Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) and New Hope Corp Ltd (ASX: NHC) shares don’t have much in common.

After all, one is an S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) buy now, pay later (BNPL) stock while the other is an ASX 200 coal stock.

One thing they do have in common is their strong outperformance today.

In morning trade on Tuesday, the ASX 200 is down 0.5%.

New Hope shares, on the other hand, are up 2.9%, changing hands for $6.46 each. And Zip shares are soaring 4.3%, trading for $2.19 apiece.

Zip shares look to be getting a boost today after the company announced that, in line with its 20 August announcement, Zip commenced the on-market share buyback of up to $50 million worth of its shares on Monday.

As for New Hope, the coal miner released its FY 2026 results this morning.

New Hope reported a full year net profit after tax (NPAT) of $161 million. And management declared a fully franked final dividend of 30 cents per share, up from last year’s final passive income payout of 15 cents per share.

That’s this week’s price action.

Now, if you’d invested $10,000 in both ASX 200 stocks three years ago, here’s what you’d have today.

(As for our benchmark, the ASX 200 has gained 19.5% since 15 September 2023.)

New Hope share gains driven by dividends

Three years ago, New Hope shares were trading for $6.22 apiece.

So, for $10,000 you could have bought 1,607 shares in the ASX 200 coal miner.

At today’s $6.46, you could sell those same shares for $10,381.

While that’s not much of a capital gain over three years, we haven’t factored in the New Hope dividends yet.

We can’t count the 30 cent per share final dividend declared today, as you’d need to own the stock at market close this Friday to be eligible for that passive income payout.

But if you’d owned the coal miner for the past three years you would have received the past six fully franked dividend totalling $1.13 a share.

If we add that back in to today’s share price, then the accumulated value of the New Hope shares you bought for $10,000 three years ago is now worth $7.59 each.

And those 1,607 shares are worth an accumulated $12,197.

Zip shares strong rebound from post pandemic beating

Unlike New Hope shares, Zip shares were beaten down badly by 15 September 2023, trading for just 32 cents each.

For $10,000, then, you could have picked up 31,250 shares in the ASX 200 BNPL stock.

Now, Zip doesn’t pay any dividends.

But at today’s $2.19 share price, those 31,250 shares are worth a cool $68,438.

How about in 2026?

It’s a vastly different story in 2026.

Year to date Zip shares remain down 34% while New Hope shares have surged 61% and paid an interim dividend.

The post $10,000 invested in Zip and New Hope shares 3 years ago is now worth… appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• New Hope shares near 52-week high. Here’s what stood out in the result
• New Hope reveals major 2026 coal resource increases
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Energy shares rose while the ASX 200 slumped last week. Here’s why
• Zip shares crash another 11% this week: What is going on?

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Woolworths vs Coles shares: Which supermarket player deserves a place in your portfolio?

Both Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) have become household names for Aussies when it comes to grocery shopping. If you’re considering these supermarket heavyweights for the dividend income they’re known for, you might be weighing up Woolworths vs Coles shares. Let’s unpack how these rivals stack up on yield, value, and recent performance.

The case for Woolworths Group

Woolworths Group stands as one of Australia’s largest retail companies, with a strong presence in the supermarket sector across Australia and New Zealand. The company also owns the Big W discount department store chain and several supermarket brands in New Zealand. Woolworths is known for its defensive qualities, as consumers continue to spend on essentials like food and toiletries even during economic downturns.

Looking at the numbers, Woolworths commands a massive market cap of $47.34 billion, making it the larger of the two by some margin. Its shares sport a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 41.62 and an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.925. For income seekers, Woolworths is fully franked and has a current dividend yield of 2.52%. The group has shown robust YTD (year-to-date) returns of 34.34%.

On dividends, Woolworths has a reliable habit, paying fully franked dividends for decades. Its latest final dividend was $0.52 per share, paid in September 2026, and there was also a $0.45 interim earlier in the year.

The case for Coles Group

Coles Group is another major force in Aussie retail, providing groceries, household goods, liquor, and more — in-store and online. The business was previously part of Wesfarmers, but became its own ASX-listed company again in 2018. Coles operates over 900 supermarkets and also has Coles Express and Coles Liquor, though it sold off its fuel and convenience division to focus on core retailing.

Coles comes in with a $31.48 billion market cap, making it smaller than Woolworths but still a market leader by any measure. It trades at a lower P/E of 28.61 and offers a dividend yield of 3.36%, notably higher than Woolworths. Like its rival, Coles dividends are fully franked, and its current EPS is $0.812. The year-to-date return stands at 11.99%.

Dividend consistency is strong, with regular half-yearly payments. The latest final dividend was $0.37 per share (paid September 2026), with a $0.41 interim earlier in the year, all fully franked.

Valuation comparison

Here’s how some key stats line up side by side:

Metric	Woolworths	Coles
Market Cap	$47.34b	$31.48b
P/E Ratio	41.62	28.61
Dividend Yield	2.52%	3.36%
Earnings per Share	$0.925	$0.812
YTD Return	34.34%	11.99%
Franking	100%	100%

Woolworths is the much larger company, with stronger recent share price appreciation, but Coles stands out for its lower valuation and bigger dividend yield.

Recent share price performance

Please note: these prices reflect the close on 14 September 2026, not live data.

– Woolworths closed at $38.75, having rallied strongly throughout 2026. Its YTD return is an impressive 34.34%.
– Coles closed at $23.44, with a 2026 YTD return of 11.99%.

Over recent weeks, both shares have experienced typical market ups and downs, but Woolworths has shown more significant price momentum than Coles.

Which is the better buy?

If I had to pick between Woolworths and Coles right now, my nod goes to Coles. Here’s why: the dividend yield is meaningfully higher at 3.36% compared to Woolworths’s 2.52%, so if I’m chasing income, Coles is immediately more appealing — and both offer fully franked dividends, making income even sweeter for Aussie shareholders.

Coles also trades on a much lower P/E, hinting that Woolworths’s current valuation is pretty stretched, especially after that bumper 34% YTD gain. While Woolworths’s share price run is impressive, it leaves less room for error and less compelling value. Coles looks relatively steady and offers more bang for buck on the dividend front, which matters most to yield-focused investors.

Woolworths still boasts market leadership and a reputation for resilience, but today, I reckon Coles is the supermarket share with the greater value and income edge.

The post Woolworths vs Coles: Which supermarket giant is the better ASX buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Buy, hold, sell: Echo IQ, James Hardie, Woolworths shares
• Worried about a recession? These ASX shares would be just fine
• Experts name CBA and these big-name ASX 200 shares as sells this week
• How to build a superannuation portfolio generating $50,000 a year
• Where to invest $5,000 into ASX dividend shares

Motley Fool contributor Laura Stewart has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial draft. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.

The Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) I would be comfortable owning for a very long time.

It provides broad exposure to international share markets in a single investment, which can make it a simple way to add global growth to a portfolio.

Here are three reasons I think it is a buy.

Broad global diversification

One of the biggest attractions of the VGS ETF is just how much exposure investors get through one fund.

It invests across developed markets outside Australia, giving investors access to companies in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Europe, and other major economies.

That means an investor is not relying on the performance of one country or a small collection of businesses.

I think this can be particularly valuable for Australians whose other investments are already concentrated locally.

The Australian share market has plenty of strong companies, but many of the world’s largest healthcare, industrial, technology, consumer, and financial businesses are based elsewhere.

The Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF makes it easy to participate in those opportunities without having to open an overseas brokerage account or research dozens of individual companies.

Exposure to global leaders

The VGS ETF owns some of the world’s most successful businesses.

Its portfolio includes companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, alongside over a thousand other businesses operating across many industries.

I like that because investors can benefit if today’s leading companies continue expanding, without having to decide which individual stock will ultimately perform best.

The portfolio also changes naturally over time. Companies that become more valuable can grow into larger positions in the underlying index, while businesses that lose ground become less influential.

Over a long holding period, I think that is attractive. The fund can continue evolving alongside global markets without investors having to constantly rebuild their portfolio themselves.

It is easy to keep adding

The third reason I like the VGS ETF is its simplicity.

There is no need to wait for the perfect stock idea every time new money becomes available.

An investor can buy more units and immediately spread that money across a large collection of international businesses. That can make regular investing much easier.

I would still expect volatility. Global share markets will go through recessions, bear markets, changing interest rates, and periods when valuations become stretched.

Currency movements can also influence returns for Australian investors.

But for someone investing over 10 years or longer, I think those short-term fluctuations are a reasonable price to pay for access to global economic and corporate growth.

Foolish takeaway

I think the VGS ETF gets a lot right without making investing unnecessarily complicated.

It gives investors exposure to a wide range of countries and industries, includes many of the world’s strongest companies, and can be easily added to over time.

For me, those qualities make the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF one of the ASX ETFs I would be happy to buy and hold for the long term.

The post 3 reasons to buy the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares (VGS) ETF appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Vanguard ETFs vs. Betashares ETFs: Who’s coming out on top?
• Why I’d buy this ETF instead of picking 20 ASX shares
• Which ASX ETFs could be top picks for beginner investors?
• Could a $1 million superannuation balance provide $50,000 a year in retirement?
• Are these top Vanguard ETFs still a buy in September?

Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.