With interest rates at record lows and potentially still going lower, it has been a tough few years for income investors.

Fortunately, there are a good number of dividend shares for investors to choose from on the Australian share market.

Two that provide generous dividend yields are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

Accent is a leading footwear retailer which operates a large number of store brands. This includes HYPE DC, Platypus, The Athlete’s Foot, and Sneaker Lab. And part of its store expansion plan, the company has just opened two new store brands despite the pandemic – Australian Stylerunner and Pivot. Pleasingly, management revealed that these new stores have been materially outperforming expectations since opening.

One broker that has been pleased with Accent’s performance in FY 2021 is Morgan Stanley. It recently reiterated its buy rating on the company’s shares. The broker is forecasting a fully franked dividend of 9.4 cents per share this year. Based on the current Accent share price, this represents a 4.3% dividend yield.

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

Another company that has been performing very positively this year is Coles. The supermarket operator delivered a 6.9% increase in sales to $37.4 billion in FY 2020 and has followed this up with further strong growth in the first quarter of FY 2021. For the three months ended 30 September, Coles reported a 10.5% increase in total sales over the prior corresponding period to $9.6 billion.

This strong start to the year went down well with analysts at Goldman Sachs. They believe Coles is well-placed to deliver a strong full year result and grow its dividend again. The broker has forecast a fully franked 64 cents per share dividend in FY 2021. Based on the current Coles share price, this equates to a 3.6% dividend yield.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 on track for a top month
• 2 ASX dividend shares to buy next week
• 2 of the best ASX shares for your retirement portfolio
• 2 ASX blue chip dividend shares with yields over 4% today
• 2 ASX blue chip shares tipped as buys

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Accent Group. 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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Last month, ASX travel shares rallied behind vaccine hopes and reopening borders. November was a significant month for vaccine developments with Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) making ground-breaking advancements. Australian border restrictions have largely lifted across the board with South Australia being the one ongoing exception. With the strength that ASX travel shares displayed, which ones performed the best in November? 

ASX travel agencies leading the recovery

Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) and Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) topped the performance for ASX travel shares, soaring a respective 66% and 50% in November. 

The travel industry expects to see significant activity once restrictions have eased. And this has been the case for a majority of Australia’s domestic borders. Webjet has seen a number of domestic markets starting to rebound. Webjet’s online travel agency is witnessing a significant increase in bookings as markets reopen with only limited marketing spend.

Its average monthly bookings stood at approximately 18,700 in September. This compares to 5,700 in May, 18,200 in June, 13,600 in August and 131,300 pre-COVID. It seems the beginning of a domestic travel recovery is taking place and travel agencies believe they are well placed to benefit from the expected domestic led tourism industry in FY21. 

Airlines looking to recover

For Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), the unexpected closure of several domestic borders in July meant its recovery has been delayed. Qantas was expecting group domestic services to be operating at about 60% of pre-COVID levels by late October. Instead, continued border closures meant that capacity stayed below 30%. The market seemed to ignore the timing issue as the Qantas share price marched 25% in November. It may come as a surprise that Qantas is only down 25% year to date. 

Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ) staged a similar recovery with its share price up more than 30% in November. However, it remains more than 40% below its pre-COVID share price level. 

Airports flat but stable

Auckland International Airport Limited (AX: AIA) and Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) did not deliver as explosive share price gains as airlines or travel agencies. However, their shares are only down a respective 15% and 20% year to date. 

Looking at Sydney Airport’s traffic performance, its total passenger traffic in October was 225,000 passengers, down 94.3% on the prior corresponding period. International passengers were down 97.4% while domestic passengers were down 92.6%. The modest recovery in domestic traffic in October was driven by the lifting of travel restrictions between New South Wales and South Australia, and New South Wales and the Northern Territory. 

More reading

• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares in November
• Why the holidays are looking up for Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) shares
• 3 key advantages Moderna holds over Pfizer and AstraZeneca
• Qantas (ASX:QAN) axes 2,000 jobs
• Why Platinum Asset’s healthcare fund doesn’t own CSL (ASX:CSL) shares

Motley Fool contributor Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group 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 Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price was among the worst performers on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in November.

The pizza chain operator’s shares tumbled a disappointing 12.6% over the month.

Is this a buying opportunity?

One leading broker that thinks the recent weakness in the Domino’s share price is a buying opportunity is Goldman Sachs.

This morning the broker upgraded Domino’s to a buy rating and put it on its conviction list. Goldman has an $88.00 price target on the company’s shares, which represents potential upside of 19% over the next 12 months.

Why did Goldman Sachs upgrade Domino’s?

Goldman Sachs made the move in response to management’s commentary at the company’s virtual investor day event.

It commented: “DMP remains positive on the trajectory of the Japanese and German businesses in line with prior commentary and remained confident that they were seeing fewer roadblocks against their growth plans across all regions. This is in line with our thinking around DMP’s potential to maintain double digit EBITDA CAGR in the medium term despite various levels of COVID impacts in each of their markets.”

The broker is also confident that the company will deliver solid operating leverage this year thanks to the investments it made previously.

“We expect operating leverage to be a feature of the FY21 result as investments in prior year, significant performance in the high company owned store region of Japan and strong current sales environment (SSS and store opens) all contribute to the result,” it added.

Another reason the broker is bullish is its valuation, which it notes is actually very attractive in comparison to global peers.

It concluded: “We make limited earnings changes +0.7%/+1.3% over FY21/FY22, but roll-over our EV/EBITDA valuation to be based on CY21 forecasts overall resulting in a revised valuation of A$88, offering a total potential return of +19.7%. DMP compares favorably vs. international restaurant peers for the growth offered. We upgrade DMP to a Buy rating and also add it to our ANZ CL.”

Based on Goldman Sachs’ estimates, Domino’s is changing hands for 34x FY 2021 earnings and 28x FY 2022 earnings.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in November
• ASX stock winners from the $23 billion Victorian state budget
• 2 ASX shares targeting huge growth during the 2020s
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX continues to hit post-COVID highs
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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Small cap ASX shares live in a world of their own. Some strike gold, some don’t. Here are some across the mining and healthcare sectors that managed to deliver significant shareholder value in November. 

Best performing small cap ASX shares in November 

Rhythm Biosciences Ltd (ASX: RHY)

Rhythm Biosciences is working on a simple, affordable and effective blood test for the early detection of colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second largest cause of cancer-related deaths in Australia, Europe and the United States, and the third largest globally.

The company’s ColoSTAT is the first product in development, representing a transformative diagnostic tool, to more accurately detect colorectal cancer via a blood test. 

On 12 November, Rhythm Biosciences announced that the ColoSTAT prototype test kit had been successfully completed. Its preliminary test results demonstrate superior performance to both globally accepted and market standard tests. Rhythm CEO, Mr Glenn Gilbert, commented:

These preliminary results demonstrate the high accuracy and specificity of the ColoSTAT prototype test kit which clearly distinguishes between cancerous and healthy blood samples. This is a significant step forward for the company as we take steps to commercialise our world leading, transformative diagnostic test that will save lives. 

The Rhythm share price jumped 50% on the day of the announcement and up more than 170% in November. 

Galan Lithium Ltd (ASX: GLN) 

Mid to large cap ASX lithium shares including Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY), Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) staged a significant share price recovery following Joe Biden’s United States election victory. Meanwhile, on the smaller end of town, the seemingly dormant Galan share price struck gold to soar more than 150% in November. 

Galan Lithium owns two projects based within the South American lithium triangle in Argentina. Hombre Muerto is proven to host the highest grade and lowest impurity levels within Argentina and is home to Livent Corp‘s (NYSE: LTHM) El Fenix and Galaxy Resources and POSCO‘s (NYSE: PKX) Sal de Vida projects. 

On 17 November, Galan announced a significant increase in indicated resource at its Hombre Muerto West (HMW) project. Galan’s total HMW resource estimate now stands at a world class 2.3 million tonnes. 

Galan Managing Director, Juan Pablo (JP) Vargas de la Vega, said:

Being the third largest publicly disclosed resource in the Hombre Muerto and overtaking POSCO, is an amazing milestone. This is something we were not even dreaming about when we first started drilling late last year. The increase from 1.4Mt to 2.3Mt of LCE at HMW is a huge step up for the Project’s economic and technical potential that we will now reflect in our ongoing PEA and scoping studies due for completion in early Dec’20.

Azure Minerals Limited (ASX: AZS) 

The Azure Minerals share price jumped 150% in November following a series of positive drilling results and a $37 million placement to accelerate its nickel-copper drilling. 

Azure Managing Director, Mr Tony Rovira, described the first five holes drilled at its Andover site as “nothing less than exceptional, with all intersecting substantial widths of nickel-copper sulphite mineralisation”. The company currently has one diamond drill rig operating at Andover and, with the exception of a short Christmas break, will continue drilling into 2021. Additional drill rigs will be sourced to rapidly advance delineation of the Andover mineralised zone and to test additional regional targets. 

More reading

• Azure (ASX:AZS) rockets 23% after drilling update
• Why the Azure Minerals (ASX:AZS) share price soared 44% higher today

Motley Fool contributor Lina Lim 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 Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price will be on watch today after the energy producer released an update on its guidance for FY 2020.

What did Santos announce?

This morning Santos upgraded its production guidance and reduced its cost guidance for the 12 months ended 31 December.

According to the release, Santos is now expecting its production to be in the range of 87 to 89 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in FY 2020.

This compares to its prior guidance of 83 to 88 mmboe and represents 15% to 18% production growth for the year and more than 50% growth since 2015.

Management advised that this is being driven by its strong operating performance across the base business.

In respect to its costs, management advised that Santos is on track to deliver the production cost reductions announced in March in response to the COVID pandemic. This will see its FY 2020 guidance lowered to $8.00-$8.50/boe.

In addition to this, management revealed that its capital expenditure is still expected to be approximately $900 million. This is consistent with the 38% reduction for the year that it announced in March.

Acquisition integration update.

Santos also provided an update on the integration of the ConocoPhillips acquisition which completed in May 2020.

Management advised that the integration is proceeding well, with guidance on acquisition synergies upgraded to $90 million to $105 million per annum.

Santos’ Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Gallagher, commented: “Our strategy has been to establish a disciplined low-cost operating model that delivers strong free cash flows through the oil price cycle. Our 2020 forecast free cash flow breakeven oil price is less than US$25 per barrel before hedging and around US$20 per barrel after hedging.”

“Our base business is strong with production levels expected to remain relatively steady for the next decade and providing significant free cash flow. This cash flow combined with a strong balance sheet and control over the timing of our major projects, means we are well positioned for disciplined growth,” he added.

Santos also announced another major step towards a final investment decision on the Barossa project. Management advised that this follows Darwin LNG approving tolling agreements to transport and process Barossa gas through DLNG.

Finally, Santos has also announced an ambitious roadmap to net-zero emissions by 2040 and new emissions targets designed to support Australia’s commitment to the Paris Agreement. This includes a 26% to 30% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and a commitment to actively work with customers to reduce their emissions.

“Our focus over the last three years on step change technologies such as carbon capture and storage has enabled a pathway that allows us to go further faster when it comes to emissions reduction,” Mr Gallagher concluded.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• ASX 200 down 0.35%: Bega Cheese jumps, Flight Centre & Webjet tumble lower
• This expert thinks the oil price could surge to US$196 a barrel in 2021
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

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

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Strong performing ASX tech shares came few and far between in November. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) was up 4.59%. This compares to the 9.5% rise from the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Despite a weaker tech sector, here are the hidden gems that performed the best.  

3 ASX tech shares that outperformed last month

Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) 

The Betmakers share price soared more than 60% last month to hit a record all-time high of 70 cents. The only market sensitive news to come out of this ASX tech share in November was the approval for its fixed odds pilot program by the New Jersey Racing Commission.

The United States sports betting sector continues to develop in favour of bookmakers with the recent legalisation of sports betting in Maryland, Louisiana and South Dakota. This brings the count of legalised states to more than 20. 

In the Betmakers Virtual Tech Forum on 22 October, the company identified the US racing industry as a key market where operators will need a racing solution to fit alongside their sports offerings. The company advised it has made a number of key hires in FY21 to ensure it is well positioned to capitalise on the unique deals and is able to continue delivering new opportunities to the market. 

Pointerra Ltd (ASX: 3DP) 

The Pointerra share price is eyeing previous highs after its shares rocketed more than 67% last month to 52 cents. Pointerra provides geospatial services, similar to those of Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA), but more focused on data, as opposed to high quality aerial imagery. 

The company provided an enterprise sales and annual contract value (ACV) update on 26 November. This update highlighted an 18% increase in ACV to US$5.82 million in the 40 days since ACV was last reported. 

Dubber Corp Ltd (ASX: DUB) 

The Dubber share price went from strength to strength in November following the completion of the company’s capital raising back in October and a series of positive announcements. 

On 21 October, Dubber announced the global launch of its Unified Recording on Microsoft Corporation‘s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Teams, supported by a new and tailored global channel partner and reseller program. This allows Teams customers to automate voice recording at scale from any device with no need for hardware. 

On 6 November, the ASX tech share announced that it had been chosen as the recording and data capture platform for IBM (NYSE: IBM) Cloud for Telecommunications. The revenue from this partnership will depend on the take-up of the service. 

The Dubber share price ran more than 40% in November and is now within 5% of its previous record all-time high set in June 2019.

More reading

• Pointerra (ASX:3DP) share price falls 6% despite positive update
• Dubber (ASX:DUB) share price shoots up 14%, nears 52-week high
• The Dubber (ASX:DUB) share price is up 60% in two months
• Why the Dubber Corp (ASX:DUB) share price is surging today
• Why are ASX tech shares all over the place today?

Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Lina Lim 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 Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Nearmap Ltd. and Pointerra Limited and recommends the following options: short January 2021 $115 calls on Microsoft and long January 2021 $85 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nearmap Ltd. and Pointerra 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just completed a record-breaking month after recording a stunning 10% monthly gain to end the period at 6,517.8 points.

Unfortunately, not all shares on the index were able to follow the market higher, with some even recording sizeable declines.

Here’s why these were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last month:

Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR)

The Saracen share price was the worst performer on the index last month with a 16.5% decline. Investors were selling gold miners in November after COVID-19 vaccine progress gave investor sentiment a huge boost and led to demand for safe haven assets collapsing. For the same reason, Silver Lake Resources Limited (ASX: SLR), Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST), and Ramelius Resources Limited (ASX: RMS) shares all fell by more than 12.5% last month.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

The Domino’s share price wasn’t far behind with a 12.6% decline in November. This was also triggered by the positive vaccine news. Analysts at Macquarie downgraded the pizza chain operator’s shares to an underperform rating and cut the price target on them to $72.10. Its analysts believe that consumer behaviour will return to normal in 2021 thanks to the vaccine. This could mean the end of Domino’s elevated sales.

Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)

The Super Retail share price was out of form and dropped 11.7% lower during the month. This also appears to have been driven by a broker downgrade. Analysts at Morgans downgraded this retailer’s shares to a hold rating and reduced the price target on them to $11.78. The broker is expecting Super Retail to have a strong holiday period. However, it believes a redirection of spending post-vaccine will slow its growth in 2021.

NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

The NEXTDC share price was a poor performer and tumbled 11.7% lower in November. This data centre operator appears to have been caught up in a tech selloff triggered by the vaccine news. Investors were rotating out of COVID-winners like NEXTDC and into value options. Despite this sizeable decline, the NEXTDC share price is still up a massive 72% in 2020.

More reading

• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares in November
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Why the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price dipped lower today
• ASX 200 drops on Monday
• What Australia’s recovery from the COVID recession means for the Santa Rally

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on fire in November thanks to positive COVID-19 vaccine developments. The benchmark index rose an incredible 10% to end the period at 6,517.8 points.

While the majority of shares on the index climbed higher with the market, some recorded stronger gains than others.

Here’s why these were the best performing ASX 200 shares last month:

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield CDI (ASX: URW)

The Unibail Rodamco Westfield share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 in November with a massive 73.1% gain. Investors were fighting to get hold of the shopping centre operator’s shares thanks to the aforementioned COVID-19 vaccine developments. The launch of a highly effective vaccine sooner than expected could give its struggling Westfield centres around the world a huge lift next year. Despite this incredible gain, the Unibail Rodamco Westfield share price is still down 55% since the start of the year.

Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB)

The Webjet share price wasn’t far behind with a 65.3% gain in November. This was also driven by the vaccine news. The prospect of an effective vaccine being released early next year could mean global travel markets recover far quicker than expected. In addition to this, the reopening of domestic borders also gave its shares a boost. For the same reasons, the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price jumped 52% last month.

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT)

The Beach share price was on form and stormed 49.2% higher last month. Investors were buying Beach and other energy producers after oil prices recovered strongly during the month. With the global economy tipped to recover quicker than anticipated from the pandemic, experts are expecting this to underpin a significant increase in demand for oil. For the same reason, the Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) share price rose 41.6% over the month.

Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK)

The Virgin Money UK share price was a strong performer last month and jumped 40.9%. Investors were fighting to get hold of the UK-based bank’s shares after Pfizer released very positive data from its phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial. Given how bad the situation is in the UK, the possibility of a working vaccine being released by the end of the year has given investor sentiment a huge boost. This offset the release of a very disappointing full year result. For the 12 months ended 30 September, Virgin Money UK posted a 77% decline in full year underlying net profit to 124 million pounds. 

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Why the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price dipped lower today
• ASX 200 drops on Monday
• What Australia’s recovery from the COVID recession means for the Santa Rally
• ASX 200 drops 0.5%: Treasury Wine sinks, Zip flat after AGM update, Bega Cheese rises

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group 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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In this article are three small cap ASX shares rated as buys.

Each of the below businesses have a market capitalisation under $750 million:

Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8)

Audinate is a business that has a market capitalisation of $545 million according to the ASX.

It’s a business that provides the Dante platform, which distributes audio and video signals across computer networks. It boasts of being the leading supplier of digital audio and video networking for the professional AV industry.

In Audinate’s recent FY21 first quarter trading update, it said that it has seen a steady improvement in trading conditions since May. Customer and market segments have been impacted differently. There is “good momentum” in corporate conferencing and higher education, however there are still challenging conditions in live sound and large events because of COVID-19 impacts.

In the first quarter of FY21 it generated revenue of US$5.2 million. It also made AU$0.3 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

The small cap ASX share is liked by fund manager Clime Capital Ltd (ASX: CAM), which said that this update was better than expected. It said that the recent sales resilience reflect the company’s diverse customer base and industry unit volumes are expected to rise significantly in the coming years, with the company likely to capture a lot of this demand because it has an adoption rate that’s eight times higher than the nearest competitor.

Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL)

Sezzle is an ASX-listed, US-based buy now pay later (BNPL) business. According to the ASX, it has a market capitalisation of $1.2 billion.

The company operates in a similar way to other providers. It offers an interest-free instalment plan at online stores and select in-store locations. The purchase is split into four interest-free payments over six weeks, with no fees if the customer pays on time.

In its quarterly update for the three months to 30 September 2020, its underlying merchant sales (UMS) increased by 231.5% year on year to US$228.2 million, or 21.4% quarter on quarter. This translated to merchant fees increasing by 260.6% to US$13 million, or 22.5% quarter on quarter.

Active customers rose 178.1% year on year to almost 1.8 million, whilst active merchants grew 178.3% to 20,890.

The active consumer repeat usage rose by 748 basis points year on year to 89%, this represented a 41 basis points increase quarter on quarter.

The Motley Fool Hidden Gems service still rates Sezzle as a buy as part of a well-diversified portfolio. 

Edward Vesely commented that the growth numbers from the quarter were very impressive. However, the company continues to trade at a high multiple compared to last year’s revenue. He said that whilst that multiple is steep, “if strong growth rates can be maintained, then this multiple will fall drastically. For comparison’s sake, when we recommended Sezzle just over a year ago, the company was valued at a price/revenue multiple of around 50 times. That is, strong growth has seen that multiple reduce, despite a more than tripling of the share price.”

Healthia Ltd (ASX: HLA)

Healthia is an small cap ASX share that is an integrated group of allied health businesses which includes My FootDr (a podiatry business), Allsports Physiotherapy, Extend Rehabilitation, iOrthotics (a 3D printing orthotic devices business) and DBS Medical Supplies (a podiatry equipment business).

In FY20 the company increased its underlying revenue by 40%, its underlying EBITDA grew 47.6% and its underlying net profit grew by 22.7%. Underlying earnings per share (EPS) went up by 19.3%.

The company started paying dividends recently, with a final dividend of 2 cents per share. That represents a grossed-up dividend yield of 2.2%.

It continues to make acquisitions to bolster its network and increase scale. It recently announced the acquisition of an optometry business.

Healthia is currently rated as a buy by the Motley Fool Hidden Gem service.

More reading

• Healthia (ASX:HLA) share price on watch after acquisitions update
• 2 exciting small cap ASX shares to buy
• Fundie names 5 ASX shares with good growth prospects
• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price under pressure by US BNPL giant
• Is the Sezzle (ASX:SZL) share price a buy?

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO, HEALTHIA FPO, and Sezzle Inc. 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 Monday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) started the week on a very disappointing note. The benchmark index sank 1.25% to 6,517.8 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to edge lower.

The Australian share market looks set to start the month in a subdued manner. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 5 points lower this morning. This follows a poor start to the week on Wall Street, which in late trade sees the Dow Jones down 1.2%, the S&P 500 down 0.7%, and the Nasdaq down 0.2%.

Collins Foods half year result.

The Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF) share price will be one to watch this morning when it hands in its half year results. The KFC and Taco Bell operator has been a positive performer during the pandemic and delivered strong sales and earnings growth. Expectations are high for FY 2021, with more of the same being forecast in the first half. Investors will also be keen to see how its European businesses are faring given the rising COVID cases on the continent.

Oil prices tumble lower.

Energy producers such as Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could be under pressure today after oil prices tumbled lower. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 1.6% to US$44.80 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 1.5% to US$47.47 a barrel. Concerns over OPEC’s output plans is weighing on prices.

Moderna COVID vaccine update.

Moderna has revealed new data from its trials which shows that its COVID-19 vaccine is more than 94% effective. In light of this, the company plans to ask the US FDA for emergency clearance. This announcement means that some people in America could get the first doses of its two-dose vaccine within a few weeks.

Gold price continues to fall.

Gold miners including Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could have a tough day after the gold price dropped lower again. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.25% to US$1,784.10 an ounce. This may be due to Moderna’s vaccine update.

More reading

• Why the Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price dipped lower today
• ASX 200 drops on Monday
• What Australia’s recovery from the COVID recession means for the Santa Rally
• ASX 200 drops 0.5%: Treasury Wine sinks, Zip flat after AGM update, Bega Cheese rises
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 on track for a top month

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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