Each of the ASX dividend shares in this article are rated as buys.

The Motley Fool Dividend Investor service looks to find businesses that are proven, with quality management, dependable dividends and attractive yields.

Here are three that it has rated as buys:

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

Soul Patts is an ASX dividend share that’s an investment conglomerate.

It was listed in 1903 and has paid a dividend every year since then. It has actually increased its dividend each year since 2000, including through COVID-19 – this is the longest consecutive dividend growth streak on the ASX.

It’s invested in a variety of industries including telecommunications, building products, property, resources, pharmacies, swimming schools, financial services and agriculture. TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) is the largest position in the portfolio.

Each year Soul Patts receives dividends and other income from its investments, which it then uses some of to pay for its operating expenses, then pays out a majority of the remaining net cashflow as a growing dividend. The retained amount can be re-invested into more opportunities.

At the current Soul Patts share price, it offers a trailing grossed-up dividend yield of 3.1%.

Soul Patts is still rated as a buy by the Motley Fool Dividend Investor.

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is an ASX dividend share that’s the largest auto parts business in Australia and New Zealand. It also has a small but growing presence in Asia as well.

In a recent trading update, Bapcor CEO Darryl Abotomey spoke of the company’s defensive qualities: “The automotive market is a resilient industry and historically has performed strongly in difficult economic circumstances. Recent trading is another example of its resilience assisted by the increase in sales on second hand cars, reduction in use of public and shared transport modes as well as government stimulus.”

That recent trading that he’s referring to was the first quarter of FY21, which showed group revenue was up 27% with Burson Trade revenue up 10%, retail sales up 47% (which includes Autobarn) and specialist wholesale revenue up 45%.

Bapcor has increased its dividend every year for the past several years. In FY20 it grew its dividend by 2.9%, despite the COVID-19 conditions.

At the current Bapcor share price it has a trailing grossed-up dividend yield of 3.4%.

Bapcor is still rated as a buy by the Motley Fool Dividend Investor.

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks is an ASX dividend share that is the market leader of bricks in both Australia and the north east of the US.

It sells a variety of building products, not just bricks, including masonry, paving, roofing and precast. It has brands including Austral Bricks, Austral Masonry, Glen Gery, GB Masonry, Austral Precast and Bristle Roofing.

The company has two other divisions. It owns half of a industrial property trust along with Goodman Group (ASX: GMG). This joint venture will soon count Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) and Amazon as tenants because it’s specifically building two large, high-tech distribution warehouses in Sydney for the large companies.

Brickworks also has an ‘investments’ division. It is actually a major shareholder of Soul Patts, owning around 40% of the business. It has been a shareholder for decades. Brickworks has been receiving growing dividends from Soul Patts for many years, which helps fund its own dividend.

Brickworks hasn’t cut its dividend for over 40 years. At the current Brickworks share price, it offers a trailing dividend yield of 4.4%.

The ASX dividend share currently rated as a buy by the Motley Fool Dividend Investor.

More reading

• The Soul Patts (ASX:SOL) share price just hit a 52-week high
• 2 ASX dividend shares growing their dividend every year
• Brickworks (ASX:BKW) hasn’t cut its dividend for over 40 years
• 2 ASX dividend shares analysts rate as a ‘buy’
• Why Soul Patts (ASX:SOL) is a strong ASX dividend share

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 Bapcor, Brickworks, and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form again last week and recorded a very strong gain. The benchmark index jumped 215 points or 3.5% to 6405.2 points.

While the majority of shares on the index climbed higher over the period, some climbed more than most. Here’s why these were the best performers on the ASX 200:

Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK)

The Virgin Money UK share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 32.4% gain. Investors were buying the UK-based bank’s shares after Pfizer revealed very positive data from its phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial. Given how bad the situation is in the UK, the prospect of a working vaccine being released by the end of the year has given investor sentiment a huge boost.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield CDI (ASX: URW)

The Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield share price wasn’t far behind with a gain of 31.2%. This was also driven by the positive COVID-19 vaccine news. Given that many of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s shopping centres around the world have been ghost towns, this news is a major boost. It could mean foot traffic starts to return to normal in 2021, which will help the company collect rent again.

Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH)

The Oil Search share price was an exceptionally strong performer last week and jumped 30.3% over the five days. Investors were buying the company’s shares after oil prices jumped higher following the vaccine news. If life returns to normal sooner than expected, demand for oil is likely to strengthen greatly and support higher prices. For the same reason, the Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price jumped 23.9% and the Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price stormed 18%.

Fletcher Building Limited (ASX: FBU)

The Fletcher Building share price was on form and surged 21.7% higher last week. Investors were buying the building products company’s shares after the release of a positive trading update. That update reveals that Fletcher Building has started FY 2021 strongly. For the first four months of the financial year, its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) before significant items is up NZ$80 million or 54.4% to NZ$227 million.

More reading

• Top fund manager tells investors to ‘go long’ in 2021
• ASX 200 drops 0.2% on Friday
• Fund manager says Treasury Wine (ASX:TWE) share price is too cheap
• ASX gold stocks could rebound as experts tip high highs for gold in 2021
• ASX 200 down 0.35%: Ramsay Q1 update, NEXTDC’s international expansion, gold miners surge

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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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While a number of shares have just reached 52-week highs or better such as SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) (see here), not all shares are performing as strongly.

Two ASX shares that have been beaten down this year are listed below. Here’s why they are being tipped as bargain buys:

Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS)

Bravura Solutions is a provider of software products and services to the wealth management and funds administration industries. Its shares have fallen heavily this year and are down a disappointing 46% from their 52-week high. This has been driven largely by management’s underwhelming guidance for FY 2021. It has warned that the pandemic could lead to flat profits this year.

One broker that thinks investors should be taking advantage of the weakness in the Bravura share price is Goldman Sachs. It recently reiterated its buy rating and put a $4.50 price target on its shares.

The broker believes Bravura is well positioned due to its strong market position in existing product offerings (which have a high degree of recurring revenue), its emerging microservices ecosystem strategy, and strong net cash position. It believes the latter provides the company with the flexibility to invest in the new microservices ecosystem and pursue further acquisitions.

Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)

Although it has recovered strongly over the last six weeks, the Lendlease share price is still down 28% from its 52-week high. This share price weakness has been driven largely by the negative impacts of the pandemic on the international property and infrastructure company’s performance. This led to the company recording a net loss of $310 million in FY 2020.

The good news for shareholders is that the company has recently divested its struggling engineering business and announced the launch of a major new strategy. This strategy is shifting Lendlease’s earnings mix and business model towards that of high flying industrial property giant Goodman Group (ASX: GMG).

This shift has gone down well with Goldman Sachs, which has slapped a buy rating and $16.74 price target on the company’s shares. It notes that Lendlease’s shares are trading on low multiples, particularly in comparison to Goodman Group. The broker suspects that this discount could narrow if Lendlease executes its new strategy successfully.

More reading

• Here’s where this ASX fund manager is investing right now
• These ASX dividend shares beat term deposits and savings accounts
• 2 ASX dividend shares with better yields than term deposits
• Why REITs led the pack on the ASX today
• Elections, pandemics and rate cuts. Where to next for ASX share prices?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of SEEK Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bravura Solutions Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended SEEK Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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If you’re looking for some shares to buy in November, then you might want to take a look at the three buy-rated shares listed below.

Here’s why they are highly rated:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Altium is the electronic design software platform provider responsible for the award-winning Altium Designer product. Demand for its platform has been growing strongly in recent years thanks to its exposure to the rapidly growing Internet of Things and artificial intelligence (AI) markets. Management expects this to continue and is aiming to increase its revenue by 150% to US$500 million by 2025-26.

One broker that is positive on its chances of achieving this is Morgan Stanley. Its analysts have an overweight rating and $40.00 price target on the company’s shares.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

Appen is a leading developer of high-quality, human annotated datasets for machine learning and AI. It prepares and/or creates the data for the machine learning models of some of the largest tech companies such as Facebook and Microsoft. This is a vital part of the development process, as without high quality data a model will never reach its potential.

Analysts at Macquarie believe Appen is well-placed for growth over the medium term thanks to AI tailwinds. The broker has an outperform rating and $43.00 price target on the company’s shares.

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

CSL is one of the world’s leading biotherapeutics companies. It is comprised of the CSL Behring business and the Seqirus influenza vaccine business. Both businesses have been growing their top lines at a solid rate in recent years. This has been driven by increasing demand for immunoglobulins, its growing plasma collection network, and its high level of investment into research and development.

One broker that is confident that there will be more of the same in the future is UBS. Its analysts recently slapped a buy rating and $346.00 price target on the company’s shares.

More reading

• After 8 months, ASX 200 shares are finally out of correction territory
• Why are ASX tech shares all over the place today?
• Latest ASX stocks to be hit by a broker downgrade
• 2 ASX growth shares to buy in November
• ASX 200 up 1.3%: CBA Q1 update, tech shares rebound, JB Hi-Fi sinks

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd and CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The three ASX shares I’m going to mention in this article are rated as ‘buys’ by several brokers.

Broker recommendations give an indication where market analysts think there are buying opportunities for investors. Share prices change all the time, so sometimes a broker could think an ASX share is a buy at one price and perhaps a sell if it were significantly higher.

Investment site MarketIndex regularly collates the ratings of brokers together to assess what the broker community collectively think are opportunities. Just because several brokers think something is a buy doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to do well, but it may reveal some insights.

With that in mind, here are three ASX shares that brokers like:

Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC)

Nine is rated as a buy by at least nine analysts.

The ASX share has a market capitalisation of $4.22 billion according to the ASX. It has media assets spanning television, video on demand, print, digital, and radio.

Nine’s assets include the 9 Television Network, video on demand platform 9Now, talkback radio stations like 2GB, major newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, subscription video platform Stan, and majority investments in Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG) and Future Women.

In its AGM update, Nine said that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first half of FY21 is expected to be around 30% higher than the first half of FY20.

TV revenue has improved, 9Now revenue is expected to be up 25%, digital subscription revenue for its metro media is expected to be up 25%, Stan subscribers continue to grow and Domain is seeing a recovery of the Australian property market.

Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT)

Nextdc is rated as a buy by at least 12 analysts.

The ASX share has a market capitalisation of $5.84 billion. It provides data centres which are used by some of the biggest local and international organisations. It enables customers to source and connect with cloud platforms, service provides and vendors.

The Nextdc share price is down 8% since the announcement of the positive progress of the BioNTech – Pfizer vaccine.

However, the company continues to see growth. In FY20 it grew revenue by 14%, customer numbers increased by 15%, contracted utilisation rose by 33% and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went up by 23%.

In FY21 it’s expecting to grow data centre service revenue by 21% to 25% and underlying EBITDA is expected to increase by 20% to 24%.  

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

Zip is rated as a buy by at least six analysts.

The ASX share has a market capitalisation of $3.09 billion according to the ASX. The buy now, pay later business operates both its own Zip business for the local market and it has other brands that it acquired for international markets, such as QuadPay.

Last month Zip reported its FY21 first quarter update.

It said that it achieved quarterly revenue of $71.7 million, which was growth of 88%. Its customer numbers increased by 114% to 4.5 million whilst the number of merchants increased by 69% to 34,400.

More customers and more merchants saw record quarterly transaction volume of $943.1 million, which was up 96%. This is now annualising at around $3.8 billion.

Zip said it’s now well on its way to becoming a true global buy now, pay later leader with operations across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the UK and South Africa.

More reading

• ASX 200 down 0.35%: Ramsay Q1 update, NEXTDC’s international expansion, gold miners surge
• NEXTDC (ASX:NXT) share price edges higher on AGM update
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Why InvoCare, Nine, Telstra, & Wesfarmers shares are storming higher
• Nine (ASX:NEC) share price surges after AGM update

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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We are now in November and rounding out a year that many of us probably wished was over a lot sooner. 2020 has proven to be a year like no other in modern history, not least due to the coronavirus pandemic. And that uniqueness extends to the world of investing. 2020 has been a year of massive volatility on share markets around the world.

Here on the ASX, 2020 has seen the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) command 7,162 points, 4,546 points and 6,385 points at various times throughout the year (the latter is the level at the time of writing). So now as 2020 soon draws to a close, I’m sure there are many investors out there wondering what wonders 2021 has in store for us.

Well, one top global fund manager is very bullish on 2021, so much so that he recommends investors go ‘all in’.

That investor is Bill Ackman. According to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Ackman is a disciple of Warren Buffett and one of the most successful fund managers in the US over the past few decades. He runs Pershing Square, a hedge fund that has done extremely well in 2020. That was partly due to a credit swap trade, which reportedly banked Pershing US$2.6 billion.

Ackman: why investors should ‘go long’ in 2021

So why is Ackman so bullish on 2021? Well, according to the AFR, it’s for a few reasons:

You’ve got low rates, you’ve got likely stimulus, you could see infrastructure spending, you’ve got still very well capitalised banks, you’ve got access to capital. So I think 2021 could be a very, very good year in markets, so go long I would say… the economy is on track for a very, very good recovery.

Ackman is also pleased with the outcome of last week’s US elections.  That saw Democrat Joe Biden elected the next US president, as well as both parties maintaining divided control of Congress: “You’ve got a more moderate Democrat in the White House, you have the kind of far left of the party that’s been neutered a bit by the results of the election”, the fund manager stated.

In terms of stocks that Ackman is finding interesting right now, he is focusing on the restaurant and hospitality sectors. That includes stocks like Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE: CMG), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE: HLT).

It’s probably the single greatest time in history to open a restaurant because rents are going to be low and demand is going to be high and the supply of competition is going to be low… (A franchising restaurant) doesn’t have to spend capital to open stores because that’s done by entrepreneurs. And Hilton’s the same.

As for Starbucks, Ackman tells the AFR that “China was a tea-drinking country until Starbucks showed up”.

More reading

• ASX 200 drops 0.2% on Friday
• Fund manager says Treasury Wine (ASX:TWE) share price is too cheap
• ASX gold stocks could rebound as experts tip high highs for gold in 2021
• ASX 200 down 0.35%: Ramsay Q1 update, NEXTDC’s international expansion, gold miners surge
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Starbucks. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Is the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price a buy for dividends?

The Motley Fool’s Everlasting Income service currently rates Wesfarmers as a buy.

What is Wesfarmers?

Wesfarmers can trace its history back over a century back to 1914 as a Western Australian farmers’ cooperative. It’s now one of the biggest businesses on the ASX.

The company has a number of different operating businesses.

There’s Bunnings, which is the country’s biggest DIY store. It sells a variety of home items and materials like timber, paint kitchens, lighting, bathrooms and plants.

Kmart Group is the next section, this includes the two large department stores of Kmart and Target.

Catch is the online-only retailer that sells a huge selection of items like food and pantry items, clothes, home and kitchen, devices, appliances, clothes, toys and furniture.

Officeworks is another segment to the business. It sells lots of different office supplies. It also sells things like computers, screens, printers and phones.

There are also two industrial divisions. Wesfarmers chemicals, energy and fertilisers (WesCEF) operates eight individual businesses in Australia.

It also has the ‘industrial and safety’ segment which operates four main businesses: Blackwoods which distributes tools, safety gear, workwear and industrial supplies. Workwear Group, which provide industrial and corporate workwear. Coregas is a supplier of industrial specialty and medical gases. Greencap is an integrated risk management and compliance company.

What has been happening recently?

Wesfarmers just announced a trading update at its AGM for the four months to 31 October 2020.

The Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott said that the trading performance across the business had been pleasing, with the businesses responding well to a period of significant uncertainty and disruption.

Wesfarmers reported that Bunnings’ total sales grew by 25.2% with comparable sales growth of 30.9%. Comparable sales only relates to stores that were open. Online penetration was 3.8%.

Kmart total sales went up by 3.7% with comparable sales growth of 9.4%. Online penetration was 10.2%.

Target saw total sales fall by 2.2%, although there was comparable sales growth of 9.9%. Online penetration was 18%.

Catch reported that its total sales, in gross transaction value terms, went up 114.4%. Catch had 2.7 million active customers at the end of October 2020, compared to 2.3 million active customers at the end of the 2020 financial year.

Officeworks reported that total sales went up by 23.4% and the online penetration reached 39.3%.

In the financial year to date, the group’s retail businesses delivered total online sales growth was 166%, excluding Catch. Excluding online sales in metropolitan Melbourne, which were significantly elevated because of government-mandated trading restrictions, online sales growth was 98%. Including Catch, total online sales across the group increased to $1.3 billion in the year to date.

Wesfarmers also said that its industrial divisions have made a pleasing start to FY21.

In terms of Melbourne sales, Mr Scott said: “As a result of significant pent-up demand, the trading performance across stores in Melbourne has been very strong since they re-opened to retail customers on 28 October 2020.”

Is the Wesfarmers share price a buy for income?

In FY20 Wesfarmers paid $1.70 in dividends, which amounts to a trailing grossed-up dividend yield of 5%. According to Commsec estimates, the FY21 earnings per share (EPS) will be $1.85 – that means it’s valued at 26x FY21’s projected earnings.

The Motley Fool Everlasting Income service currently rates Wesfarmers as a buy. The service focuses on generating maximum, consistent, high quality, tax-effective income; while preserving capital over the long term.

More reading

• Is the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price a buy?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• The ASX 200 fell 0.5% on Thursday
• Why InvoCare, Nine, Telstra, & Wesfarmers shares are storming higher
• ASX 200 down 0.1%: Xero hits record high, Telstra and Wesfarmers updates impress

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Australia’s biggest electricity and gas retailer, AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL), has announced plans to offer broadband services under its own name. The move aims to take advantage of the company’s vast customer base by offering bundled packages of energy and internet services. The news came just as Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) is considering a foray into the energy market in a bid to boost its revenues. 

Details of AGL’s new broadband offer

AGL aims to bundle a multi-product offering that includes energy, internet, and phone services to its large customer base. The company says it will offer three unlimited data plans costing $70-$95 a month, with a $15 discount to customers who bundle them with AGL’s energy contract plans.

This is not the first time AGL has made a foray into the telecommunications sector. In 2000, the company bought phone and internet company Dingo Blue from Cable & Wireless Optus for $22 million. The business went under and was closed down just two years later. 

In 2019, AGL again ventured into telecommunications with its $27 million acquisition of Southern Phone Company, which has a 100,000-customer base. That purchase came after it abandoned an earlier bid to buy another telecommunications company, Vocus Group.  

The move by AGL is consistent with a  pattern seen in the United Kingdom and Europe where retail energy and telecommunication provides have recently ventured into each other’s territory. As an example, UK’s Shell Energy (AMS: RDSA) recently began offering ultrafast fibre broadband packages to the market. 

How has AGL share price performed in 2020?

AGL has had a disappointing performance in FY 2020, and weak guidance for the 12 months ahead. AGL Energy reported an underlying profit after tax of $816 million for FY 2020. This was a 22% decline on the prior corresponding period. For FY21, management has provided underlying profit after tax guidance of between $560 million and $660 million, much lower than its figures in FY20.

The AGL share price has lost almost 30% on a year-to-date basis.  It closed the week of trading at $12.87. At that price, the company commands a market cap of $8.16 billion.

More reading

• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• Why this broker is calling Telstra (ASX:TLS) shares a buy today
• These blue chip ASX dividend shares offer 5%+ yields
• The ASX 200 fell 0.5% on Thursday
• Why InvoCare, Nine, Telstra, & Wesfarmers shares are storming higher

Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Australian exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in Asian companies went gangbusters in October.

Local ETFs were on fire last month, breaking the industry’s all-time record for incoming money and reaching a historic-high for total funds held.

But popularity doesn’t equate to performance, so it’s interesting to see which products fared the best for its investors.

The latest Betashares report showed 3 of the top 5 performing funds in October were Asia-themed.

5 best-performing Australian ETF in October 2020 

ETF	October performance
Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)	8.3%
iShares China Large-Cap ETF AUD (ASX: IZZ)	7.2%
Vaneck Vectors Australian Banks Etf (ASX: MVB)	7.1%
Vaneck Vectors Ftse China A50 ETF (ASX: CETF)	6.6%
BetaShares S&P/ASX Australian Technology ETF (ASX: ATEC)	6.5%
Source: Betashares; Table created by author

Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA) rose 8.3% for the month, on the back of a calmer COVID-19 environment compared to the western world.

The fund has gained 67% for the 12 months ending 31 October, according to Betashares head of strategy Ilan Israelstam.

“During the pandemic, Asian technology stocks have benefited both from the strong showing of Asian stocks in general, and from the outperformance of the technology sector,” he said.

“Asian economies have demonstrated a greater ability to gain control of COVID-19 outbreaks than their American and European counterparts, while technology stocks have been the leading performers around the world as the world increasingly went online as the virus took hold.”

Australian investors are buying even more Chinese stocks this month as a new US president is poised to reset a now-toxic trade relationship.

The Australian ETF industry generally had an excellent October, adding $2.3 billion of funds. This is the highest-ever monthly inflow.

Vanguard and Betashares are dominant among the suppliers, each racking up more than $4 billion of investor money this year.

More reading

• 2 tech ETFs generating big returns
• Why share markets are shrugging off this uncertainty, and what to expect next
• Elections, pandemics and rate cuts. Where to next for ASX share prices?
• These ASX growth shares could be long-term market beaters
• Where to invest $20,000 into ASX shares right now

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) fell by 0.2% today to 6,398 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX today:

Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC)

Private hospital operator Ramsay gave an update to investors today.

The update related to the first quarter of FY21. Ramsay wanted to give investors an update in advance of its AGM on 24 November 2020.

Ramsay said that its Australian division had reported a 1.5% increase in total revenue. Excluding Victoria, total Australian revenue was up 6.6%. This reflected a 1.7% increase in surgical admissions (excluding Victoria there was growth of 8%) and lower non-surgical activity.

Ramsay reported that its Australian earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and restructuring or rent costs (EBITDAR) declined compared to the prior corresponding period because of the impact of restrictions on activity in Victoria during the second lockdown, and the increase in costs and impact on the case mix as a result of the COVID-19 environment.

Ramsay Sante reported an increase in surgical volumes of approximately 5.4% on the prior corresponding period, combined with lower non-surgical activity.

Meanwhile, Ramsay UK reported a total revenue decline of 9.9%, in local currency terms, compared to the prior corresponding period with volumes picking up near the end of the quarter.

Both the UK and France continue to operate under the government support arrangements which currently both run until 31 December 2020.

The ASX 200 hospital company said that given near-term uncertainties in the market stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ramsay is not in a position to provide guidance for FY21.

Ramsay managing director and CEO Craig McNally said: “Ramsay’s operating results continued to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of FY21. Surgical restrictions, regional outbreaks and lower demand for some services, combined with higher costs associated with operating in the current environment have all impacted results.

“There were a number of operational lessons learned in the first wave of the virus that our hospitals have been implementing to better manage safety and capacity and where appropriate this has allowed us to continue treating private patients and public wait lists where requested.”

The Ramsay share price fell by 1.6% today. Ramsay will release its FY21 interim result on 25 February 2021.

Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV)

The jewellery store business announced a European acquisition today.

It announced that it would be acquiring the European retail store network of German wholesaler ‘beeline GmbH’, which is expected to add more than 80 stores to the Lovisa global store network across six European countries – Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Luxembourg with all continuing stores to be branded to trade as Lovisa stores.

The shares in the six beeline entities will be acquired for a total purchase price of sixty Euros, with beeline GmbH ensuring a cash level of the entities of €9.87 million in total. No financial debt will be taken on as a result of this transaction.

Lovisa has also entered into a put option agreement in relation to the acquisition of beeline France, including a store network of 30 stores.

The acquisition of each country’s operations is to be completed progressively from 1 March 2021 through to the end of May 2021. The combined cash requirement for fitout and inventory for the conversion of stores to Lovisa is expected to be less than €5 million.

Lovisa managing director Shane Fallscheer said: “We are very excited that this transaction gives us the opportunity to add six new countries to our global store network, and provides us with a strong base and quality team to grow the Lovisa brand further in these markets into the future as part of our ongoing global strategy.

It couldn’t provide earnings guidance for the acquisition due to COVID-19 impacts.

In terms of a trading update, 24 stores in France and 39 stores are shut because of lockdowns. For the remaining stores, comparable store sales for the first 19 weeks of FY21 were down 9.2%. Australia and New Zealand have been the best performing regions.  

The Lovisa share price went up 14.5% today. 

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• ASX 200 down 0.35%: Ramsay Q1 update, NEXTDC’s international expansion, gold miners surge
• Lovisa (ASX:LOV) share price rockets higher on European acquisition news

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ramsay Health Care Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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