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  • 3 top ASX dividend shares to buy to beat low interest rates

    ASX dividend shares

    Overnight the U.S. Federal Reserve held its monetary policy meeting for June. The central bank kept interest rates on hold at zero and revealed plans for rates to remain at these levels for the next couple of years.

    I expect this to be the case in Australia as well and feel it will be many years until interest rates return to “normal” levels again.

    In light of this, I continue to believe that ASX dividend shares will be the best way to earn a passive income for the foreseeable future.

    But which dividend shares should you buy? Here are three top ASX dividend shares I would buy:

    Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

    I think that this supermarket operator would be a great dividend share to own. This is due to its defensive qualities and positive long term outlook. I believe this has positioned Coles to deliver solid earnings and dividend growth over the next decade whatever the economy throws at it. At present, I estimate that its shares offer a forward fully franked 3.7% dividend yield.

    Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)

    Dicker Data is a wholesale distributor of computer hardware and software. It has consistently grown its earnings and dividends at a solid rate for many years thanks to an increasing number of vendor agreements and solid demand. In FY 2020 the company intends to increase its dividend by 31% to 35.5 cents per share. This represents a 4.5% fully franked dividend yield.

    Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

    A final dividend share to consider buying is Telstra. After several tough years, I believe the telco giant’s outlook is the best it has been in a long time. This is because the NBN headwind will soon start to ease and a return to growth should then be possible. Especially given the positive progress it is making with its T22 strategy. In the meantime, I’m confident that its free cash flow can sustain its 16 cents per share fully franked dividend. This represents a very attractive 4.9% dividend yield.

    5 ASX stocks under $5

    One trick to potentially generating life-changing wealth from the stock market is to buy early-stage growth companies when their share prices still look dirt cheap.

    Motley Fool’s resident tech stock expert Dr. Anirban Mahanti has identified 5 stocks he thinks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $5 a share!

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    Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Dicker Data Limited and Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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.

    The post 3 top ASX dividend shares to buy to beat low interest rates appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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  • Just Eat Takeaway, Grubhub finalizing all-stock deal: RPT

    Just Eat Takeaway, Grubhub finalizing all-stock deal: RPTEurope’s Just Eat Takeaway and Grubhub are finalizing an all-stock deal in which Just Eat Takeaway would pay a small premium to $58 per Grubhub share, according to CNBC. Uber shares tumbled on the news its deal with Grubhub may be in jeopardy. Yahoo Finance’s The Final Round panel breaks down the details.

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  • Is the NAB share price a buy right now?

    NAB bank share price

    Is the National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price a buy right now?

    The major ASX bank has seen its share price go up 31.4% since 22 May 2020. That’s an astonishing return in a short amount of time for such a big business.

    Investors are getting more confident that the Australian economy won’t be harmed by the coronavirus as much as first feared. The overestimation of the cost of jobkeeper is a great example of things looking better than previously expected.

    There is still a lot of economic pain out there. NAB included an $807 million provision for potential COVID-19 impacts in its FY20 half-year result. There’s a reason why investors sent the NAB share price lower. Only time will tell whether that provision was too much or too little.

    NAB has been showing a rising level of loan arrears in recent reports. The 90+ day past due arrears of total loans was 0.71% at the end of FY18, 0.79% in the first half of FY19, 0.93% at the end of FY19 and 0.97% in the recent FY20 half-year result. That’s not a good trend.

    Could the NAB share price still be an opportunity?

    Several weeks ago I thought the NAB share price was cheap if the economy recovered quicker than expected.

    However, the strength of the NAB share price changes the value.

    Low interest rates seem like they’re here to stay. This could cause the NAB net interest margin (NIM) to come under even more pressure. The NAB share price will follow earnings over time.

    I like that NAB is investing in lifting skill levels, according to the Australian Financial Review. I also like the new NAB leadership team.

    Who knows what’s going to happen with the NAB dividend this year? At the moment it has an annualised grossed-up dividend yield of 4.25%. However, if the economy is better than expected then perhaps the final dividend will be larger. I wouldn’t count on big dividends this year though.

    Ultimately, I don’t see much compelling value at the current NAB share price. There are still risks to be wary of.

    I think there are other ASX shares with much more growth potential…

    5 stocks under $5

    We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Altium or Afterpay when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true.

    And while Altium and Afterpay have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $5 a share!

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    Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

    The post Is the NAB share price a buy right now? appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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  • 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

    ASX share

    On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fought back from a heavy decline at the open to record a small gain. The benchmark index rose slightly to 6,148.4 points.

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

    ASX 200 expected to drop lower.

    The ASX 200 looks set to end its winning streak on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the benchmark index is expected to drop 73 points or 1.2% at the open. This follows another mixed night of trade on Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones dropped 1.05%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, and the Nasdaq defied the selling once again with a 0.7% gain.

    Tech shares could rise.

    Although the market is expected to sink lower today, Australian tech shares such as Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) could defy this and push higher. The local tech sector has a habit of following the lead of the Nasdaq index, which stormed higher and closed above 10,000 points for the first time.  

    Oil prices edge higher.

    Energy producers such as Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could be on the rise today after oil prices edged higher. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.3% to US$39.06 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price edged 0.1% to US$41.23 a barrel.

    U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.

    The U.S. Federal Reserve met overnight and kept rates on hold at zero. The central bank also suggested that interest rates will stay at this level until 2022. However, the U.S. Fed is not done with supporting the economy through the pandemic. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell commented: “What we’re thinking about is providing support for the economy. We think this is going to take some time.”

    Gold price jumps.

    Gold miners including Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) could be pushing higher today after the gold price jumped. According to CNBC, the spot gold price rose 1.4% to US$1,746.30 an ounce after dovish comments by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

    5 ASX stocks under $5

    One trick to potentially generating life-changing wealth from the stock market is to buy early-stage growth companies when their share prices still look dirt cheap.

    Motley Fool’s resident tech stock expert Dr. Anirban Mahanti has identified 5 stocks he thinks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $5 a share!

    Learn More

    *  Extreme Opportunities returns as of June 5th 2020

    More reading

    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 owns shares of Appen 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.

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

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  • Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NAK)

    Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NAK)Before we spend countless hours researching a company, we like to analyze what insiders, hedge funds and billionaire investors think of the stock first. This is a necessary first step in our investment process because our research has shown that the elite investors' consensus returns have been exceptional. In the following paragraphs, we find out […]

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  • Pandemic Turns Simon’s Mall-Merger Math Upside-Down

    Pandemic Turns Simon’s Mall-Merger Math Upside-Down(Bloomberg Opinion) — Malls have been falling out of favor with Americans for years. But the calculus surrounding which have the best chances of surviving and which are destined for decline was flipped on its head by the coronavirus pandemic. That helps explain the news on Wednesday that mall giant Simon Property Group Inc. wants to call off its planned purchase of Taubman Centers Inc.A portfolio of higher-end malls in urban areas that cater to domestic and international tourism was one reason Simon agreed to pay a 70% premium for rival Taubman in February. Those same outposts are now a liability as the pandemic turns consumers off from crowded indoor venues and grinds travel to a halt. And that may give Simon the argument it needs to successfully walk away from the merger. Simon said Wednesday it’s seeking to terminate the $3.6 billion deal, arguing that Taubman had experienced a “material adverse event” amid the pandemic and had breached its obligations under the merger agreement by failing to make “essential” cuts in expenses to deal with the fallout. While the agreement stipulates that a pandemic doesn’t on its own give Simon the grounds to walk away, there’s an exception if the company can prove Taubman has experienced a “disproportionate adverse effect” relative to others in the industry. That’s where those higher-end, urban malls come into play.  While the pandemic is far from over, there appears to be a growing consensus among epidemiologists that outdoor activities are less risky than indoor ones. The owners of the largest open-air strip centers collected 50% to 65% or more of rent due in April, compared to just 10% to 30% for mall and outlet owners, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Lindsay Dutch observed in a recent note. It also helps that many of those strip centers are anchored by grocery stores or other outlets that were allowed to stay open through the pandemic because they sell essential items. CNBC reported that Taubman intends to contest Simon's termination of the deal and legal claims and will move ahead with a shareholder vote on June 25.Is this short-sighted? Maybe. The idea that we are forever destined to favor strip malls in suburban areas over luxury malls in cities strikes me as debatable. Indeed, Simon shares fell nearly 10% at one point on Wednesday and were still down about 3% in the early afternoon, suggesting shareholders believe something is being lost here. As my colleague Tara Lachapelle wrote in February when the deal was first announced, scale of operations and breadth of balance sheet should be an asset in mall owners’ quest for survival.But it’s still the right move for Simon to get out of the Taubman combination if it can. The all-cash deal and assumption of Taubman’s debt would have significantly inflated Simon’s leverage at the worst possible time, given the company’s own struggles to extract rent from shuttered retailers. Simon earlier this month sued Gap Inc., claiming the company failed to pay $65.9 million in rent for March through June. Including the coronavirus hit to the retail environment, the deal may have boosted Simon’s debt to 7.5 times its Ebitda, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Ki Bin Kim estimated in a report on Wednesday.Simon’s argument for getting out of the deal is logical “in the court of common sense,” Bin Kim wrote. But in the court of law, “we don’t know.” The second half of Simon’s argument — that Taubman has breached the covenants of the merger agreement by failing to make significant cost-cuts — is arguably trickier. While Simon has said it’s suspended or eliminated more than $1 billion of capital development projects, cut executive salaries and implemented temporary furloughs, Taubman has been more measured, announcing the deferral of as much as $110 million of expenditures. But aggressive job cuts and cost-control measures by Taubman could have given Simon more ground to argue the business was in a disproportionately dire situation, Bin Kim writes. “It could have been one of those things that `you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t,’” he said. That should be something of a motto for a mall industry that feels perpetually stuck on the wrong side of trends. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Brooke Sutherland is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies. She previously wrote an M&A column for Bloomberg News.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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  • Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Sorrentto Therapeutics Inc (SRNE)

    Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Sorrentto Therapeutics Inc (SRNE)In this article we will check out the progression of hedge fund sentiment towards Sorrentto Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRNE) and determine whether it is a good investment right now. We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before spending days of research on it. Given their 2 and […]

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  • I Ran A Stock Scan For Earnings Growth And Wall Financial (TSE:WFC) Passed With Ease

    I Ran A Stock Scan For Earnings Growth And Wall Financial (TSE:WFC) Passed With EaseLike a puppy chasing its tail, some new investors often chase 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story…

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  • The Fed just ensured that mortgage rates will stay low

    The Fed just ensured that mortgage rates will stay lowThe central bank sees no rate hikes through 2022. Here's what that means for mortgages.

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  • Why Fed decision provides a ‘bit of comfort’ for fixed income investors: Expert

    Why Fed decision provides a 'bit of comfort' for fixed income investors: ExpertNuveen Head of Fixed Income Strategy Tony Rodriguez joins Yahoo Finance’s Heidi Chung to discuss the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates steady at near-zero.

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