to its world class and low cost operations, BHP is well-placed to benefit from favourable commodity prices in FY 2021.

You only need to look at the Big Australian’s half year results to see this. For the six months ended 31 December, BHP delivered a 15% increase in revenue to US$25.64 billion and a 21% jump in underlying EBITDA to US$14.7 billion.

This strong form led to BHP generating US$5.2 billion of free cash flow. And thanks to the strength of its balance sheet, the vast majority of this free cash flow was returned to shareholders through dividends.

One broker that is positive on the mining giant is Goldman Sachs. It currently has a buy rating and $53.40 price target on its shares.

Goldman is expecting a strong second half, leading to a full year dividend of $2.31 per share in FY 2021. After which, it is forecasting a $2.13 per share dividend in FY 2022. Based on the current BHP share price of $45.65, this equates to fully franked 5% and 4.6% dividend yields.

Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW)

Another blue chip ASX dividend share to buy is Woolworths. Like BHP, Woolworths has been a strong performer in FY 2021. This has been driven by strong sales growth across its BIG W, BWS, Dan Murphy’s, and Woolworths supermarket businesses.

Positively, the second half looks set to be just as positive thanks to the ongoing favourable redirection in consumer spending.

Macquarie appears confident the strong form will continue. In response to its half year update, the broker put an outperform rating and $44.50 price target on its shares. It was pleased with Woolworths’ result and expects the company’s investment in its online businesses to continue to drive further growth.

The broker is forecasting a ~$1.17 per share fully franked dividend in FY 2021. Based on the latest Woolworths share price, this represents a 2.9% dividend yield.

More reading

• Are you buying the companies of the past, or the future?
• Why are the big ASX mining share prices slipping today?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX sees 7,000 points once more
• Is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price a good defensive buy?
• Is the BHP (ASX:BHP) share price a buy right now?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Woolworths Limited. 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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On Monday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form and started the week with a decline. The benchmark index dropped 0.3% to 6,974 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Tuesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 futures pointing higher

The Australian share market looks set to edge higher this morning despite a subdued night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 0.1% or 6 points higher. On Monday night the Dow Jones fell 0.15%, the S&P 500 was flat, and the Nasdaq was down 0.35%. Investors appear nervous ahead of the release of key US inflation data.

Oil prices rise

Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could push higher today after oil prices climbed overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.65% to US$59.71 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has risen 0.55% to US$63.30 a barrel. Middle East tension supported oil prices.

Cleanaway acquisition hopes hit

The Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX: CWY) share price could come under pressure today after its plan to acquire Suez Australia’s business for $2.5 billion hit a roadblock. This follows news that waste management giants Veolia and Suez have agreed a mega merger. According to the Financial Times, the combined entity will have revenues of 37 billion euros.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch after the gold price tumbled lower overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.7% to US$1,732.30 an ounce. The precious metal came under pressure after bond yields firmed up.

Webjet given buy rating

The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price is still in the buy zone according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. In response to the completion of its convertible notes offering, the broker has retained its buy rating and $7.00 price target. This price target implies potential upside of almost 32% over the next 12 months for its shares.

More reading

• Why the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price outperformed today
• ASX 200 drops, Santos entices CEO, Centuria acquires again
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price hits new 8-month high
• This beaten-down ASX sector could soon be turning the corner
• Trashed COVID-19 vaccine targets hit ASX travel shares

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Webjet 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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Do you have money to invest for income? There are a few ASX dividend shares that could be good candidates.

Bond yields might be going up a little bit, but the official Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) interest rate is still almost 0% right now.

But some ASX income shares still have decent yields on offer for investors:

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

Kogan.com isn’t typically considered an ASX dividend share. But, with the Kogan.com share price down 40% since 25 January 2021, the ASX online retailer’s dividend yield has been pushed up.

According to Commsec, Kogan.com has a forecast grossed-up dividend yield of 4.1% for FY21 and 5.4% for FY23. The dividend has been increasing over recent years already.

Kogan.com continues to grow at a pleasing rate thanks to its various divisions, including Kogan Marketplace which is growing by triple digit figures at the moment. The ASX dividend share is aiming to continue its growth by focusing on an enhanced consumer offering (broader selection and improved pricing), more partners and products (more brands, sellers and new categories) and a stronger platform (higher margins and a bigger audience).

Continuing growth of profit is likely to help the dividend growth further.

In January 2021, gross sales increased by 45% year on year, including 111.6% growth of Kogan Marketplace and 54.6% in exclusive brands. Gross profit went up 102% and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 90%.

According to Commsec, the Kogan.com share price is valued at 24x FY21’s estimated earnings.  

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

Accent is a shoe retailer responsible for selling various shoe brands locally like Skechers, Dr Martens, Vans, Cat and Timberland.

The ASX dividend share is another business that has been steadily growing its payment to shareholders. Its profit has been rising over the years as it extended its store network, improved margins and added more brands.

Accent’s half-year result saw another large improvement of the dividend, a 52.4% increase of the interim dividend in-fact.

Online growth of 110%, representing 22% of total sales, was a highlight for the ASX dividend share in the half-year. It’s aiming for online sales to be 30% of sales over time. In FY21, the company is aiming to open 90 stores across all stores, with continuing strong growth expected into FY22.

In the first eight weeks of the second half of FY21, sales were up 10.7% and online sales were up 65.4%. The Athlete’s Foot like for like sales in January grew by 20.4%.

Accent currently has a trailing grossed-up dividend yield of 7.5%.

More reading

• Are you buying the companies of the past, or the future?
• ASX 200 down 0.3%: Webjet completes note offering, Xero pushes higher
• 3 small caps ASX dividend shares offering big income
• ASX 200 down 0.4%: Tech shares rise, Afterpay increases US stake
• Why Anteotech, EROAD, Jindalee Resources, & Kogan are pushing higher

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. 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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Due to the recent weakness in the tech sector, a number of tech shares are trading notably lower than their 52-week highs.

While this is disappointing for existing shareholders, it has potentially created a buying opportunity for the rest of us.

Two small cap tech shares that could be in the buy zone now are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Nitro Software Ltd (ASX: NTO)

Since peaking at $3.66 last last year, the Nitro share price has been dragged 20% lower. This is despite the company delivering a very strong full year result in February.

For the 12 months ended 31 December, Nitro reported a 64% increase in annualised recurring revenue (ARR) to $27.7 million. This was driven by increasing demand for its popular Nitro Productivity Suite.

Positively, similarly strong growth is expected in FY 2021. Management’s guidance for the year ahead is for ARR in the range of $39 million to $42 million. This will mean year on year growth of 41% to 51.6%.

One broker that appears to see the weakness in the Nitro share price as a buying opportunity is Morgan Stanley. 

Last month it put an overweight rating and $3.70 price target on the company’s shares. This compares to the current Nitro share price of $2.90.

Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)

Another small cap ASX tech share that is trading notably lower than its 52-week high is Whispir.

The shares of this growing software-as-a-service communications workflow platform provider reached a high of $5.24 in August. Today, the Whispir share price is trading 36% lower than this at $3.35.

Once again, this is despite the company delivering a very strong result in February. For the six months ended 31 December, Whispir reported a 29.2% increase in its ARR to $47.4 million. This was driven by increased activity from its existing customers and a 12% lift in customer numbers to a total of 707 customers.

Shaw and Partners sees this as an opportunity for investors to invest. Last month it retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $5.20. It believes the company is well-placed for growth, particularly in the North American market.

More reading

• ASX stock of the day: Nitro Software (ASX:NTO) shares rocket 11%
• 4 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch
• Why the Whispir (ASX:WSP) share price is sinking today
• 2 of the best small cap ASX shares to watch
• These ASX tech shares are all trading near their lowest prices in months

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 Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nitro Software Limited and Whispir 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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The Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price is outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) today. At the time of writing, Magellan shares are up 0.88% to $48.40. That is a significant departure from the broader ASX 200 Index, which looks set to end the day in the red with a current loss of 0.3% to 6,968 points.

Today’s move is the latest in what has been a pretty good month to hold Magellan shares. Since 9 March, the Magellan share price is up close to 15%. However, saying that Magellan is still in the red for 2021 so far. Since the start of the year, Magellan shares are down 8.7% on today’s pricing.

So why are Magellan shares outperforming today?

Magellan share price supported by FUM?

A large contributing factor to Magellan’s share price performance today could be the performance numbers the company released last week. On Friday morning, Magellan reported that its funds under management (FUM) swelled by close to $6 billion to $106.05 billion over the month of March, up from the $100.61 billion that we saw at the end of February. 

Most of these gains were from market appreciation, considering that net inflows only made up $206 million of this FUM appreciation. Of this $206 million, $221 million came from institutional investments, with retail investments contributing a net outflow of $15 million. 

Over the quarter ending 31 March, Magellan also saw net inflows of $1.12 billion.

As my Fool colleague reported on Friday, the initial reaction from investors on this news was to hit the sell button. Indeed, Magellan share price lost more than 2% on Friday. But perhaps that was a reaction to the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine problems that was the talk of the town that day, rather than Magellan’s figures. By extension, perhaps today’s share price moves are a delayed reaction from investors on that front.

But Magellan shares may also be benefitting from the current state of the US share markets. Magellan’s largest funds, such as the Magellan Global Fund (ASX: MGF) are predominantly invested in US shares such as Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL). On Friday afternoon (US time), the S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) closed at its highest level in history. That can’t be a bad thing for Magellan.

Whatever the root cause, Magellan shareholders will no doubt be happy with today’s market moves. At the current share price, Magellan has a market capitalisation of $133.25 billion.

More reading

• ASX 200 drops, Santos entices CEO, Centuria acquires again
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price hits new 8-month high
• This beaten-down ASX sector could soon be turning the corner
• Why the Platinum (ASX:PTM) share price is falling today
• Orocobre (ASX:ORE) share price rebounds from broker downgrade

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Magellan High Conviction Trust, and Starbucks. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Starbucks and recommends the following options: short April 2021 $110 calls on Starbucks. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares) and Starbucks. 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 Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price outperformed today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended the down lower by 0.3% today to 6,974 points.

It was a painful day for some ASX resource shares, including the Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC) share price which fell 7.7%.

Here are some of the other highlights from the ASX:

Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) CEO

The Santos share price went up close to 1% after investors learned that the CEO would be staying.

The energy business has agreed to provide Mr Kevin Gallagher with a once-off growth projects incentive to ensure he sees through the successful delivery of the ASX 200 company’s major growth projects and energy transition strategy to 2025.

Santos pointed out that since February 2016, he has led a significant turnaround and said the business is now sustainable and resilient, generating significant free cash flow. The strategy and the disciplined, low-cost operating model has been key for assisting with this.

During Mr Gallagher’s tenure, the company has delivered a total shareholder return of 159% including dividends, compared to 83% for the ASX 200 and 37% for the ASX energy index.

Santos Chair Keith Spence said Mr Gallagher is well-recognised as one of Australia’s leading chief executives with a proven track record of delivering value for shareholders:

Kevin is critical to the successful delivery of the company’s strategy, major growth projects and driving the energy transition over the next five years.

The incentive is in the form of share acquisition rights (SARs) with a face value at grant of $6 million.

Centuria Industrial Reit (ASX: CIP)

The Centuria real estate investment trust (REIT) announced a $27 million Arndell Park distribution centre acquisition in central west Sydney.

Centuria’s acquisition has a 2.2 year lease expiry, fully let to civil and construction infrastructure supplier, Jaybro.

This acquisition includes 9,400sqm of generic industrial space within a 1.9 hectare site (which is 49% coverage of the site). It is in close proximity to the ASX 200 share’s existing Penelope Crescent warehouse.

Centuria Industrial Reit fund manager Jesse Curtis said:

The acquisition is CIP’s second strategic, infill Sydney industrial transaction within seven weeks having recently completed on a Bella Vista warehouse. The high-demand Arndell Park market is characteristic of limited warehouse stock and benefits from its infill location, close to major infrastructure.

It increases CIP’s exposure to Sydney’s central western industrial market and supports the REIT’s strategy of security high-quality industrial assets within infill markets.

That’s the 13^th acquisition of FY21, worth a total of $784 million.

The Centuria Industrial Reit share price went up around 0.3%.

Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR)

The Worley share price fell 1% today despite winning a new contract.

It has been awarded a maintenance and integrity contract for services to support Petroleum Development Oman’s (PDO’s) strategic oil and gas production assets in the South Oman concession region. PDO has selected Worley to work with Arabian Industries Projects.

The ASX 200 share will provide long-term sustaining capital works services such as engineering, project work, field change proposals, process safety management, maintenance and integrity, demolition, shutdown work and digital enhancements.

The term of the contract is seven years with an option to extend for three years. The services will be executed by Worley’s team in Oman.

More reading

• Why the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price outperformed today
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price hits new 8-month high
• This beaten-down ASX sector could soon be turning the corner
• Why the Platinum (ASX:PTM) share price is falling today
• Santos (ASX:STO) share price rises on latest CEO pay arrangement

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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.

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