Tag: Motley Fool

Once a week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) continues to be the most shorted ASX share after its short interest rose again to 14.6%. Concerns that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will derail the travel market recovery has been weighing on sentiment.
• Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has seen its short interest ease to 12.1%. This week the ecommerce company’s shares will leave the ASX 200 index following a rebalance. Kogan’s abject form has led to its shares being crushed, dragging its market capitalisation to a level that saw it ejected from the index.
• Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) has short interest of 11.4%, which is down week on week. Redbubble was also dumped out of the ASX 200 index at the quarterly rebalance. The ecommerce company has been underperforming in FY 2022.
• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) has short interest of 9.3%, which is down week on week. As with Flight Centre, short sellers appear concerned that Omicron could negatively impact this online travel agent’s recovery.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has seen its short interest remain flat at 9%. Much to the delight of short sellers, Zip’s shares were sold off last week amid reports that US regulators are looking into the BNPL market.
• Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) has short interest of 9%, which is down week on week. Short sellers will have been happy to see this biotech company’s shares crash lower last week after Novartis terminated an agreement that could have been worth US$1.25 billion to Mesoblast.
• Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX: OBL) has short interest of 8.2%, which is down slightly week on week. This may be due to the Government wanting to overhaul class action laws, which could be detrimental to Omni Bridgeway’s business model.
• BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) has short interest of 8%, which is flat week on week. Short sellers may believe weaker iron ore prices could lead to the mining giant falling short of expectations in FY 2022.
• Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND) is a new entry with short interest of 7.7%. This engineering company has been struggling this year amid the skilled worker shortage and wage inflation.
• Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has seen its short interest ease to 7.2%. Short sellers will have been disappointed to see this medical device company’s shares shoot higher last week following a sales update.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• How might the Polynovo (ASX:PNV) share price perform in 2022?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Friday

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd, POLYNOVO FPO, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price has gone up by 20% in the 2021 year (to date). But what is the outlook for the 2022 year for the electronic design software business?

For readers that don’t know, Altium is a software business that focuses on electronics design systems for 3D printed circuit board design and embedded system development.

The tech business is now shifting a growing number of its user base to Altium 365, its cloud offering.

At the annual general meeting (AGM), Altium said that Altium 365 adoption has beaten expectations and now has over 17,300 active users – up from 12,800 in August. Altium now has 15% of its total sales on cloud subscription and a further 40% is in transition to move to the cloud.

Growth drivers

Whilst COVID-19 had been a drag on short-term performance, management said a few weeks ago that demand for its PCB design software has returned and is growing. Altium is expecting that the growth trend will continue “well beyond FY22, and indeed continue for the rest of this decade.”

Altium’s management also noted that the mega trend that is driving its growth is the Internet of Things, which has led to an “explosion” of smart products and a huge amount of electronics.

While that trend has been growing over the last ten years, it’s now moving to a “whole new level”, which is being driven by 5G, edge computing and the mass adoption of intelligent products. This could be a helpful driver of the Altium share price over time.

The large demand for electronics combined with a supply chain disruption caused by the global pandemic have resulted in a global electronics part shortage. This is creating favourable conditions for its goal of dominance and industry transformation.

Octopart is its electronic parts search business. It saw revenue growth of 42% in FY21 and the industry trends are also helping this division. Octopart has continued its strong growth in the first four months of FY22.

Altium is expecting to achieve revenue growth at the top end of its guidance, of around 20%, despite challenging conditions and despite what appears to be growing competitive forces.

The Nexar API was launched this year and unifies its API technologies across the board. Combined. Altium 365 and Nexar will “deliver fundamental change to the way that people collaborate and do business together”.

Altimade will be launched in the first quarter of 2022. It will incorporate the delivery of a design to realisation experience.

Is the Altium share price good value?

In terms of the ratings, brokers are mixed.

For example, Citi rates Altium as a buy, though the price target of $35.40. That means the broker may be expecting the shares to drop over 10% over the next year, though it’s looking forward to the launch of Altimade as well as the ongoing progress of Altium 365.

However, the brokers at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) currently rate the Altium share price as a sell/underperform, with a price target of just $27.10.

The post The Altium (ASX:ALU) share price has risen 20% this year. What’s the outlook for 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are some of the easiest ways to get exposure to quality businesses. This article covers two excellent ETFs that could be options for 2022.

Some ETFs give exposure to a certain stock market. Others focus on a region of the world, or the entire world. Different industries or investment styles can also be represented within ETFs.

Here are two ETFs that could be good contenders for investors:

Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

This ETF is about providing investors exposure to a defensive and growing sector – cybersecurity.

BetaShares says that this industry is a quickly-growing, global sector. Cybercrime on the rise, the demand for cybersecurity services is expected to grow strongly for the foreseeable future.

There are global giants and emerging players in this portfolio.

The smallest positions in the portfolio includes: Tufin Software Technologies, Ribbon Communications, Zix, Onespan, Radware and Mantech International.

Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF’s biggest positions includes: Accenture, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco Systems, Okta, Crowdstrike, F5 Networks, Juniper Networks, Tenable, Mimecast and Verisign.

More than 90% of the portfolio is listed in the US, with only Israel (3.3%), Japan (2.4%) and France (1.6%) having a weighting of more than 1%.

Between 2017 and 2023, the global cybersecurity market is expected to grow from US$137.6 billion to US$248.3 billion, providing a tailwind for the underlying businesses.

This ETF’s annual management fee is 0.67% per annum. Including those fees, over the last five years the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF portfolio has delivered an average return per annum of 22.6%. However, past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (ASX: MOAT)

This ETF is, according to VanEck, about giving investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of attractively priced US companies with sustainable competitive advantages according to Morningstar’s equity research team.

In other words, the analysts at Morningstar have rated the businesses in the portfolio as having wide economic moats and they are/were good value at the time that those businesses were added to the portfolio.

At 10 December 2021, it had 50 businesses in the portfolio. The businesses that had a weighting of at least 2.5% at the time were the following: Microsoft, Cheniere Energy, Wells Fargo, Alphabet, Tyler Technologies, Corteva, Aspen Technology, Blackbaud, Salesforce.com, Berkshire Hathaway and Gilead Sciences.

IT has the biggest sector allocation of 26.8%, with healthcare (18.6%), industrials (13.6%) and consumer staples (11.8%) being the other sectors with double digit weightings.

Looking at the historical performance, which is no guarantee of future performance, the past five years show that the VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF produced an average return per annum of 18.4%, outperforming the S&P 500 by an average of 0.2% per annum after fees. Those fees are an average of 0.49% per year.

The post 2 strong ETFs that could be buys for 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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With savings accounts and term deposits still providing very low interest rates, the share market arguably remains the best place to earn a passive income.

But which ASX dividend shares should you consider buying? Two to consider are listed below:

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is Bapcor. It is Asia Pacific’s leading provider of vehicle parts, accessories, equipment, service and solutions.

Bapcor appears well-placed for growth over the coming years thanks to its strong market position, growing store footprint, and strong demand for used cars. And while the rise of electric cars poses a long term risk, the company appears to be addressing this now following the unceremonious exit of its Chief Executive Officer.

That exit has caused a significant pullback in the Bapcor share price, which could be a buying opportunity for income investors according to the team at Credit Suisse.

Earlier this month the broker put an outperform rating and $7.90 price target on the company’s shares. Credit Suisse is also forecasting fully franked dividends of 23 cents in FY 2022 and 24.6 cents in FY 2023.

Based on the current Bapcor share price of $6.71, this will mean yields of 3.4% and 3.7%, respectively.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Commonwealth Bank. Like Bapcor, this banking giant’s shares have pulled back significantly recently. This has been driven by the release of a disappointing first quarter update which revealed margin pressure from intense competition for home loans.

The team at Bell Potter appear to see this as a buying opportunity. In response to the update, its analysts have retained their buy rating but trimmed their price target to $111.00.

As for dividends, Bell Potter is forecasting fully franked dividends per share of $3.94 in FY 2022 and $4.15 in FY 2023. Based on the current CBA share price of $99.12, this will mean yields of 4% and 4.2%, respectively.

The post 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares for income investors appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 recommended Bapcor. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Some ASX healthcare shares have been rated as buys for 2022 by experts.

Healthcare companies have the potential of producing both growth and defensive earnings. People don’t choose when they get sick, and health is very important to most people (and use services).

There are plenty of different sectors within healthcare, including private health insurance, hospitals, medical devices and products, diagnostic and software.

Experts rate these two ASX healthcare shares as buys for the year ahead:

Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)

Volpara is currently rated as a buy by the broker Morgans, with a price target of $1.87. That suggests that the business could rise by around 80% over the next year (if the broker is right about how the market treats the business).

A significant part of Volpara’s advantage is the ability of the company to analyse millions of images that will help the company find breast cancer, perhaps even before it has developed.

The company recently released its FY22 first half result, which showed that subscription revenue went up 35% to NZ$11.8 million (up 42% in constant currency terms).

Its market share continues to grow. At least one of Volpara’s products are now used on approximately 34% of women in the US. That was an increase from 27% a year ago.

The company has a very high gross profit margin. It was 91.4% in the last result. This is very high for a company on the ASX.

Volpara has made a number of partnerships that has positioned the business for lung expansion. It has made an initial investment in RevealDx, a lung AI company based in Seattle and it has signed a collaboration agreement with Riverain Technologies. Management thinks that lung is a large opportunity too.

Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SHL)

Sonic is an essential healthcare services business which provides a number of pathology services, as well as imaging. It generates revenue from across several countries including the USA, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Switzerland and Belgium.

COVID-19 has been a boost for the ASX healthcare share’s earnings and the base business revenue continues to grow by mid-single digits. Total FY21 revenue increased 28% and net profit jumped 149%. It benefited from being able to utilise existing infrastructure to generate operating leverage.

FY22 has seen continuing growth. In the first four months of FY22, revenue increased 5% and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 16%.

Morgans rates Sonic Healthcare as a buy, with a price target of $47.05. It thinks that Sonic’s profit margins continue to grow.

The ASX healthcare share has also announced recent strategic moves.

It has signed an agreement to form a joint venture company with Harrison.ai, an Australian healthcare AI company, to co-develop and commercialise effective and accurate clinical AI solutions in pathology. It has also taken a “significant strategic shareholding” in Harrison.ai.

The business has also revealed it has bought ProPath, an anatomical pathology (AP) company based in Dallas, Texas. Its annual revenue generation is around US$110 million, serving more than 20 hospital groups across 45 states. This acquisition was deemed as a very significant additional step in developing its AP and clinical laboratory operations in the US.

The post Experts rate these 2 ASX healthcare shares as buys in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sonic Healthcare Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished a disappointing week on a mildly positive note. The benchmark index rose 0.1% to finish the week at 7,304 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to fall

The Australian share market looks set to start the week on a disappointing note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 30 points or 0.4% lower this morning. This follows a poor end to the week on Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones fall 1.5%, the S&P 500 drop 1%, and the Nasdaq edge 0.1% lower.

Oil prices drop

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could come under pressure after oil prices ended the week deep in the red. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price dropped 2.1% to US$70.86 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price fell 2% to US$73.52 a barrel. Oil prices tumbled amid concerns over rising Omicron cases and lockdowns.

Magellan loses mandate

The Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price is likely to tumble even lower on Monday after losing a major contract. While the fund manager is yet to reveal which contract it has lost, it is widely expected to be the St James’s Place mandate. This accounts for approximately a quarter of its institutional funds under management.

Gold price rises

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could start the week on a positive note after the gold price pushed higher on Friday night. According to CNBC, the spot gold price rose 0.4% to US$1,804.90 an ounce. Omicron uncertainty supported demand for the safe haven asset.

NAB rated as a buy

The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price remains good value according to the team at Bell Potter. In response to the bank’s annual general meeting, the broker has retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $32.00. This was driven by an increase in its earnings forecasts and a valuation boost for its business banking segment. Though, it is worth noting that US banks fell heavily on Friday night, which may not bode well for NAB and the big four today.

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

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 Bruce Jackson.

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Looking for investment ideas this month? Below are three options to consider next week.

Here’s what you need to know about these highly rated ASX shares:

BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

The first ASX share for investors to look at is an ETF. The BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF provides investors with exposure to the leaders in the global cybersecurity sector. This is a sector that is heavily under-represented on the ASX. Which is a big shame given how demand for cybersecurity services is forecast to grow materially in the future. Among the companies in the fund that you’ll be owning a slice of are cybersecurity giants Accenture, Cloudflare, Crowdstrike, Okta, and Palo Alto Networks.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

Another ASX share to consider is property listings company REA Group. It is best-known for the realestate.com.au website, which has been dominating the ANZ market for years. This continued in FY 2021, with the company recording an average of 121.9 million monthly visits to its website. This was up 35% year on year and is 3.3 times greater than its nearest competitor. In light of this dominance, the booming housing market, and new acquisitions and revenue streams, REA Group has been tipped to grow strongly in the coming years by the team at Macquarie. As a result, the broker has an outperform rating and $192.00 price target on its shares.

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)

A final ASX share to look at is TechnologyOne. It is Australia’s largest enterprise software company, providing a global software as a service (SaaS) ERP solution that transforms business and makes life simple for its customers. At the last count, there were well over 1,000+ leading corporations, government agencies, local councils and universities being powered by its software. This has underpinned strong recurring revenue growth and is expected to continue doing so in the coming years. For example, management is targeting annual recurring revenue (ARR) of over $500 million by FY 2026. This is almost double its current base ARR of $257.5 million. Bell Potter is a fan and has a buy rating and $15.00 price target on its shares.

The post 3 highly rated ASX shares to buy next week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The next year is just around the corner. There are several ASX dividend shares that are buy-rated by experts for 2022 that could provide attractive income for at least the next couple of years.

Just because a business pays a dividend, doesn’t automatically make it a buy. For example, plenty of analysts actually rate the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price as a sell right now.

But these two ASX dividend shares could be income leaders:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

Adairs is rated as a buy by the broker Morgans, with a price target of $4.80. This suggests a potential rise of the Adairs share price by around 25% over the next 12 months, if the broker is right.

Morgans thinks Adairs is going to pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 8.6% in FY22 and 10.8% in FY23.

The broker’s most recent thoughts have been on the acquisition of Focus on Furniture, which Morgans and management think will add at least around 10% to profit in FY23 once fully integrated into the Adairs business.

Adairs is now a business that has a sizeable presence in both homewares and furniture. In FY21, Focus made revenue of over $150 million with a network of 23 stores and a small but growing online channel. The ASX dividend share sees strong growth potential which could drive sales to more than $250 million over the next five years with a national store rollout and growing online sales.

The company is planning more profit growth from opening more stores, shifting to bigger stores (which are substantially more profitable than smaller ones), being more efficient with costs and growing online sales.

According to Morgans, the Adairs share price is valued at 9x FY23’s estimated earnings.

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks has maintained or increased its normal dividend every year for the last 45 years.

The ASX dividend share is currently rated as a buy by the broker Ord Minnett, with a price target of $26.20.

This broker is expecting Brickworks to pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 3.6% in FY22 and 3.75% in FY23.

Brickworks is experiencing a very high level of demand for land for industrial properties through its joint venture property trust. Surplus operational Brickworks land is sold into this trust. Once a lease pre-commitment is secured the serviced land can be used as security, with debt funding used to cover the cost of constructing the facilities.

At the end of FY21, Brickworks’ 50% share was $911 million, with the assets generating around $89 million in gross annual rent.

Not only are there two huge facilities being built for Amazon and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), but other large properties are being built for Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), Australia Post and Xylem.

Once those facilities (and other pre-committed developments) are completed, it was expected to result in an increase in leased assets of around $1.2 billion and gross rent of $50 million over the next two years.

The ASX dividend share also recently announced that the completion of a new brick plant will allow consolidation and the release of 75 hectares of land to be sold into the property trust, extending the development pipeline to meet the unprecedented demand for industrial development.

Brickworks also owns a large amount of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) shares, which provides steadily increasing dividends to Brickworks, and diversification.

The post 2 great ASX dividend shares rated as buys for 2022: experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended ADAIRS FPO and Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended ADAIRS FPO, Brickworks, COLESGROUP DEF SET, and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Are you interested in investing in the retail sector? If you are, you may want to look at the ASX retail shares that Bell Potter has tipped as buys for 2022.

Here’s what the broker is saying about the sector and these shares:

Retail outlook

Bell Potter has concerns over the retail sector due to a number of factors. However, that doesn’t mean that some retail shares don’t have the potential to generate strong returns for investors.

Commenting on its concerns, the broker said: “We are cautious on the lookout for discretionary retailers based on several factors. These include: 1) emerging inflationary pressures and the prospects of rising interest rates; 2) the expected ramp-up of international travel in CY22, which will reduce share of wallet to retailers; and 3) ongoing risks surrounding the pandemic.”

Nevertheless, the ASX retail shares that Bell Potter believes are in the buy zone are as follows:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

Bell Potter is a fan of this leading footwear-focused retailer and has a buy rating and $3.05 price target on its shares. The broker believes Accent’s shares trade on undemanding multiples and offer a generous yield.

It commented: “The company’s recent AGM update indicated strong forward momentum, including a material upgrade in expected store openings in FY22, a turnaround in Glue Store, continued sales traction in Stylerunner which we believe offers material growth prospects, and the signing of a new exclusive distribution agreement for Reebok. AX1’s valuation is undemanding with FY23 PE of ~14x, and the dividend yield is an attractive ~5% (ff).”

City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX)

This plus-sized fashion retailer is another the broker likes. It currently has a buy rating and $7.40 price target on City Chic’s shares.

Bell Potter explained: “[City Chic] is a collective of customer-led brands including City Chic, Avenue, Evans, CCX, Hips & Curves and Fox & Royal. Following CCX’s recent acquisitions of Evans and Navabi, the company now has four high traffic online platforms across four key markets. These include City Chic in ANZ, Avenue in the USA, Evans in the UK and Navabi in Europe (primarily Germany, France and the UK). CCX also recently announced multiple new marketplace partnerships with major retailers across all key regions. With this foundation, plus >$60m in net cash available to acquire additional brands/ businesses, we believe CCX is well placed to grow market share globally.”

Propel Funeral Partners Ltd (ASX: PFP)

Finally, the broker is positive on this funerals company due to its defensive qualities and an expected volume recovery post-pandemic. Bell Potter has a buy rating and $5.00 price target on the company’s shares.

It commented: “Based on a proven growth strategy, the leadership of an experienced management team and with a strengthened balance sheet in place (post recent equity raise), we believe PFP is well positioned to drive further industry consolidation. PFP also stands to benefit from the attractive industry fundamentals, including the positive long term trend in case volumes underpinned by an ageing population, the industry’s highly defensive attributes and the relatively high barriers to entry.”

The post Bell Potter names the best ASX retail shares to buy in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy now
• 2 compelling ASX shares that could be buys in December 2021
• ASX 200 retail shares lift as Aussies head into Christmas with $240bn in savings
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with growing yields

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 recommended Accent Group and Propel Funeral Partners Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Last week saw a number of broker notes hitting the wires once again. Three buy ratings that investors might want to be aware of are summarised below.

Here’s why brokers think investors ought to buy them next week:

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts have retained their add rating and lifted their price target on this biotherapeutics giant’s shares to $334.70. This follows the announcement of the acquisition of Swiss pharma giant Vifor Pharma for $17 billion. Morgans is a fan of the acquisition and doesn’t believe it should be interpreted as a sign that CSL’s core business’ growth is coming to an end. The CSL share price ended the week at $272.10.

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)

A note out of Ord Minnett reveals that its analysts have upgraded this retail giant’s shares to a buy rating with a slightly trimmed price target of $54.00. The broker believes JB Hi-Fi is well-placed to continue benefiting from elevated consumer spending. This is expected to underpin strong earnings and generous dividends in the near term. The JB Hi-Fi share price was fetching $47.65 at Friday’s close.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Analysts at Citi have retained their buy rating and $27.50 price target on this banking giant’s shares following an update on its share buyback plans. According to the note, Citi was pleased to see that the bank has pledged to buyback shares on-market should its off market buyback not achieve the full $3.5 billion target. Outside this, the broker believes Westpac is the best value bank following its recent pullback. The Westpac share price ended the week at $21.03.

The post Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price a buy right now?
• Why is the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price struggling in December?
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Is it a buy? Here’s what Macquarie is saying about the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price
• 2 high yield ASX 200 dividend shares to buy

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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