The Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T) share price is edging higher in mid-afternoon trade. This comes after the company provided an update on its project with the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HAHK).

At the time of writing, shares in the enterprise imaging platform provider are up 2.06% to $1.48.

Additional sales opportunities

The Mach7 share price is lifting higher after reporting progress on its flagship project.

In today’s release, Mach7 advised it had received $4.2 million in sales orders in the current financial year. The purchases include a licenced volume order for the company’s Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA), worth close to $3 million.

Mach7 highlighted that the recent sales orders were based on the original contract with HAHK, signed in October 2018. The deal involved Mach7 delivering its enterprise imaging solution (EIS) to HAHK, which was valued at $15 million. So far, $10 million worth of orders have been provided.

The EIS platform allows images to be securely shared across private and public healthcare providers. This relates to the receiving, transfer, storage and viewing by authorised users.

Interestingly, HAHK is a government division that looks after the administration of Hong Kong’s public hospitals. They include 43 public hospitals and institutions, 48 specialist outpatient clinics and 73 general outpatient clinics. Once Mach7’s project is completed, it will serve the entire territory of Hong Kong with its EIS. It’s expected that the platform will be fully deployed by June this year.

In addition, the company revealed that its successful rollout has led to additional sales opportunities with HAHK. Currently, it has received $1.8 million worth of purchase orders, including the use of Mach7’s ophthalmology system.

CEO commentary

Commenting on the update, Mach7 CEO Mike Lampron said:

Throughout this project, the hospital authority’s commitment to delivering the best possible care to its patients has been central to our approach in implementation and system design.

We’re confident that once Mach7’s Enterprise Imaging Solution is fully implemented; they will be able to deliver the quality of care their patients expect. We are proud to be working with the Hospital Authority of Hong Kong to deliver these enhancements to their processes so they may better serve the people of Hong Kong.

Mach7 share price performance

The Mach7 share price has tracked more than 60% higher in the past 12 months, reflecting stable growth.

The company’s shares dropped to a 52-week low of 37 cents in last year’s March market crash as COVID-19 impacts took hold, before tracking upwards. Just late last month, its shares reached a multi-year high of $1.59.

More reading

• ASX 200 rises 0.4%
• Here’s why the Mach7 (ASX:M7T) share price just reached a multi-year high
• Why IDP Education, Lake Resources, Mach7, & Tyro shares are shooting higher
• Why the Mach7 (ASX:M7T) share price is surging 8% higher today
• 2 fantastic ASX healthcare shares to buy

Aaron Teboneras 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 MACH7 FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MACH7 FPO. 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 CV Check Ltd (ASX: CV1) share price has returned from its trading halt and is rocketing higher today.

The leading online integrated screening and verification company’s shares jumped 20% to a record high of 21 cents.

This means the CV Check share price is now up 75% over the last 12 months.

Why is the CV Check share price zooming higher?

Investors have been buying CV Check shares on Wednesday following the announcement of an acquisition.

According to the release, the company has entered into a binding share purchase agreement with the shareholders of CI6 to acquire 100% of the entity that owns Bright People Technologies and associated group entities.

Bright People Technologies is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud-based provider of workforce credentials and compliance software through the Enable and Cited brands.

Its software allows operators and contractors to run workforce compliance end-to-end. This includes identity and verification, onboarding and induction, deployment and re-deployment, and ongoing compliance monitoring and management.

Bright People Technologies generated revenue of $4.9 million and EBITDA of $1.7 million in FY 2020. It counts the likes of BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) as customers.

Management believes the combination of CV Check and Bright will create a credentials-based workforce management capability built on Bright’s workforce compliance strength and the CV Check platform’s highly automated verification workflows and HRIS integrations.

What are the terms?

The two parties have agreed a fee of $15.3 million. This comprises $12 million in CV Check shares (held in escrow until 31 December 2022) and $3.25 million to pay Bright People Technologies’ net debt.

Bright’s Chairman and largest shareholder, Jon Birman, will be appointed to the CV Check board as a Non-Executive Director. Fellow Executives, Petra Nelson and Declan Hoare, will join the CV Check Executive Management Team.

To fund part of the deal, the company has successfully completed a $10.5 million placement at an issue price of $0.165 per new share. This was a 5.7% discount to the last close price for CV Check shares.

The placement was well supported by new and existing institutional investors. This includes CV Check’s largest institutional investor, Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF).

More reading

• CV Check (ASX:CV1) share price flat on results update
• Why the CV Check (ASX:CV1) share price is charging 8% higher

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 Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. and CV Check 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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As most ASX dividend investors would be aware of, 2020 was not the greatest year for share market income. Sure, some ASX dividend shares managed to hold the line on their shareholder payouts, or even increase them. On the latter, shareholders in Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW), and Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co Ltd (ASX: SOL) would have been feeling very grateful for their portfolio presence.

ASX banks have a dividend shocker

But for the ASX banks, long the stalwarts of the ASX dividend scene, it was an entirely different story. ASX banking dividends were crushed in 2020, no way around it. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) went from paying out $4.31 in dividends per share in 2019 to $2.48 in 2020. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) went from $1.66 in dividends per share in 2019 to 60 cents per share in 2020. Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) didn’t even pay an interim dividend in 2020 for the first time in decades. It went from $1.74 in dividends per share in 2019 to just 31 cents per share in 2020. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) fared better than Westpac. However, it still went form $1.60 per share (partially franked) in 2019 to 60 cents per share in 2020 (fully franked).

Blame APRA

Since one or more of the big four are staples of the typical ASX dividend investor’s portfolio, these reductions would have been a painful cross to bear. Not that it was entirely the banks’ fault. The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) effectively kneecapped the banks’ ability to pay dividends for most of the year last year. Indeed, the APRA-imposed 50% cap on the proportion of earnings the banks could pay out as dividend was only lifted a couple of months ago. Investors have been used to the banks paying out as much as 80-90% of their earnings as dividends in recent years. So there was always going to be a steep drop in payouts.

2020 is in the rearview mirror now and the banks aren’t shackled by APRA any longer. What does the future hold for ASX bank dividends?

CBA gives us a dividend crystal ball

Well, we got a much-needed glimpse at the crystal ball this morning.

Commonwealth Bank reported its half-year earnings for the 6 months to 31 December 2020 earlier today, and it made for some interesting reading.

CBA did report $4.88 billion in net profits after tax. That was a ~20% drop compared to the previous period.

It also announced an interim dividend of $1.50 per share, fully franked. That metric represents a payout ratio of 67% of earnings.

First things first, an annualised dividend of $1.50 per share ($3 a year) would represent a forward dividend yield of 3.48% on the current CBA share price of $86.12 (at the time of writing). If you include full franking credits, that grosses-up to 4.98%. Sure, that’s not quite what investors were used to pre-2020. But it’s certainly better than what you could get form a CommBank term deposit right now.

What does the future hold?

However, CommBank CEO Matt Comyn also made some telling remarks in the report:

Although the outlook is positive, there are a number of health and economic risks that could dampen the pace of recovery. We are prepared for a range of scenarios and have taken a careful approach to provisioning.

That probably explains why CBA is sticking with a payout ratio of 67% and not rushing to get back to paying out 80-90% of earnings right away. But it is still a somewhat promising sign. According to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) last month, we are likely to see similar results from the other banks in terms of dividends this year since CBA will likely ‘set the tone’ for the other banks. 

Let’s model a scenario for a minute. Say everything goes CBA (and the Australian economy’s) way in 2021 and CBA is confident enough to lift its payout ratio to 80% of its earnings in 2022 and it delivered the same results as it did this morning next year. That would mean CBA would be paying an interim dividend of roughly $1.80 a share. That would mean that CBA shares would have an annualised dividend yield of 4.18% (or 5.97% grossed-up). That’s starting to look like the bank dividends of old.

Of course, I am not saying that is likely to happen. But it’s a worthy thought experiment nonetheless.

So we can probably say that if the Australian economy continues to recover, ASX bank dividends will likely follow suit. However, the opposite is also true. If things go south again for the economy for whatever reason, so likely will banking dividends.

More reading

• CBA (ASX:CBA) share price down despite bigger dividend
• 3 top ASX dividend shares to buy
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• ASX 200 up 0.35%: CBA half year update, IAG impresses, Zip shoots higher
• Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) share price in focus after $3.9 billion half year cash profit

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of National Australia Bank Limited and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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 Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is currently down approximately 1.5% after reporting its FY21 interim result and declaring a bigger dividend.

CBA’s half-year dividend

The CBA board of directors decided to declare an interim dividend of $1.50 per share, fully franked. That was a 25% decrease on the FY20 half-year dividend, but it was a 53% increase on the second half of FY20.

CBA’s dividend represented a dividend payout ratio of 67% of the cash profit, which was below the board’s target payout range.

FY21 half-year result

For the six months to 31 December 2020, the big bank generated $4.88 billion of statutory net profit after tax (NPAT). Cash NPAT was $3.89 billion, down 10.8% compared to the prior corresponding period.

The big four bank explained that NPAT was supported by strong business outcomes but impacted by the low interest rate environment and COVID-19. The statutory NPAT includes the gains on the sale of divestments, including the completion of BoComm Life.

CBA said that its loan impairment expense increased by $233 million compared to the prior corresponding period to $882 million. The provision coverage ratio to credit risk weighted assets was 1.81%. This was increased to reflect the uncertain economic outlook and emerging industry risks, in particular for the aviation and entertainment, leisure and tourism sectors.

In terms of consumer arrears, CBA said that arrears on home loans and consumer finance remain low, and are currently being insulated by COVID-19 support measures. APRA’s regulatory approach is that loans currently in deferral as part of COVID-19 support packages are not included in arrears. At 31 January 2021, approximately 25,000 home loans were in deferral (with a balance of $9 billion), down from 145,000 homes loans at 30 June 2020 which represented a balance of $51 billion.

The bank’s operating income was down slightly, though the net interest income was flat with strong volume growth across core banking businesses helping to offset the impact on the net interest margin (NIM) of lower interest rates and heightened competition. The NIM decreased by 10 basis points compared to the prior corresponding period, due to higher liquid assets and the impact of the low rate environment on deposit margins and earnings on capital.

Operating expenses increased by 2.3% excluding $241 million of remediation costs. There was a higher investment spend, with an increase of 34%, with continued investment across the business driven primarily by increased investment in digital areas.

Turning to the common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio, it was 12.6%, up 100 basis points from 30 June 2020. This was above APRA’s ‘unquestionably strong’ benchmark of 10.5%. This increased from organic capital generation from profit generation as well as from the proceeds from the sales of businesses like BoCommLife and CommInsure Life.

CBA’s outlook

The big bank said that it remains committed to supporting customers and helping the economy recover.

CBA believes that Australia is relatively well positioned having started from a position of fiscal and economic strength. The bank pointed out that there is a solid pipeline of infrastructure projects, the outlook for mining and agriculture exports is strong and the community has benefited from the government’s significant income support measures.

Although the outlook is positive, there are a number of health and economic risks that could dampen the pace of the recovery, according to CBA. The big bank is prepared for a range of scenarios and has taken a careful approach to provisioning. It’s closely monitoring its portfolios for signs of stress.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.35%: CBA half year update, IAG impresses, Zip shoots higher
• Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) share price in focus after $3.9 billion half year cash profit
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• CBA, Westpac, ANZ adopt same tech as Bitcoin
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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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There are some top ASX dividend share ideas to thinking about as potential income options.

Here are three businesses to consider:

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

This business, which is also called Soul Patts, has grown its dividend every year since 2000, which is the longest dividend record on the ASX.

It has achieved this with a diversified investment portfolio with listed names like TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW), New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC), Milton Corporation Limited (ASX: MLT) and Bki Investment Co Ltd (ASX: BKI).

The investment conglomerate also has a number of unlisted investments and businesses including resources, agriculture, financial services and swimming schools.

Soul Patts likes to invest with a contrarian approach into resilient businesses which are largely uncorrelated to each other. This allows the company to continue to pay its growing dividend – it funds its dividend from the investment cashflow it receives in the form of dividends from those businesses like TPG.

The ASX dividend share continues to diversify its portfolio. In recent times it tried to buy Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX: REG) and one of its most recent acquisitions was an agriculture portfolio.

At the current Soul Patts share price, it has a grossed-up dividend yield of 3%.

Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)

This is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns agricultural properties. It owns a variety of different farm types including almonds, vineyards, cattle, macadamias and cropping (sugar and cotton).

It has plenty of large, listed tenants such as Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE), Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (ASX: AAC), Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV), Olam and JBS. These tenants are signed on with long leases. Rural Funds currently had a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 10.9 years at 30 June 2020.

Rural Funds has structured rental growth with its contracts, with fixed and CPI-linked increases, as well as market rent review mechanisms.

The ASX dividend share has a development pipeline for both productivity improvements and conversion to higher and better use. This is expected to generate earnings growth in future years.

It’s the combination of contracted rental growth and investing that allows management to target an annual distribution increase of 4% per annum.

The FY21 annual distribution is expected to be 11.28 cents per unit, which would equate to a forward distribution yield of 4.6% at the current Rural Funds share price.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

This is another REIT, it owns a diverse portfolio of different properties including long WALE retail, industrial and logistics, office, telco exchanges and agri logistics.

This ASX dividend share is liked by some investment brokers, including Citi.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT has a number of major tenants that account for a high percentage of the rental income including Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), Australian government entities such as the NSW government, BP, Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING), Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), David Jones, Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS), Arnott’s Group, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Bunnings Warehouse, Suez, Linfox and Electrolux.

The WALE of this REIT is even longer than Rural Funds. At 31 December 2020, it had a WALE of 14.1 years, which was a slight increase from 14 years at 30 June 2020.

With an occupancy rate of 97.5% across 459 properties. All sectors except ‘office’ had an occupancy rate of 100%, with the office occupancy rate being 89.9%.

In the FY21 half-year it achieved operating earnings per share (EPS) and distribution growth of 3.6% to 14.5 cents. It also achieved net tangible asset (NTA) per security growth of 5.1% to $4.70.

At the current Charter Hall Long WALE REIT share price it has a FY21 distribution yield of at least 6% according to management.

More reading

• 3 ASX dividend shares with higher yields
• 2 ASX dividend shares rated strong buys by brokers
• 2 reliable ASX dividend shares to buy
• ASX 200 rises 0.6%, Vocus jumps on takeover offer, Afterpay hits new record
• What’s moving the Charter Hall Long WALE (ASX:CLW) share price today?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of RURALFUNDS STAPLED and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks, RURALFUNDS STAPLED, Telstra Limited, Treasury Wine Estates Limited, and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET and 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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Are you interested in adding some more ASX shares to your portfolio?

Five ASX shares that could be worth considering this month are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Altium is an award-winning printed circuit board (PCB) design software provider. It could be worth considering due to its leading position in a market exposed to the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence booms. The proliferation of electronic devices is expected to lead to increasing demand for its software over the next decade. Credit Suisse currently has an outperform rating and $35.00 price target on its shares.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

Appen and its million-plus team of crowd sourced experts prepare the data that goes into artificial intelligence and machine learning models. It does this for some of the biggest tech companies in the world such as Google and Facebook. With this market expected to grow materially in the future, Appen looks well-placed to benefit. Macquarie is a fan and has an outperform rating and $27.00 price target on Appen’s shares.

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)

Cochlear is one of the world’s leading hearing solutions companies and has a long track record of delivering earnings growth. While the pandemic is weighing on its performance right now, it looks well-placed for growth over the long term. This is thanks to the ageing populations tailwind and its industry leading products. Earlier this week Macquarie put an outperform rating and $241.00 price target on its shares.

IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

IDP Education is a provider of international student placement services and English language testing services. It was also hit hard by the pandemic. However, the company has been tipped to win market share and resume its rapid growth once the crisis passes and trading conditions return to normal.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

Kogan is a rapidly growing ecommerce company which has been benefitting greatly from the shift to online shopping. Pleasingly, this trend is expected to continue over the long term, which should be supportive of its growth. The company has also bolstered its growth through value accretive acquisitions. This includes the acquisition of online retailer Mighty Ape for $122 million. Credit Suisse has outperform rating and $21.08 price target on its shares.

More reading

• 2 COVID-19 ASX shares to buy
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• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next 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 Appen Ltd, Cochlear Ltd., Idp Education Pty Ltd, and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and Kogan.com 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 MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: MXC) share price has been smoking the market on Wednesday.

In afternoon trade the medicinal cannabis company’s shares are up 8% to 3.9 cents.

This latest gain means the MGC Pharma share price is now up almost 63% since the start of 2021.

Why is the MGC Pharma share price smoking the market today?

Investors have been buying MGC Pharma’s shares today following an update on its listing in the United Kingdom.

According to the release, the company’s shares were admitted to the standard sector of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Tuesday.

This admission follows the completion of a successful capital raise of 6.5 million pounds through an oversubscribed placement to UK based institutional funds, high net worth family offices, and professional investors.

This made MGC Pharma the first cannabis-sector company to IPO on the main market of the LSE in the United Kingdom.

Management advised that the net proceeds of the capital raise will be used to meet the costs associated with its priority clinical trials including ArtemiC and CannEpil. It will also be used to increase the distribution of its product range, general working capital, and the completion of its manufacturing facilities in Malta.

“Significant moment”

MGC Pharma’s Chief Executive and Managing Director, Roby Zomer, believes this is a significant moment for the company.

He said: “The LSE listing is a hugely significant moment for MGC Pharma, our admission to LSE follows the successful capital raising of £6.5 million which will be used to immediately commence the priority clinical research trials of our leading products, expand our distribution network into key sales markets, as well as advance the construction of our manufacturing facilities in Malta.”

“We are proud to make history as the first medical cannabis company on this historic Exchange. I would like to thank the MGC Pharma team and the advisors for all their hard work to make this happen. We look forward to updating our new and existing shareholders as we progress this programme,” he added.

More reading

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• The Blackearth Minerals (ASX:BEM) share price is rocketing 150% today. Here’s why
• Here’s why the Lendlease (ASX:LLC) share price is wobbling today
• Why the Megaport (ASX:MP1) share price is surging 7% higher 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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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.

Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) just launched drink bottles made out of 100% recycled plastic for North American markets. The soft drink giant’s all-recycled bottles will hit store shelves later this month in a handful of markets as a first step in a larger plan.

What’s new?

First, drinks under the Coca-Cola trademark brand will hit the market in 20oz 100% recycled PET bottles in California, Texas, and New York. Next month, the same three states will see Dasani-branded bottled water products in fully recycled 20oz bottles, followed by environmentally friendly 20oz bottles for Smartwater products in New York and California this July.

Sprite is also launching recycled bottles this month, starting with a smaller 13.2oz bottle in a slightly different set of target markets, hitting Florida but not Texas. Sprite’s trademark green plastic bottles will move to clear plastic, which the company says is easier to recycle, by the end of 2022.

The labels on these bottles will carry a new twist on the familiar recycling message. Consumers will be asked to “Recycle Me Again.”

“Our packaging is our biggest, most visible billboard,” said Alpa Sutaria, vice president of sustainability for Coca-Cola’s North America operating unit. “We’re using the power of our brands, leading with Coca-Cola, to educate, inspire and advance our sustainability priorities.”

Making a difference

According to Coke’s press materials, these launches of recycled bottles in a handful of large markets will reduce Coca-Cola’s greenhouse gas emissions by 10,000 metric tons per year. The company will bring the annual use of new plastic 20% below its plastic production in 2018.

Coca-Cola’s stated goal is to use at least 50% recycled materials in its global packaging by 2030. The domestic market was not the first geographical target for these new bottles — Coca-Cola has already introduced similar bottles in 18 other markets, starting in 2018. Recycled materials already account for 94% of the company’s North American packaging.

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

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• The Blackearth Minerals (ASX:BEM) share price is rocketing 150% today. Here’s why
• Here’s why the Lendlease (ASX:LLC) share price is wobbling today
• Why the Megaport (ASX:MP1) share price is surging 7% higher today
• Here’s what low interest rates really means for your cash

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

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Many of Australia’s top brokers have been busy adjusting their financial models again, leading to the release of a large number of broker notes this week.

Three broker buy ratings that have caught my eye are summarised below. Here’s why brokers think these ASX shares are in the buy zone:

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

According to a note out of UBS, its analysts have retained their buy rating but trimmed their price target on this biotherapeutics company’s shares to $339.00 ahead of its half year results release. The broker is expecting a solid half year update from CSL due partly to strong demand for seasonal flu vaccines. Looking to the full year, UBS believes CSL is on course to achieve it guidance in FY 2021. The CSL share price is trading at $276.16 this afternoon.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

A note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have retained their outperform rating and $26.50 price target on this mining giant’s shares. According to the note, the broker expects Fortescue to deliver a bumper half year profit next week thanks to the sky high iron ore price. Macquarie expects this to lead to Fortescue declaring a fully franked interim dividend of $1.37 per share. This dividend alone represents a yield of 5.8%. The Fortescue share price is fetching $23.77 on Wednesday.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

Analysts at Morgan Stanley have retained their overweight rating and lifted their price target on this investment bank’s shares to $160.00 following the release of its third quarter update. According to the release, the broker was pleased with Macquarie’s update and notes that it has numerous growth opportunities. Looking longer term, it believes the company is well-placed to benefit from a number of mega trends such as decarbonisation. The Macquarie share price is trading at $148.01 on Wednesday afternoon.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 shares to buy right now
• ASX 200 drops 0.9%, Crown not suitable for Sydney casino, Macquarie rises
• ASX 200 down 0.4%: Macquarie impresses, Challenger disappoints, & Suncorp rises
• Why Douugh, Macquarie, Starpharma, & Suncorp shares are storming higher
• Here’s why the Macquarie (ASX:MQG) share price is surging 7% higher

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 CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group 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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The Blackearth Minerals NL (ASX: BEM) share price is off to the races, up 150% at 23 cents in afternoon trading.

Shares are soaring after BlackEarth announced a significant marketing agreement with a world-leading graphite supply group.

What agreement did BlackEarth Minerals make?

In an ASX release this morning, BlackEarth Minerals revealed it had signed an agreement with German-based Luxcarbon GmbH for the procurement, supply and marketing of graphite concentrate and downstream graphite products.

Luxcarbon is among Germany’s top suppliers of graphite and carbon products, counting Volkswagen, Mercedes, Ford and major chemical corporations among its clients.

Following its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Urbix Inc, BlackEarth will use this agreement to secure the supply of up to 25,000 tonnes of high-grade product to help Urbix complete its plant development.

The company reported this would remain in place as it fast-tracks its work on its own graphite assets in Madagascar. It plans to use these provide a regular supply for its future downstream graphite operations.

Part of the agreement enables BlackEarth to sell up to 25,000 mtpa of downstream products to the European market. The company points to a growing demand for its products from the growth of the electric vehicle battery market.

Commenting on the agreement, BlackEarth managing director Tom Revy said:

This agreement provides a number of great outcomes for BlackEarth. Firstly, it enables us to secure a supply of world class graphite concentrate that can be supplied to Urbix’s operations in the USA and also our own downstream processing facility whilst we complete the development of our plants in Australia and Madagascar.

Secondly, Luxcarbon are leaders in the supply and understanding of downstream graphite products and this will assist us greatly.

The terms of the agreement run for 3 years. Luxcarbon and BlackEarth have the ability to extend the duration if they both consent.

BlackEarth share price snapshot

BlackEarth shares began trading on the ASX in January 2018. From there it was a choppy ride mostly downhill for shareholders until things took a big turnaround in December. On 22 December, the stock was trading for 2 cents per share. The current share price represents a 488% gain since then.

Year-to-date the BlackEarth share price is up 370%. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 2.6% so far in 2021.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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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