Tag: Motley Fool Australia

The Oz Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price rose 4.24% to $13.53 on Wednesday following the release of the company’s quarterly report.

What was in the announcement?

In the second quarter of 2020, Oz Minerals produced 24,577 tonnes of copper at an all-in sustaining cost of US 50.5 cents per pound. The company lifted its financial year 2020 production guidance from 83,000-100,000 tonnes of copper to 88,000-105,000 tonnes.

Oz Minerals produced 68,740 ounces of gold in the second quarter of the 2020 financial year. It also lifted its financial year 2020 production guidance from 207,000-234,000 ounces of gold to 227,000-249,000 ounces.

The company had $15 million in net cash (unaudited) at 30 June and had a $480 million revolving credit facility. During the quarter, Oz Minerals repaid $50 million in debt and invested $30 million in its Carapateena asset. 

The company did not undertake any significant exploration during the quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic.

About the Oz Minerals share price

Oz Minerals is a copper and gold producer with assets in Australia, South America and Sweden.

In June, the company released a scoping study that suggested there was potential to improve shareholder value at its Carapateena asset. This was based on a pre-feasibility study that was also released. The Carapateena ore reserves were updated to 220 million tonnes at 1.1% copper, 3,100,000 ounces of gold at .44 grams per tonne and 31,000,000 ounces of silver at 4.5 grams per tonne.

Also in June, Oz Minerals announced it had acquired Cassini Resources. This took its ownership in the West Musgrave project to 100%. Oz Minerals paid with scrip in the form of one Oz Minerals share for every 68.5 Cassini Resources shares. Additionally, Oz Minerals may have to pay up to $20 million cash to Cassini shareholders if it sells the West Musgrave project for a higher value in the future. Two other projects held by Cassini were spun off into another company with shares given to Cassini shareholders.

The Oz Minerals share price is up 132% from its 52-week low of $5.83. It has risen 27.88% since the beginning of the year and is up 32.52% since this time last year.

More reading

• The ASX sector that’s heading for a V-shape recovery
• Macquarie picks ASX stocks that can deliver positive earnings surprises next month
• Why the IGO share price could outperform other ASX stocks on this gloomy day
• The latest ASX stocks to be upgraded by brokers to “buy”

Motley Fool contributor Chris Chitty 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) fell 1.3% today to 6,075 points.

Australia recorded the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases today, with another 484 new cases in Victoria. There were also 16 new cases in New South Wales.

Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) share price glitters

The Resolute Mining share price jumped 12.9% after the company announced its quarterly activities report.

The company saw total quarterly gold production of 107,183 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of US$1,033 per ounce.

An updated life of mine plan for the Mako mine saw 39% more gold and an extra two years of mine life.

The resources business had US$88 million of cash and bullion at 30 June 2020.

The ASX 200 gold miner maintained its FY20 guidance of 430,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of US$980 ounces.

Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN) sales are booming

The baby product retailer announced a June 2020 update today. The Baby Bunting share price rose 11.1% in response.

The company said that in the second half of FY20 it achieved comparable store sales growth of 10.5%, with full year comparable store sales growth of 4.9%. Online sales grew by 39% and made up 14.5% of FY20’s total sales.

Baby Bunting achieved total sales of approximately $405 million, this represents growth of around 12% compared to the prior corresponding period.

Management expect a gross profit margin of 36.2%, an improvement of 120 basis points compared to FY19.

Statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) is expected to be between $9.5 million to $10.5 million. In FY19 it generated $11.6 million of NPAT when restated for AASB 16. However, this FY20 reported profit includes employee equity incentive expenses, significant transformation project expenses and the impairment of the carrying value of the company’s investment in its digital commerce technologies.

Pro forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is expected to be between $33 million to $34 million, up between 22% to 25%.

Pro forma NPAT is expected to be between $18.5 million to $19.5 million – this is growth of 29% to 35% compared to FY19.

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price rises

The ASX 200 oil and gas business released its fourth quarter activities report today.

Fourth quarter production was 6.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), bringing the full year production to 26.7 MMboe, an increase of 2% on FY19’s pro forma figure.

The effects of COVID-19 hurt the pace of new well connections and gas demand during the quarter, resulting in FY20 production being 1% below guidance.

The FY20 fourth quarter sales revenue of $320 million was 26% lower than the last quarter, largely because of lower oil prices. The price was $46.90 per barrel, which was down 37%.

FY20 capital expenditure of $863 million was lower than the lower end of its guidance. This was in response to lower oil prices. It is also reducing its operating costs.

Beach ended FY20 with $50 million of net cash.

FY21 guidance will be released with its FY20 result, but FY20 underlying EBITDA is expected to be marginally below prior guidance of $1.175 billion. Lower oil prices, COVID-19 impacts on production and exploration costs were the main causes of the lower profit.

Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING) closes a factory due to COVID-19

The ASX 200 poultry business has announced that five employees at its Thomastown processing plant in Victoria have tested positive for COVID-19. Therefore the site has been temporarily closed.

The company said that contingency plans have been in place for a number of months. It will work with customers to minimise supply chain disruptions.

Inghams doesn’t expect the temporary closure to materially impact the FY21 result.

More reading

• Top brokers list the latest ASX small cap stocks to buy today
• The ASX sector that’s heading for a V-shape recovery
• QBE share price rises despite expected half year loss
• Are ASX tech shares in a bubble?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to buy today

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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Do you have $1,000 to invest into ASX shares? I think there are still several investment opportunities on the ASX, we just have to be more picky than a few months ago when the COVID-19 selloff caused there to be lots of good value opportunities.

But I still think there are some wonderful investment ASX share ideas if you have $1,000 to invest today:

Exchange-traded fund (ETF)

BetaShares Global Quality Leaders ETF (ASX: QLTY)

I think it’s worthwhile investing in quality companies during this difficult COVID-19 period. This ETF only invests in businesses which rank highly on return on equity (ROE), debt to capital, cash flow generation ability and earnings stability metrics.

This ETF costs a bit more than the cheapest ETFs out there, but its annual fee is still only 0.35%. It has performed very strongly since inception in November 2018, returning an average 19.76% per annum after fees.

Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance, but quality usually does well over time. Its current top holdings are shares like Nvidia, Apple, Adobe, Accenture, Alphabet and L’Oreal.

Growth shares 

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

I think Pushpay is a great ASX growth share. It’s one of the businesses that is seeing accelerated growth due to the unfortunate circumstances. Its an electronic donation business that helps facilitate digital giving. At the moment most of its current earnings and potential growth is from the large and medium church sector in the US.

Pushpay now expects that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and foreign currency (EBITDAF) will at least double in FY21. That would be impressive after the strong FY20 result.

It’s the rising profit margins and long-term growth runway that make me particularly excited about the company. The Pushpay share price has dropped back over the past couple of weeks to be better value.

Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB)

Bubs is another exciting ASX growth share in my opinion. It’s riding the infant formula wave of demand from Asia. It specialises in goat milk products, which is seeing rapidly rising demand from countries like Vietnam and China.

As long as there aren’t any more trade disputes between Australia and China, I think Bubs has a good chance of delivering a lot of revenue growth and an improving gross profit margin over the next five years.

Bubs was cashflow positive in the quarter ending 31 March 2020. This bodes well for profitability in FY21.

I’d be very happy to buy Bubs shares at the current price. 

An eternal investment house

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

Soul Patts has been listed in Australia since 1903. There are very few ASX shares in Australia that can point to that type of long-term history.

An investment conglomerate has a major advantage to most other businesses because it can alter its investment holdings over time. Being able to shift towards new growth opportunities – and divest old ones – is much better than being stuck as something in a low growth environment like a bank or telco.

I like to invest in ASX shares that I can see myself holding for many years. I want to minimise capital gains tax events and transaction costs as much as possible. Soul Patts definitely counts as a long-term idea. 

The current Soul Patts share price is still down more than 10% compared to its February 2020 high. I think it’s a good time to buy shares for the long-term.

Listed investment companies and trusts

Magellan High Conviction Trust (ASX: MHH)

This listed investment trust (LIT) is run by Hamish Douglass and his well-respected investment team. The trust only invests in businesses that it has a high conviction in, hence the name. There are quality shares on the ASX, but many of the world’s best blue chips are listed overseas.

Names like Alibaba, Alphabet, Microsoft, Tencent and Facebook feature in they trust’s holdings. Those names have extremely strong economic moats. I’m not sure you could displace those businesses even if you were given $50 billion to try to do it.

At the current Magellan High Conviction Trust share price it’s trading at a 5.6% discount to the net tangible assets (NTA) per share.

WCM Global Growth Ltd (ASX: WQG)

This ASX share is a listed investment company (LIC) that aims to invest in businesses with strengthening economic moats. One of the main measures of this is improvement is a rising return on invested capital. For investment manager WCM, the direction of the ‘moat’ is more important than the size of the moat.

The LIC has performed strongly, its investment portfolio has returned an average of around 20% per annum, after fees, over the past three years.

At the end of June 2020 some of its largest positions included internet and ecommerce related shares like Shopify, Tencent and MercadoLibre.

WCM Global Growth’s share price is trading at a 13% discount to the pre-tax net tangible assets (NTA) at 17 July 2020.

Foolish takeaway

I really like each of the above shares. If I had $6,000 then I’d love to invest $1,000 into all six of them. At the current prices I think WCM Global Growth, Bubs and Pushpay are the three most likely to deliver the best returns over the next five years, so they would be the ones I’d go for first.

More reading

• 3 of the best mid cap ASX shares you can buy right now
• Here are two ASX shares I’ve recently bought
• 3 Warren Buffett dividend shares you can buy today
• The smartest ASX shares to buy if you have $2,000
• My top 5 ASX growth shares to buy in FY 2021

Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited and WCM Global Growth Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BUBS AUST FPO and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. 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.

The post Got $1,000? You should buy 1 of these 6 ASX shares appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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The Tinybeans Group Ltd (ASX: TNY) share price has been one to watch following its June quarterly report release. The ASX tech share reached 96 cents by the close, an increase of 6.1% for the day.

What is Tinybeans?

Tinybeans is a free social media platform developed in Australia and targeted to parents globally who want to share photos and videos of their children within a secure community. The company’s platform is designed to boost online safety by creating a contained, invite-only environment. This allows parents to upload photos and videos of their kids and securely share the content within an approved network.

How did Tinybeans perform in the fourth quarter?

Tinybeans performed very well in the fourth quarter despite the negative impacts of COVID-19. This was seen as users increased by 39%, compared to the prior corresponding period, to reach 4.65 million. Monthly active users also grew to over 3.7 million, an increase of over 160,000 new active users.

Strong performance across the board saw revenues for Q4 reach a record high of $2.36 million, an increase of 93% on the prior year. This record result, however, was adversely affected by reduced advertising spend and the deferment of key campaigns. Also, Tinybeans has $4.3 million in forward booked contracts which, by comparison, is 300% higher than 12 months earlier. This was significantly aided by the successful integration of the Red Tricycle operations.

Another highlight for the company was new advertising wins with great brands including Amazon, Apple, Penguin Random House, General Mills and YouTube Kids. Tinybeans recorded cash receipts of $1.93 million for the quarter with cash burn of $582,000, not including loans from the United States. Tinybeans’ cash balance sits at $5.22 million.

Tinybeans CEO, Eddie Geller, spoke of the results saying: “I’m pleased to report that we delivered strong growth for the quarter despite COVID disruptions to our operations and our brand partners. Despite market conditions, the platform saw an increase in new member sign ups and engagements as ‘stay at home orders’ across the US encouraged more interaction across the platforms.”

What’s next for this ASX share?

This quarterly report is much needed good news for the ASX micro cap. Its share price has been plummeting in 2020, down 57% for the year. However, while advertisers in the US have begun to resume spending, there is still some uncertainty in relation to the pace at which spending will recover. Tinybeans investors will be hoping for a faster than expected recovery to the pandemic to get this spending back on track.

More reading

• How you can take advantage of the surging Australian dollar
• 3 of the best mid cap ASX shares you can buy right now
• Why I would buy these fully franked ASX dividend shares
• Top brokers list the latest ASX small cap stocks to buy today
• Is the BHP share price in the buy zone?

Daniel Ewing has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Tinybeans Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Tinybeans Group 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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One of the more surprising pieces of news this week has been the advance of our proud national currency – the Australian dollar. The Aussie dollar has been on rather a wild rollercoaster in 2020 so far. It started the year off trading for around 70 US cents. Between January and late February, it slid slightly, going down to around 66 US cents. But then, the March coronavirus market crash came, and our dollar was obliterated, first falling below 60 US cents and bottoming out at 55.1 US cents on 19 March. It was the first time since 2002 that our dollar had sunk to these levels.

We won’t go into too much detail as to why this happened. But in a nutshell, the Australian dollar is regarded as a ‘risky’ currency on global markets due to our economy’s dependence on mineral exports and ties with China. When a market panic occurs (as it did in March), traders tend to rush out of risky currencies like the Aussie and into ‘safe’ currencies like the US dollar.

However, since March, the Australian dollar has recovered very convincingly. By the end of March, it was back above 60 US cents and above 65 by the end of April. Fast forward to this week and the Aussie dollar has reached its highest level since April 2019 – trading as high as 71.41 US cents earlier in the week. It was going for 71.33 US cents at the time of writing.

It’s not just the US dollar that the Aussie has been gaining on either. The Australian dollar is also at its highest level in almost a year against the United Kingdom’s Pound Sterling. At the time of writing, 1 Australian dollar is buying 56 British pence, a level not seen since September last year.

What a high dollar means for ASX shares

Understanding how exchange rates affect the economy is key to benefitting from a high currency. When a currency appreciates, it raises the cost of exporting goods from an economy, whilst simultaneously lowering the cost of imports.

By this logic, companies that are in the exporting game are the losers from this situation. Miners like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) come to mind, as do A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) and Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE). It’s also bad news for any company that brings its earnings home in US dollars. I’m thinking of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) here.

But conversely, a strong Aussie dollar is good news for any companies that import their goods, services or materials into Australia. ASX retailers like JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH), Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV), Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1) and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) will likely see a shot of oxygen.

How can investors take advantage of a high Australian dollar?

So, how can we invest to take advantage of the strong Aussie dollar, which may not last forever in the current economic climate? Well, checking out the companies named above is a good start. But it might also be worth considering investing in internationally-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

It is now relatively cheaper (on a currency basis) to buy these investments than it was when our dollar was fetching 60 or 55 US cents. The iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) tracks most of the largest companies over in the US like Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.com. With a management fee of just 0.04%, it could be a perfect investment for this trend. You can also check out the BetaShares FTSE 100 ETF (ASX: F100), which tracks the 100 largest UK-listed companies like BP, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC Bank and British American Tobacco. 

Foolish takeaway

Currency shouldn’t be a major contributor to choosing ASX shares for your portfolio. But with the dollar at these highs, it still might be advantageous to have a second look at any of the shares and investments listed above.

More reading

• Is the BHP share price in the buy zone?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to buy today
• BHP’s share price tumbles with this other ASX miner after being hit by broker downgrades
• Why Afterpay, BHP, Cann, & Mesoblast shares are tumbling lower
• Are you ready to invest in ASX shares?

Sebastian Bowen 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 Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Premier Investments Limited and Treasury Wine Estates Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. 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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In the mid cap space I believe there are a good number of shares that have the potential to grow strongly over the next decade, potentially generating market-beating returns for shareholders.

Three which I think would be great options for long-term focused investors are listed below:

Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS)

Bravura is a $1,1 billion provider of software solutions for the wealth management, life insurance, and funds administration industries. I think it is one of the best options in the mid cap space right now. This is due its positive long term growth outlook thanks to the quality and potential of its popular Sonata wealth management platform. In addition to this, the company has bolstered its offering over the last 12 months with the acquisitions of Midwinter and FinoComp. These businesses are expected to open the company up to new and lucrative markets.

Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB)

Bubs is a $550 million goat’s milk-focused infant formula and baby food company. I think it is well-positioned for growth over the next decade thanks to its growing presence online in China and in supermarkets and pharmacies across Australia. The latter has been boosted materially in recent months with increasing shelf space in Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) stores for both its goat’s milk and new cow’s milk infant formula ranges. Another big positive is that Bubs finally appears to have reached a scale which will make its operations more and more profitable over the coming years. All in all, I think the Bubs share price has the potential to smash the market over the 2020s.

Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF)

A final option to consider is $1.1 billion quick service restaurant operator Collins Foods. It is one of the largest operators in the ANZ region with 240 KFC stores in Australia, 40 KFC stores in Europe, 12 Taco Bell across Queensland and Victoria, and 75 franchised Sizzler restaurants around Asia. I believe the company’s Australian and European operations still have a long runway for growth and expect their expansions to underpin solid earnings growth over the next decade.

More reading

• The smartest ASX shares to buy if you have $2,000
• 2 top ASX tech shares to buy right now
• 4 ASX shares I’d buy with $4,000
• Want to beat the market? Try these 3 ASX growth shares
• 4 ASX shares I’d buy to protect against a recession

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Collins Foods Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bravura Solutions Ltd and BUBS AUST FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Collins Foods 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.

The post 3 of the best mid cap ASX shares you can buy right now appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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If you’re on the lookout for quality fully franked dividends then you’re in luck. Despite the many suspensions and deferrals, there are still a good number of fully franked options for investors to choose from.

Two ASX dividend shares that offer generous fully franked dividends are listed below. Here’s why I like them:

Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)

The first fully franked ASX dividend share to buy is Dicker Data. It is a leading wholesale distributor of computer hardware and software in the ANZ region. Dicker Data has been growing at a very strong rate in recent years thanks to a combination of strong demand, new vendor agreements, and favourable industry tailwinds.

The good news is that it is showing no signs of slowing and is on course to deliver another record result in FY 2020. So much so, the Dicker Data board revealed that it intends to increase its dividend by 31% to 35.5 cents per share this year. Based on the current Dicker Data share price, this represents a very generous 5% fully franked dividend yield.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

I think this conglomerate could be a dividend share to buy. I expect Wesfarmers shares to be strong performers over the coming years thanks to the positive outlook of many of its businesses and potential earnings accretive acquisitions. Among its quality brands you’ll find Bunnings, Kmart, and Target, as well as ecommerce company Catch Group. Given how rapidly online shopping is growing right now, the acquisition of the Catch business last year looks like a masterstroke.

Looking ahead, I estimate that the company will be in a position to pay a dividend of $1.46 per share in FY 2021. Based on the current Wesfarmers share price, this equates to a fully franked 3.2% dividend yield. While this is not the biggest yield on the ASX, it still smashes those on offer with term deposits and savings accounts.

More reading

• How mandatory masks could impact these ASX shares
• These ASX 200 consumer discretionary shares are bucking the economic cycle
• You probably shop at these 7 ASX retailers. Should you buy shares in them too?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Blue chip shares pull ASX 200 back over 6,000 points
• Cash rate on hold until 2022? Buy these ASX dividend shares

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. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers 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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ASX small cap stocks are holding up better than their larger counterparts during the Wednesday sell-off with top brokers picking their latest buy ideas for the sector.

The S&P/ASX SMALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXSO) slipped 0.8% into the red ahead of the market close when the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) tumbled 1.5%.

Well furnished

One small cap that’s helping hold up the Small Ordinaries is the Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK) share price.

Shares in the furniture retailer jumped 2.4% to $6.73 in late afternoon trade after Citigroup named it as one of its top picks in the small cap retail sector.

The broker believes it will outperform its peers this calendar year given that the scaled back JobKeeper isn’t expected to make much of a dent on sales.  Most of Nick Scali’s customers are upper to middle income households who are unlikely to qualify for the wage supplement.

Further, demand for furniture could be buoyed by the federal government’s homebuilder grant and  COVID-19 social restrictions.

Citi rates the stock a “buy” with a price target of $8.20 a share.

Fund times ahead

Another small cap that’s bucking the downtrend is the Mainstream Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: MAI) share price.

The stock rallied 1.6% to $0.62 after Morgans reiterated its “add” recommendation on the funds management services business following the release its quarterly update.

“FUA [funds under advice] for the quarter (A$197bn) was up 5% sequentially and 14% on the pcp (A$173bn),” said the broker.

“The quarterly lift in FUA (A$10bn) was broadly evenly split between net inflows and market movements (A$4bn-A$5bn each).”

The broker’s 12-month price target on the stock is $0.74 a share.

Good for tougher times

Meanwhile, the Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) share price became the latest buy idea from JP Morgan.

The broker moved the debt collector to “overweight” (meaning “buy”) recommendation as it believes Credit Corp is well placed to benefit from increasing arrears.

“While CCP’s near-term outlook has some uncertainties, particularly with regards to capital allocation, we remain confident in management’s ability to allocate capital to maximize shareholder returns,” said JP Morgan.

“Australian PDL [purchase debt ledger] business never having been in a better strategic position than right now.”

The broker’s 12-month price target is $20 a share.

More reading

• The ASX sector that’s heading for a V-shape recovery
• QBE share price rises despite expected half year loss
• Are ASX tech shares in a bubble?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to buy today
• BHP’s share price tumbles with this other ASX miner after being hit by broker downgrades

Brendon Lau has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of MainstreamBPO Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Top brokers list the latest ASX small cap stocks to buy today appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price has come under pressure on Wednesday and dropped lower.

In afternoon trade the mining giant’s shares have fallen over 3% to $37.59.

Is this a buying opportunity?

One leading broker that sees the BHP share price weakness as a buying opportunity is Ord Minnett.

This morning the broker retained its accumulate rating and $42.00 price target. This price target implies potential upside of almost 12% for its shares over the next 12 months.

If you add dividends into the equation, this potential return stretches to upwards of ~16%.

According to the note, BHP’s iron ore production and shipments came in ahead of the broker’s forecasts during the June quarter. Though, the average price realised of US$77.36 a tonne, was a touch short of expectations.

Looking ahead, the broker feels that the mining giant’s iron ore production guidance of 244 Mt to 253 Mt and shipments guidance of 276 Mt to 286 Mt for FY 2021 might prove too conservative.

In light of this and strong iron ore prices, the broker sees potential upside risk to its earnings estimates for the year ahead.

Combined with its favourable commodity mix, attractive valuation, and outlook, it continues with its positive rating on the company’s shares.

Should you invest?

I agree with Ord Minnett and would be a buyer of BHP’s shares right now.

While I also like Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), BHP remains my preferred pick due to the diversification of its operations, its strong balance sheet, and its growth opportunities.

Another positive is its dividend yield. The consensus estimate is for a fully franked dividend yield of over 4% in FY 2021. However, if iron ore prices remain strong, I suspect this yield could be even more generous.

More reading

• BHP’s share price tumbles with this other ASX miner after being hit by broker downgrades
• Why Afterpay, BHP, Cann, & Mesoblast shares are tumbling lower
• Are you ready to invest in ASX shares?
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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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I try to regularly invest into ASX shares. At least once a month. A few months ago I was investing very regularly because I saw a number of cheap opportunities during the crash.

But the ASX has recovered strongly since March 2020. Over the past two months alone the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gone up just over 10%.

I still think there is a lot of uncertainty in the local and global economy. COVID-19 impacts are being felt around the world and government economic support is starting to wind down. Many businesses seem like less obvious winners at the current prices.

My recent investing has kept the above uncertainty in mind. These are two ASX shares I’ve bought in recent weeks:

WCM Global Growth Ltd (ASX: WQG)

This is a listed investment company (LIC), its job is to invest in shares listed outside of Australia. The Australian dollar continues to strengthen against the US dollar, it’s now worth US$0.71. The stronger the Australian dollar is the cheaper it is to buy US shares.

At the current WCM Global Growth share price of $1.30 the ASX share is trading at a 13% discount to the pre-tax net tangible assets (NTA) at 17 July 2020. Thankfully I bought shares at around $1.25.

I liked the idea of buying a quality LIC at a double digit discount to its NTA. But I also like the investment style of WCM, a California-based asset manager. WCM aims for businesses with an expanding economic moat. One of the main ways it measures this is with a rising return on invested capital, as opposed to a large but static or declining moat. The other key factor that WCM looks for is a corporate culture that supports the expansion of the economic moat.

At the end of June 2020 its five largest holdings were: Shopify, West Pharmaceuticals, MercadoLibre, Visa and Stryker. Just under half of the ASX share’s portfolio is invested in IT and healthcare. I like the long-term outlook for these two sectors. 

Its investment style has performed well. Its investment performance, after fees, has been 20.15% per annum over the past three years.

I think this LIC is a solid ASX share, it even pays a partially franked dividend yield of 3.1%.

WAM Microcap Limited (ASX: WMI)

WAM Microcap is another LIC. It targets ASX share small caps with market capitalisations under $300 million at the time of acquisition.

There have been few Australian investment managers that have performed as well as Wilson Asset Management’s WAM Microcap over the past three years. Since inception in June 2017, WAM Microcap’s portfolio has returned an average of 15.9% per annum (before fees, expenses and taxes), outperforming the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index by 10% per annum. Over the past three months the WAM Microcap’s portfolio has returned 32.9%, outperforming the index by 9%.

Future strong performance is definitely not guaranteed, but I think WAM Microcap’s team has shown they can identify good value ASX shares.

I think small caps can produce very strong returns, you just have to choose the right ones. I’m happy to get a fair amount of my small cap exposure with WAM Microcap and receive a good dividend along the way.

At the current WAM Microcap share price of $1.38 it offers a grossed-up dividend yield of 6.2%, though luckily I recently bought shares at a price of around $1.25.

I believe that WAM Microcap will deliver strong total shareholder returns over the next few years from here. However, it tends to fall very hard during market uncertainty, so I may wait until the next market drop to buy more shares.

At the end of June 2020 it had a solid cash weighting of 17.2% to buy beaten-up opportunities if the market drops again.

Foolish takeaway

I really like both of these ASX shares. I think international shares and small cap ASX shares could outperform the broad ASX share market over the longer-term. At today’s prices I’d probably buy WCM Global Growth again due to the high Aussie dollar and the discount to the NTA. But I’d love to buy even more WAM Microcap shares at the right time.

More reading

• 2 ASX shares for growth and dividends
• How to create a yearly income of $65,000 in dividends
• Get paid huge amounts of cash to own these ASX dividend shares
• 3 ASX dividend shares for every income investor’s portfolio
• 4 top ASX dividend shares you should never sell

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of WAM MICRO FPO and WCM Global Growth Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Here are two ASX shares I’ve recently bought appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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