There are a number of dividend shares on the ASX that I’d buy to boost my income.

It’s getting harder to find good sources of income these days. Interest rates from bank accounts are now incredibly low after the RBA cut interest rates to just 0.25%.

Business earnings are also uncertain at the moment due to COVID-19 impacts. I think there’s a certain number of dividend shares that would be solid picks to boost my income, but others may not be as good as some investors expect.

Here are three dividend shares I’d go for:

Dividend share 1: Naos Emerging Opportunities Company Ltd (ASX: NCC)

The listed investment company (LIC) structure is great for investors who want income. It enables the LIC to generate investment profits from capital gains and investment income, the LIC can then pay out a smoothed dividend to shareholders.

But I only think certain LICs are worth investing in. Plenty of LICs just offer index-like returns with higher fees.

Naos Emerging Opportunities is a LIC that invests in ASX shares with market caps under $250 million. It is a good dividend share because it has maintained or grown its dividend every year since FY13. It currently has a grossed-up dividend yield of 12%.

If the LIC can continue to generate solid returns then the dividend can at least be maintained. It holds a portfolio of high-conviction shares, it only has around 10 positions. It aims to be a long-term investor with each investment choice.

Dividend share 2: Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)

Soul Patts is probably my favourite dividend share on the ASX. It has increased its dividend every year since 2000. The first thing I look for with dividends is reliability. I don’t think there’s much point having a big dividend yield one year and then suffering a large cut one year later. Soul Patts has paid a dividend every year since its inception in 1903.

The investment conglomerate has a diversified portfolio of shares which sends a flow of quality dividends to Soul Patts each year. Some holdings include TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM), Milton Corporation Limited (ASX: MLT), Bki Investment Co Ltd (ASX: BKI) and Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW).

The business funds its dividend from the investment income it receives, less operating expenses. In FY19 it retained around 20% of its regular net operating cash flow to re-invest into more opportunities.

The dividend share has already guided that the final FY20 dividend will be an increase on FY19’s final dividend.

It’s steadily making new investments to diversify the portfolio further. New investments include agriculture, retirement living and regional data centres.

Dividend share 3: WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE)

WAM Leaders is another LIC. This one is managed by the high-performing team at Wilson Asset Management (WAM). It looks to make good returns from the larger businesses on the ASX.

The dividend share has grown its dividend each year since FY17. It currently has an annualised grossed-up dividend yield of 8.7%.

Since inception in May 2016, its investment performance (before fees, expenses and taxes) has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index by 3.8% per annum. Over the past year its gross portfolio performance has been 11.4% better than the benchmark. I think that’s an impressive performance from the dividend share.

Some of its top 20 holdings are similar to the ASX 20. But some holdings at the end of May 2020 were different, like Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL), QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE), Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO).

As a bonus, WAM Leaders is trading at a 7% discount to the 31 May 2020 net tangible assets (NTA).

Foolish takeaway

Each of these dividend shares would be really good options to boost your income. Naos clearly has the biggest dividend yield, but that doesn’t leave much room for share price growth over time. Soul Patts is my preferred choice because of its low operational costs and ultra-long-term record of dividends and reliability.

More reading

• 3 long-term ASX 200 shares I’d buy right now
• What are the best ASX shares for dividends?
• Forget bank interest, try these ASX 200 dividend shares!
• 2 ASX blue chip shares I think every portfolio should hold
• 3 ASX dividend shares to buy and replace a term deposit

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool 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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Apparently, the problem with the stock market is that retail investors are screwing things up.

Apparently, they’re taking advantage of free brokerage, and causing merry hell.

Apparently, if we only stopped those ‘know nothing’ investors, all would be okay again.

And in reality?

In reality, it’s a nice combination of ‘bait and switch’ and a fig leaf to cover the sins of the supposed professionals.

Those professionals would have you believe two things:

1. DIY investors are the problem; and

2. Highly-paid professionals are the solution.

I know.

I was as shocked as you are.

Imagine that. We can’t be trusted, but they can!

Well, for a fee, of course.

Have you ever read anything so ludicrous?

Or self- serving?

I mean, it’s not like they’re worried about their fees, right?

Or that they’d benefit (handsomely) from convincing us that we should leave it to the ‘big boys’.

Or maybe they’re just trying to find plausible excuses for getting their stock-picking calls wrong?

Yes, dear Foolish reader, it’s like an adult version of Scooby-Doo:

“I would have been right, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids”

See, all we have to do is stop normal people making their own decisions and…

(Sorry, I fell off my chair in hysterics).

Ah, but you’re biased, Phillips. You just want to get more customers.

Maybe.

I sure as hell want more people to take control of their finances.

To spend less.

Save more.

Invest regularly.

Benefit from the compounding machine that is the ASX.

Yep, guilty as charged.

I just want people to be better off.

So, sue me.

Can’t that be done by those complaining about the ‘distortion’ of the market by retail investors?

I guess.

If they have a long-term track record of beating the market — after fees.

But if that’s true, they have no need to worry about the rest of us.

Indeed, if they’re that good, any so-called ‘distortion’ will just be a massive money-making opportunity for them.

They should be cheering it on!

Confused?

Me too.

I mean, those people did realise the market would recover, right?

And they’ve made a fortune since, right?

Oh….

—–

All of that said — and without stepping back from the criticism one iota — I do worry about the rise of free brokerage but from a very different perspective.

I’ve written about it before, but when even ASIC feels compelled to step in and say something, we need to be careful.

It’s an unpopular view, to be sure: “You actively want me to have to pay higher fees????”

Just put the pitchforks down for a second, and hear me out.

See, any time you consider an issue, you need to think not just ‘rationally’, but through the lens of behavioural psychology.

Let me give you a simple example:

Last time I wrote about this, the subject line of the email I sent included the word ‘free’ (as in ‘free brokerage’).

Such is the power of that word, the email open rates (the number of people who opened the email) doubled.

Yes, doubled.

From — and I’ll use the technical terms here — ‘a lot’ to ‘a helluva lot’.

Shedloads of people opened that email.

(I was so surprised, I actually checked with our tech team to make sure there wasn’t a problem with the report.)

I mean, I’m good. But not that good. (Not even as good as I like to believe. But that’s a whole other issue.)

‘Cheap’ is good.

But ‘Free’ is catnip.

Now, let’s turn our gaze to the free ‘thing’: brokerage.

If something costs money, we value it. We treat it carefully, weighing up our options.

When it’s free? Well, we don’t really care about the object at all, do we?

If I told you something that was previously $2 was now $1, you’d probably buy more of it.

If I told you it was free?

I’d get knocked over in the rush.

The difference is so disproportionate, there is no possible rational explanation.

The ‘extra’ bit? Pure psychology.

And the problem with that?

It’s not rational. We do it because some part of our subconscious brain overrides the rational bit.

Which is fine if I’m giving away lollies.

But if it (unintentionally) encourages people to abandon all caution and day trade like banshees?

Well, I don’t think you need me to tell you how that ends, do you?

And if you think I’m speculating, you’re right.

But I do have some history on my side.

You reckon Australians buy and sell investment property too much?

If you said ‘yes’, you should have seen the Yanks before the GFC.

In activity which fuelled the pre-GFC madness, Americans were flipping property like they were pancakes.

(‘Flipping’ is buying a house, renovating it (or not) and getting it back on a fast-rising market as quickly as possible before doing it all again. The emphasis here is on speed.)

There were TV shows called, I kid you not, First Time Flippers, Flip This House and plenty more.

(An Australian version was tried, and thankfully only lasted a handful of episodes!)

The difference between here and there?

Lots, probably.

But one thing that kept the lid on house flipping here was Stamp Duty.

And yes, I hate paying stamp duty as much as you do.

But I’m pretty sure it saved us — at least in part — from the worst excesses of the GFC (and probably since, as well).

Economists hate ‘friction’ — anything that slows down the rate of activity in a market.

And God help anyone who stands between a hard-core economist or free-marketeer and the chance to remove some friction.

Of course, economists also count hospital visits, panel beaters, and earthquake damage repair in GDP, even though they’re just restoring the status quo (and the ‘cost’ of the damage is never deducted), so let’s just say economic fundamentalism has some, well, issues.

The solution?

I’m not sure I know, with certainty.

The last thing I want is to put a barrier in front of people who would otherwise invest, but for whom the brokerage is a stumbling block, either psychologically or financially.

Perhaps removing the flat “$X per trade” and replacing it with a set percentage would work.

Or maybe we charge people to buy, but let them sell without brokerage.

And you can give the fee to charity for all I care. I have no interest in making stockbrokers rich, but I’m pretty set against making new investors poor by giving them both the incentive and the ability to trade too often, robbing them of the very best part of investing:

Long-term compounding.

Fool on!

More reading

• Top brokers are urging you to buy these 3 ASX stocks today
• Why Morgans is urging investors to buy ASX big bank stocks today
• Here are 3 ASX 200 shares with dividend yields over 8%
• ASX 200 flat: Altium update disappoints, Metcash posts full year loss
• Is the Domino’s Pizza share price a good buy at $68?

Motley Fool contributor Scott Phillips 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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It’s hard to keep the bulls at bay! The morning market sell-off reversed at lunch with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) trading 0.7% higher in the last hour of trade.

It’s not too late to join the party either. Leading brokers have just named three ASX stocks that are trading at a significant discount to fair value.

While it’s the iron ore majors like Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) that have been dominating the spotlight in the sector, Goldman Sachs points to a lesser known buy idea.

New iron ore champ

The stock is Canadian miner Champion Iron Ltd (ASX: CIA). The broker initiated coverage on the stock with a “buy” recommendation and 12-month price target of $3.50 a share.

Champion’s main asset is its 100% owned Bloom Lake iron ore mine in Northern Quebec. Management is aiming to double production to 15 million tonnes a year by the second quarter of 2023 and Goldman thinks is one of the lowest capital intensity iron ore expansions globally.

“Previous owner Cliffs had already spent US$1.2bn before Phase II was placed on hold,” said the broker.

“Remaining capex requirements for CIA for the expansion from 8Mtpa to 15Mtpa is C$634mn (US$480mn) and equates to a capital intensity of just US$69/t.”

That’s well below the US$144 a tonne for Rio’s IOCC expansion and US$118 a tonne paid by FMG for its Iron Bridge project.

Price target upgrade

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley upgraded its price target on Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) by a massive 28.2% to $11.60 a share and reiterated its “overweight” call on the property group.

Not only is the group relatively unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s using the opportunity to acquire assets in the turmoil.

“One of the under-appreciated points about CHC is the expansion of its Funds Management margin – increasing from c.40% in FY15 to c.70% in FY19,” said the broker.

This margin expansion is sustainable thanks to scale, a focus on lower-touch assets like triple-net properties and lower exposure to the troubled retail segment.

Trading at a discount to peers

Finally, Credit Suisse reiterated its “outperform” recommendation on the Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS) share price after it compared it to its closest rival Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL).

The review comes in the wake of the sale of Healius’ medical centres to a private equity consortium for $500 million. This will allow management to focus on turning around its underperforming pathology business.

“We estimate HLS pathology has on average, operated at ~300bp lower EBIT margin to SHL, yet this did widen in FY19 to ~400bp,” said the broker.

“In our view, HLS is less profitable relative to SHL due to a larger collection centre footprint, higher rents and less complex test mix.”

Credit Suisse thinks Healius can narrow this gap and pointed out that the stock’s price-earning multiple is at a 10% discount to the ASX200 Industrials (excluding financials).

The broker’s price target on the stock is $3.25 a share.

More reading

• Why Morgans is urging investors to buy ASX big bank stocks today
• Here are 3 ASX 200 shares with dividend yields over 8%
• Iron ore prices: Are the Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP share prices a buy?
• ASX 200 flat: Altium update disappoints, Metcash posts full year loss
• Is the Domino’s Pizza share price a good buy at $68?

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Rio Tinto Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sonic Healthcare 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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It’s quite rare that the Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price is among the worst performers on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

It is even rarer for the electronic design software company’s shares to be the worst performer on the index.

But that is the case on Monday, with the Altium share price down over 8% to $33.31 in afternoon trade. At one stage its shares were down almost 13% today.

Why is the Altium share price sinking lower?

Investors have been selling the company’s shares after it released a disappointing trading update.

Despite the company launching attractive pricing and extended payment terms during the pandemic, it hasn’t been enough to offset the tough market conditions it is facing.

And although the company expects to deliver “solid” sales growth in FY 2020, it will fall short of the consensus estimate of US$192.5 million.

This is because traditionally Altium closes a significant amount of its second half business in the final two weeks of June. But with increased COVID-19 infection rates in the United States and a recent lockdown in Beijing, this won’t be the case this year.

Is this a buying opportunity?

While today’s share price decline is disappointing, I think it has created a buying opportunity for investors that are looking to make a long term investment.

I’m confident that Altium’s underperformance this year is strictly pandemic-related and expect it to bounce back once the crisis passes.

Overall, I believe that industry tailwinds remain very supportive of its long term growth and expect it to achieve its 100,000 subscribers target by FY 2025.

Combined with its other promising businesses, such as Octopart and NEXUS, I expect Altium to grow its earnings at an above-average rate for many years to come. This could make it a market-beater over the 2020s.

More reading

• Why Altium, Australian Ethical, Flight Centre, & Transurban are dropping lower
• ASX 200 flat: Altium update disappoints, Metcash posts full year loss
• These 5 ASX shares were last week’s top performers
• Altium share price sinks 7% lower after FY 2020 trading update
• Where I would invest $50,000 into ASX shares immediately

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 Altium. 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 Zenith Minerals Ltd (ASX: ZNC) share price is charging higher today on the back of promising initial reconnaissance sampling results at one of its Australian gold projects.

Zenith Minerals is a micro-cap ASX miner focused on advancing its portfolio of lithium, gold and base metals projects across Australia, the US, and Turkey.

What did Zenith Minerals announce?

This morning, Zenith announced that initial reconnaissance sampling has confirmed high-grade gold, silver and copper at surface at two prospects within its wholly-owned Flanagans gold project in Queensland.

Rock sample results included:

• Gold to 5.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, silver to 100 g/t silver and copper to 8.0% copper at the Flanagans prospect; and
• Gold to 3.4 g/t gold, silver to 273 g/t silver and copper to 13.9% copper at the nearby Great Blackall copper prospect.

According to today’s release, surface sampling confirms the historically reported local high tenor of gold, silver and copper mineralisation at both the Flanagans and Great Blackall prospects. Zenith believes these results endorse the requirement for further exploration activity.

The Flanagans project is located within approximately 100 kilometres of operating gold mines at Cracow and Mount Rawdon, and approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Zenith’s wholly-owned Red Mountain gold project.

Just last week, Zenith reported results from the maiden reverse circulation drilling program at Red Mountain. According to the miner, the program returned “highly encouraging near surface high-grade gold results”, which sent the Zenith Minerals share price rocketing 40% on the day.

Commenting on today’s update, chief executive Mick Clifford said:

“These are very early stage soil and rock-based results at the Flanagans Project. We are however encouraged by them particularly given that we were following up on some historical positive third-party results.”

The company noted that further work, including additional sampling, geological mapping and possible geophysical surveys, is required to determine the significance of surface geochemical samples at both prospects. Follow up field work is set to commence next week.

At the time of writing, the Zenith Minerals share price has jumped 9.52% to 11.5 cents. With this rise, the company’s market capitalisation currently stands at around $28 million.

More reading

• Zenith Minerals share price rockets 40% after intersecting high-grade gold

Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh 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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The Oz Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price has edged slightly higher in today’s trade. This comes following the company’s announcement it plans to acquire Cassini Resources Ltd (ASX: CZI). Under the transaction, which will take place via a scheme of arrangement, Oz Minerals will acquire all the share capital of Cassini Resources. This will consolidate the company’s ownership of the West Musgrave Project and surrounding tenements to 100%.

What does Oz Minerals do?

Oz Minerals is an Australian-based mining company with a focus on copper. It owns and operates the Prominent Hill copper-gold mine and the Carrapateena advanced exploration copper-gold project. Both projects are located in South Australia. The Oz Minerals share price has recovered strongly from its March low of $5.99, rising 74% to its current price of $10.43.

In the first quarter of 2020, Oz Minerals produced 20,231 tonnes of copper and 55,606 ounces of gold. The company has provided full-year production guidance of 83,000-100,000 tonnes of copper and 207,000-234,000 ounces of gold. It ended the first quarter with net debt of $89 million. However, the Aussie miner is expected to move to a net cash-positive position in Q2 and remain there for the rest of the year. Net debt was $2 million as at 14 April which is good news for the Oz Minerals share price.

More about the acquisition

The acquisition will give Oz Minerals 100% ownership of the West Musgrave project. This will optimise the development approach, timing, and funding for the project. The West Musgrave Project, located in Western Australia, is Australia’s largest undeveloped copper nickel deposit. A pre-feasibility study released earlier this year estimated the project had a Net Present Value of $800 million and an operational life span of ~26 years.

Regarding the acquisition, Oz Minerals’ CEO Andrew Coles said, “This is a promising project with strong sustainability credentials both in terms of the copper and nickel to be mined, being critical inputs for the renewable economy, and also in relation to its low carbon footprint with some 80% of power generated through renewable sources including solar and wind”.

What’s the outlook for the Oz Minerals share price?

Oz Minerals responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying $150 million in cost savings and deferring all but essential metal production activities. The miner is heavily exposed to copper and gold prices which have moved in opposing directions of late. The copper price came under pressure as a result of reduced global activity due to COVID-19, falling over 12.5% in March. It has since substantially recovered, however, and should be a much needed commodity as the world rebounds from the crisis. The gold price has climbed over the course of 2020, reaching levels not seen since 2013. Only time will tell whether these trends bode well for the Oz Minerals share price moving forward.

More reading

• Cassini Resources share price sets new 52-week high following promising exploration update
• 4 ASX 200 shares for the silver bull market

Motley Fool contributor Kate O’Brien owns shares of OZ Minerals Limited. 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 ASX big bank shares have staged a U-turn and are trading higher as Morgans urge investors to buy these stocks with one exception.

The turnaround by the big banks helped the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) recover from morning losses with the index gaining 0.5% during lunch time trade.

But the big banks are outperforming the market. The Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price is the best performer with a 1.7% jump to $19.06 at the time of writing.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price isn’t far behind with a 1.5% increase to $69.72, while the National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price added just under 1% each.

Not so bad debt

The positive sentiment coincided with Morgans’ report that stated too much bad news have been factored into the sector.

The market marked down the big banks on worries about rising bad debts due to the COVID-19 shutdown of our economy.

“We believe the bad debt damage being factored into current major bank share prices is overdone with the exception of CBA, which is one of the key reasons why CBA is our least preferred major bank,” said the broker.

“WBC is the only major bank where we believe the bad debt damage being priced in is greater than that experienced during the GFC, and this is one of the key reasons why WBC remains our preferred major bank.”

ASX big banks to buy now

The remaining two big banks are also rated as “add” (equivalent to “buy”) by Morgans with ANZ Bank only just getting upgraded from “hold”.

The headwinds the sector is facing due to the pandemic isn’t as severe as those experienced during the GFC, according to the broker.

This is because the federal government and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have moved quickly to support the economy and banking sector.

“We generally describe the current credit loss provisioning of the major banks as effectively being predicated on the assumption of a ‘squeezed-U-shaped’ recovery for the Australian economy,” added Morgans.

“At this stage this continues to look justified, particularly given the easing of lockdown restrictions being experienced in Australia.”

Lost dividends

But it isn’t all good news. The broker thinks that ANZ and Westpac won’t pay their interim dividends, and the banks will announce this bad news in August.

Both banks deferred their dividend decision when they reported their first half profit results one to two months ago.

The broker also believes that CBA will defer its final dividend decision cum August, but will make this payment in November.

The other three banks are tipped to declare their final dividends in the same month.

More reading

• Top brokers are urging you to buy these 3 ASX stocks today
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Here are 3 ASX 200 shares with dividend yields over 8%
• ASX 200 flat: Altium update disappoints, Metcash posts full year loss
• Is the Domino’s Pizza share price a good buy at $68?

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank Limited, and Westpac Banking. 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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With so many shares to choose from on the ASX, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy.

The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

Three top shares that leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted the price target on this homewares retailer’s shares to $2.80. Goldman likes Adairs due to its strong online business, improving supply chain, and attractive valuation. In respect to the latter, the broker estimates that Adairs’ shares are changing hands at just 10x FY 2022 earnings. It believes this offers a compelling risk/reward. I think Goldman makes some great points and Adairs could be worth considering.

Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)

A note out of Citi reveals that its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted their price target on this furniture retailer’s shares to $8.20. It believes that its strong order book is a sign that FY 2021 will be a solid year. In addition to this, the broker feels that Nick Scali’s target demographic are less likely to lose their jobs once the JobKeeper program ends. I think Citi could be on the money with this one and Nick Scali could be worth a closer look.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Analysts at Morgans have retained their add rating and lifted the price target on this banking giant’s shares to $22.50. According to the note, the broker believes that the bad debt damage being factored into its share price is overdone. Morgans doesn’t believe the bad debt experience during the pandemic will be as severe as that experienced during the GFC. I agree with Morgans on Westpac and would be a buyer of its shares.

More reading

• Here are 3 ASX 200 shares with dividend yields over 8%
• The NAB share price has fallen 24%. Should you buy?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX back in the green
• Beat low interest rates with Telstra and these ASX dividend shares
• Consider these blue chip ASX shares for strong dividend yields

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. 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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