It can be an interesting insight to know what brokers think of an ASX dividend share. The problem is that a single broker can be wrong or biased.

If you can get a consensus among brokers about which shares are best, then that may give a clue about what to buy and what to avoid.

Every so often MarketIndex collates the broker recommendations of 150 ASX shares and totals the buys, holds and sells for those shares. The higher or lower the average score the more of a strong buy, buy, hold, sell or strong sell that share is rated.

The below shares have dividend yields above 5% and a market capitalisation above $1 billion. However, MarketIndex cautioned that a high dividend yield can indicate a falling share price or limited growth prospects.

Here are three of the ASX dividend shares that fit the above screens:

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)

Harvey Norman Holdings is the business that is behind the Harvey Norman stores that sell appliances, devices, furniture and so on. In Australia it operates a franchisee model. According to the ASX, Harvey Norman has a market capitalisation of $5.63 billion.

The ASX share reported double digit profit growth in FY20. Profit after tax went up 19.4% to $480.5 million whilst profit after tax excluding AASB 16 and revaluations went up 30.9%.

There has been a vibrant retail performance this year by several ASX retailers such as JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH) and Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK) despite the impacts of COVID-19.

At the end of FY20 it paid a special dividend of 6 cents per share and also just paid a dividend of 18 cents per share. That brings the trailing grossed-up dividend for the ASX share to 7.55% at the current Harvey Norman share price.

DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS)

Dexus is one of Australia’s biggest real estate businesses – it’s a real estate investment trust (REIT). It owns $16.5 billion of office and industrial properties.

The REIT has a market capitalisation of $9.84 billion according to the ASX. The Dexus share price is still down by 33% compared to the pre-COVID-19 crash price.

Dexus recently gave an update. For the three months to 30 September 2020, it said its office occupancy by income was 95.4%, down from 96.5% at 30 June 2020. However, its office weighted average lease expiry (WALE) increased by 0.1 years to 4.3 years. The industrial portfolio’s occupancy by income reduced to 94.8% at 30 September 2020 and the WALE was maintained at 4.1 years.

The REIT has a $10.4 billion development pipeline, which it says provides the opportunity to grow and enhance future returns.

In terms of the distribution guidance, the ASX dividend share is expecting the distribution to be consistent with the FY20 distribution guidance of 50.3 cents which amounts to a yield of 5.6% at the current Dexus share price if it were to pay the same distribution again.

Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)

This is a railroad business that owns a large railway network that carries a lot of resources across its network.

According to the ASX, its market capitalisation is $7.13 billion.

FY20’s profit growth supported growth of the dividend. Its underlying earnings per share (EPS) went up by 15% to 27.2 cents and statutory EPS grew by 30%. That helped FY20’s total dividend climb by 15% to 27.4 cents.

At the current Aurizon share price, that trailing dividend amounts to a dividend yield of 9.5% with the Aurizon share price falling by around 25% since 3 July 2020.

In FY21 Aurizon is expecting underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to be between $830 million to $880 million, which would represent a decline from $909 million in FY20.

More reading

• 3 ASX dividend shares with yields above 5%
• Why REITs led the pack on the ASX today
• ASX property shares buoyed by latest market data
• 3 ASX 200 shares that received broker upgrades last week
• 6 major events for ASX shares this week

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ADAIRS FPO and Aurizon Holdings 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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PayGroup Ltd (ASX: PYG) announced today it has completed its acquisition of Payroll HQ Pty Limited. Payroll HQ is an Australian-based outsourced payroll provider with high quality corporate client base, delivering approximately 120,000 payslips annually. The PayGroup share price was up 5.45% in early trading but has since retreated to a price of 56 cents, up 2.73% .

Headquartered in Melbourne, PayGroup provides payroll and human capital management solutions. The company has operations in 11 countries, with more than 995 clients, and processes more than 5 million payslips per annum.

For the first quarter of FY21, PayGroup announced record contract growth of $5.4 million in contract wins. This was up 93% on the prior corresponding period, and 98% of its entire FY20 total contract value.

What’s moving the PayGroup share price?

Payroll HQ offers Software-with-a-Service (SwaS) payroll outsourcing services based in Sydney. At the time of sale, it has 100 corporate clients in Australia and New Zealand. All contracts have 3 year recurring revenue terms with automated renewals in place and a client retention of >95%.

The acquisition is worth the equivalent of $2.535 million, payable through the issue of 4,122,694 PayGroup shares at $0.615. A further earnout of circa $1.28M is expected to be achieved based on the FY21 forecast revenue.

The acquisition immediately adds 100 clients with significant cross-sell opportunities. Moreover, PayGroup plans to appoint the experienced Australian-based sales team to help drive PayGroup’s growth strategy. The company expects the acquisition will add $2.25 million in revenues. 

What did management say?

PayGroup managing director Mark Samlal said the Payroll acquisition would “significantly transform” PayGroup’s SwaS payroll presence and increase sales capabilities in Australia.

Payroll HQ has an excellent client base and sales pipeline, and is led by a group of experienced and high-performing industry experts. In this current environment, when payroll is so critical to the livelihood of workers, and cost efficiency and agility is a crucial element for all businesses in a post-lockdown economy, we see significant opportunity to grow this business and we welcome the Payroll HQ team on-board.

Payroll HQ Chief Executive Officer Ross Heron also welcomed the move, saying:

We see real benefits of integrating our business with PayGroup and have already identified many of their product lines – such as Treasury Services and HCM SaaS modules – as being highly attractive to our client base…We believe that working together with PayGroup will put us in the best position to capitalise on post-pandemic business opportunities.

More reading

• PayGroup (ASX:PYG) share price falls despite positive update
• PayGroup (ASX:PYG) share price moves higher on contract win
• What’s driving the PayGroup (ASX:PYG) share price higher today

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Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares are this morning on the rise after the company released an update on its performance for the first quarter of 2021 today. At the time of writing, the Woolworths share price is trading 0.15% higher at $38.87. 

The retailer posted a strong performance, with first quarter sales of $17.9 billion, up 12.3% compared to the previous corresponding period. 

The strong performance is mainly driven by Woolworths’ Australian food sales, which rose 12.9% to $12.0 billion.

“It has been a pleasing start to F21 with all retail businesses delivering strong sales growth and customer metrics remaining solid,” the company said.

Highlights from the Q1 update

• Group sales of $17.9 billion is 12.3% higher versus Q1 2020.
• Group e-commerce sales of $1.5 billion up by 87% vs Q1 2020. The number also represents a 69% growth from Q4 2020.
• September group VOC NPS is 55, up +1 point versus September 2019. VOC NPS is basically a survey of a sample of Woolworths customers in which Woolworths is rated on several criteria. It represents the number of satisfied customers (score of 9 or 10) minus the number of less-satisfied customers (score of 6 or below).
• Australian food sales rose 12.9% to $12.0 billion.
• Big W sales rose 20.4% to $1.1 billion.
• Hotel sales were down 33.2% to $313 million.
• Endeavour sales in New Zealand rose 11.8% to $2.97 billion.

The company also announced that it paid $164 million in the quarter to remediate salaried staff for salary payment shortfalls. In total, $281 million has been paid to date.

“Despite the Victorian closures, hotels was profitable in the first quarter but materially down on last year. For the rest of the calendar year, we expect elevated sales and costs to continue as customers spend more time at home, continue to embrace eCommerce and we ensure our stores and DCs remain COVIDSafe,” Woolworths said.

These results came on the back of a relatively disappointing full year results Woolworths announced in August, where its net profit after tax (NPAT) had declined by 1.2% even after posting a sales increase of 8% during the financial year.

About the Woolworths share price

The Woolworth’s share price is 7.14% higher in year-to-date trading. Despite outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), the Woolworths share price is trailing the performance of supermarket rival Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL). At the time of writing, the Coles share price has surged more than 21% in 2020. 

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• What to expect from the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) Q1 update this week
• Why I would buy Woolworths (ASX:WOW) and these shares for a retirement portfolio
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 has another shocker as US election approaches
• Are Coles (ASX:COL) or Woolworths (ASX:WOW) shares a better ASX dividend buy today?

Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET and Woolworths 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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The world’s largest ever initial public offering (IPO) has been suspended just days before go-live.

Ant Group is a fintech giant established by China’s wealthiest man, Jack Ma. The company was due to float simultaneously in Shanghai and Hong Kong on Thursday after raising $51 billion.

It would have had a market capitalisation of more than $435 billion, making it the biggest share market debut in history.

But in a remarkable development overnight, Chinese regulators reportedly stopped the float from going ahead.

The announcement on the Shanghai stock exchange forced its Hong Kong counterpart to also suspend Ant’s public debut.

Reuters reported the suspension came after Ma and other Ant executives met with regulators on Monday.

Ant’s online lending arm would require further scrutiny, the authorities reportedly told the executives.

“The Communist Party has shown the tycoons who’s boss,” GEO Securities chief, Francis Lun, told Reuters. 

“Jack Ma might be the richest man in the world but that doesn’t mean a thing. This has gone from the deal of the century to the shock of the century.” 

The surprise development sent shares of Ant’s parent company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) into freefall on the New York Stock Exchange. 

The stock lost 8.1% overnight, to mercifully close at US$285.57.

Alibaba is also listed as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HKG: 9988) in Hong Kong, which may also experience some turbulence Wednesday.

Ant Group started life in 2004 as a platform known as Alipay, as an escrow payments facilitator on Alibaba.

The company has since rebranded and broadened its offerings to lending, insurance and investment.

According to CBInsights, Ant Group increased its profit by more than 1,000% to $4.4 billion, while its revenue also went upwards 40% to more than $13 billion.

Just the Alipay part of the business facilitates more than 50% of mobile payments by volume in China. 

Ant Group split off from Alibaba in 2011 to obtain a digital payments licence. 

More reading

• A look into Mike Cannon-Brookes’ share portfolio
• Is it still safe to invest in China?

Tony Yoo 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 Alibaba Group Holding 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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If you’re a growth investor, then you’re in luck. This is because there are a number of companies on the Australian share market that have been growing at a rapid rate in recent years.

Two standouts are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

This machine learning and artificial intelligence data services company has been a strong performer in 2020. During the first half of FY 2020, the company reported a 25% increase in revenue to $306.2 million. This was driven by its key Relevance segment, which provides annotated data to be used in search technology for improving the relevance and accuracy of search engines, social media applications, and e-commerce websites. The Relevance segment delivered a 34% increase in revenue to $273.9 million, which offset weakness in its Speech & Image segment. The latter reported a 20% decline in revenue to $31.9 million.

Pleasingly for shareholders, management spoke positively about the future. Chairman, Chris Vonwiller, commented: “We are especially pleased with this result amidst the pandemic and the implementation of our growth initiatives. The strength of our business model, market exposure, competitive position and our consistent execution give us the confidence to push forward with our investments to solidify future growth.”

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

This ecommerce company has been a remarkably positive performer in 2020 thanks to the accelerating shift to online shopping.  The COVID-19 pandemic has sent millions of consumers online for their shopping, many for the first time, which has led to companies like Kogan benefiting greatly.

After delivering strong sales and profit growth in FY 2020, Kogan’s growth has gone up a level early in FY 2021. For example, during the month of August, the company reported gross sales growth of more than 117% and adjusted EBITDA growth of more than 466%. This was driven by the addition of 152,000 new customers to its platform during the month, bringing its total to 2,461,000.

More reading

• Appen (ASX:APX) share price boosted by upgrade
• Summer is coming, and none too soon for ASX retail landlords
• Here’s what the US election means for investors
• 2 top ASX tech shares to buy after the recent market turmoil
• Is the Adore Beauty (ASX:ABY) share price in the buy zone?

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 Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Kogan.com ltd. 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:

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

Sydney Airport is the business that operates the Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. According to the ASX, it has a market capitalisation of $15.65 billion. It’s one of the largest businesses on the ASX despite the COVID-19 difficulties.

Sydney Airport is rated as a buy by at least eight analysts. The Sydney Airport share price has fallen by 34% since the middle of January. Share price falls often heighten broker interest to evaluate if there is value.

The ASX share has been suffering from the lack of travel because of COVID-19 impacts. In its latest monthly traffic update for September 2020 it said that its domestic travel was down 95.7% to 98,000. International passengers were down 97.5% to 34,000. This meant that total passengers compared to September 2019 was down 96.4% to 132,000.

However, the company recently pointed out that travel restrictions between NSW and SA and NSW and the NT were lifted on 1 October and 9 October respectively. One-way quarantine travel from New Zealand to NSW commenced on 16 October.

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks is a construction business that has a variety of brands that produces different building products like bricks, paving, masonry, precast and roofing.

The ASX share has a market capitalisation of around $2.7 billion according to the ASX. It’s rated as a buy by at least six analysts.

Brickworks has recently reported growing monthly order books in a sign of a recovery from the worst of the COVID-19 impacts. The Brickworks share price is up 46% since 22 April 2020.

There are two other elements to the Brickworks business. It owns around 40% of diversified investment conglomerate Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL).

It also owns 50% of an industrial property trust along with Goodman Group (ASX: GMG). This property trust will soon count Amazon and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) as tenants in Sydney after two huge, advanced distribution warehouses are built on the next couple of years.

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is the largest automotive parts business in Australia which operates under a number of different brands including Burson and Autobarn. It also has a number of other specialist wholesale businesses such as electrical components.

The ASX share has a market capitalisation of $2.61 billion according to the ASX. It’s rated as a buy by at least nine analysts.

The Bapcor share price plunged during the March 2020 crash as the number of cars on the road plummeted. But the Bapcor share price has risen 142% since 23 March 2020.

Bapcor shares have been driven higher and it recently gave its FY21 first quarter update. It reported that Burson Trade revenue was up 10% up on the prior corresponding period, whilst total revenue was up 27% with strong retail sales at Autobarn.

Management of Bapcor said that the automotive aftermarket is a resilient industry and historically has performed strongly in difficult economic circumstances. The company’s CEO, Darryl Abotomey said: “We envisage that the impacts of COVID-19, including the expected increase in domestic tourism and increased use of vehicles will continue to drive the Bapcor businesses.”

More reading

• How Sydney’s new road could pressure the oOh!Media (ASX:OML) share price
• Top brokers just upgraded the ResMed (ASX:RMD) share price and this other ASX stock
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 has another shocker as US election approaches
• 3 ASX blue chip shares to buy for dividends
• Why the Brickworks (ASX:BKW) share price is a strong buy

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. 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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Europe and the United States are currently suffering immensely from a second or a third wave of COVID-19.

In many countries, the daily infection numbers are even higher than the first wave, when citizens were perhaps more compliant with restrictions.

As a contrast, the second wave has been much lower in most Asian economies.

Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) investment specialist, Celestee Tan, said that this has implications for investors.

“The difference in the ‘cost of COVID-19’ between the West and East is dramatic and visible,” she said.

“A centralised, disciplined and enforced government response in large parts of north and east Asia remain in place and effective.”

The lower coronavirus infection rates has meant Asian countries have not had to resort to quantitative easing — or ‘printing money’ — that central banks in the West have turned to.

“While China’s general government budget deficit has grown from 4.7% of Gross Domestic Product in 2019 to 5.3% in early 2020, a surge in US deficit spending, from 5% of GDP to 15% in 2020, has been required to achieve economic stability to date.”

Other factors boosting Asian shares

As well as the more favourable economic conditions, Tan pointed out the Fortune 500 now has more businesses from China and Hong Kong than the US.

“There were none on the list 30 years ago,” she said.

“However, China itself still has ‘room to run’, as it shifts from an export-driven economy to a domestic consumption-driven one.”

Citi analysts are expecting the COVID-ravaged 15% of the global economy will rebound in the short term.

A further boost for Asian — and specifically Chinese — shares would come if this week’s US election brings Joe Biden and the Democrats into power.

“In the event that there is a change in the US government in early November, there may be a different and more concessionary Chinese engagement,” Tan said.

“Fewer economic restrictions and tariffs could allow China to focus on domestic demand.”

Infrastructure investment opportunities abound in Asia, according to Tan — like 5G, city renewal and transport.

“Asian countries are also already playing a major role in climate change with the development and installation of infrastructure that changes how energy is produced and consumed,” she said.

“The Asian consumer could also create opportunities across e-commerce and in leisure industries.”

The Asia Dow (INDEXDJX: ADOWE) has risen almost 36% since the COVID-19 trough in late March.

More reading

• Pushpay (ASX:PPH) share price on watch after dazzling first half profit growth
• 3 ASX dividend shares with yields above 5%
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• 2 ASX dividend shares with better yields than term deposits
• Zip and Credit Clear were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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 Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH) share price will be one to watch this morning after the donor management and community engagement platform provider released its half year results.

How did Pushpay perform in the first half?

For the six months ended 30 September, Pushpay delivered a 48% increase in total processing volume to US$3.2 billion and a 53% increase in operating revenue to US$85.6 million.

Things were even better for its earnings thanks to further margin expansion through its expanding operating leverage. Pushpay’s total operating expenses increased by 16% over the prior corresponding period. As a result, as a percentage of operating revenue, total operating expenses improved by 12 percentage points from 50% to 38%.

This led to the company posting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and fair value adjustment (EBITDAF) of US$26.7 million, which was up 177% on the prior corresponding period.

Bruce Gordon, CEO and Executive Director, commented, “We are pleased to deliver a strong result for the six months ended 30 September 2020. Pushpay has delivered solid revenue growth, expanding operating margins, EBITDAF growth and operating cash flow improvements over the period.”

“Over the six months to 30 September 2020, the Company has made significant progress integrating the Pushpay and Church Community Builder solutions as we continue to execute against our shared vision and strategic goal of becoming the preferred provider of mission-critical software to the US faith sector. Our results are a reflection of our innovative products, the dedication of our teams in the US and New Zealand, and our culture of continuous improvement,” he added.

Outlook.

Pushpay expects further strong revenue growth as it continues to execute on its strategy to gain further market share in the medium-term. It believes this is the best way to maximise shareholder value.

And in light of its strong start, management has upgraded its guidance for FY 2021 for the second time.

It has increased its EBITDAF guidance for the year ending 31 March 2021 to between US$54 million and US$58 million. This compares to previous guidance of US$50 million to US$54 million and will be more than 115% higher than FY 2020’s EBITDAF of US$25.1 million.

Though, it has warned that uncertainties and impacts surrounding COVID-19 and the broader US economic environment remain.

Stock split.

The Pushpay board has approved a four-for-one split of Pushpay’s shares.

This will result in shareholders holding, after the share split, four fully paid ordinary shares for each fully paid ordinary share held by them at 5:00 pm on the record date of 27 November 2020. Following the share split, Pushpay will have a total issued share capital of 1,102,610,236 fully paid ordinary shares.

More reading

• Why these 5 fintech ASX shares are surging
• 2 must-buy ASX growth shares to buy in November
• I plan to invest heavily in ASX shares next week
• 3 great ASX growth shares to buy in November
• Why these ASX mid cap tech shares could smash the market in the 2020s

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 PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. 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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Some investors may be turning to ASX dividend shares to boost their income in this era of very low interest rates.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has pushed the official interest rate to almost 0%. But ASX dividend shares are known for offering higher yields than bank accounts.

Here are three examples of businesses that have dividend yields of 5% or more:

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)

This is a funds management business which has billionaire Hamish Douglass at the helm as both the chair and chief investment officer (CIO).

The Magellan share price has risen by around 140% since the start of 2019, which was comfortably higher than the return of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

In FY20 it paid a total annual dividend of 214.9 cents per share which, when franking credits are included, amounts to a grossed-up dividend yield of just over 5%. That dividend was 16% higher than what was paid in FY19.

Magellan has a high dividend payout ratio, which contributes to its dividend yield being more than 5%. It generated diluted earnings per share (EPS) of 218.3 cents, meaning that Magellan’s payout ratio was 98.4%.

In FY20 its average funds under management (FUM) was up 26% to $95.5 billion. Magellan’s FUM at the end of September 2020 was 7% higher than the FY20 average at just over $102 billion.

The fund manager also recently invested in a new investment bank called Barrenjoey.  

Growthpoint Properties Australia Ltd (ASX: GOZ)

Growthpoint Properties is an ASX real estate investment trust (REIT) which invests in “high-quality industrial and office properties across Australia.”

The REIT recently gave an update for the first quarter of FY21. It said that its weighted average lease expiry (WALE) increase to 6.4 years and the portfolio occupancy increased to 96%.

Growthpoint revealed that billings remained “strong” with more than 99% of FY21 first quarter total billings collected to date.

Management boasted of having a robust balance sheet, with gearing of 32.2% well below its target range.

Growthpoint Properties’ FY21 distribution guidance was reaffirmed at 20 cents per share, which equates to a distribution yield of 5.6% for the ASX dividend share.

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)

JB Hi-Fi is the third ASX dividend share example in this article.

The electronics retailer has increased its dividend every year in a row going back several years.

JB Hi-Fi’s growth has accelerated during the COVID-19 period. In FY20 it generated total sales growth of 11.6%, underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) grew by 33.2%. Underlying EPS went up 33.2% to 289.6 cents.

The profit growth assisted the ASX dividend share’s annual FY20 dividend growth of 33.1% to 189 cents.

JB Hi-Fi has recently delivered a FY21 first quarter sales update. It said that in the three months to 30 September 2020, JB Hi-Fi Australia total sales growth was 27.3% with comparable sales growth of 27.6%.

JB Hi-Fi New Zealand total sales declined by 2.5% with a comparable sales decline of 2.5%.

The Good Guys also reported that its total sales grew by 30.9% with comparable sales growth of 30.9%.

The electronics retailer announced that with the lifting of the Victorian Government’s stage 4 restrictions, 46 JB Hi-Fi stores and 21 The Good Guys stores have all reopened on 28 October 2020.

At the time of the first quarter update, JB Hi-Fi CEO Richard Murray said: “Our online businesses have continued to scale and meet the needs of our customers in a period where restrictions have impacted their ability to visit our stores. This online growth combined with continued sales momentum in stores across the rest of Australia, has resulted in a strong start to FY21 and positions us well as we enter the key Christmas trading period.”

Using the current JB Hi-Fi share price, it has a trailing grossed-up dividend yield of 5.6%.

More reading

• AMP (ASX:AMP) share price up another 7% on top of last week’s record rally
• 3 ASX 200 shares that received broker upgrades last week
• 6 major events for ASX shares this week
• 3 ASX blue chip shares to buy for dividends
• Investors rejoice as AMP (ASX:AMP) share price rockets 20% on takeover

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. 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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On Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was a very positive performer and surged notably higher. The benchmark index jumped 1.9% to 6,066.4 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 flat ahead of US election result.

It looks set to be a potentially volatile day of trade for the Australian share market due to the U.S. election. The result of which should start to filter through during our trading day. For now, according to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day flat. Over in the US, in late trade the Dow Jones is up 2%, the S&P 500 has risen 1.9%, and the Nasdaq has stormed 2% higher.

Woolworths Q1 update.

Hot on the heels of the Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) first quarter update, Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) will release an update of its own this morning. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it expects Woolworths to report revenue of $17.5 billion for the first quarter. This will be a 9.8% increase on the prior corresponding period. The broker believes this will be driven largely by strong growth in the supermarkets segment. This is expected to be aided by a successful collectibles promotion and outperformance in the online channel.

Oil prices higher.

It could be a decent day of trade for energy producers such as Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) after oil prices continued their recovery. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 2.1% to US$37.58 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has risen 1.8% to US$39.66 a barrel.

Gold price pushes higher.

It could also be a good day for gold miners such as Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) after the gold price pushed higher. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 1% to US$1,911.10 an ounce. This appears to have been driven by nervous investors ahead of the U.S. election result.

Annual general meetings.

A number of companies are holding their annual general meetings today and could provide updates at their virtual events. One of those companies is pizza chain operator Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP). It is expected to have had a strong start to the year thanks to consumers staying home more often and ordering takeaway.

More reading

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• Why Laybuy, Oil Search, PointsBet, & Webjet shares are racing higher
• ASX 200 has explosive start to trading ahead of RBA decision
• Macquarie’s latest ASX “buy” idea has a 10% yield

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Domino’s Pizza Enterprises 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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