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Qualitas Group (ASX: QAL) shares will commence trade on the Australian share market on Thursday following the completion of its initial public offering (IPO).

The Qualitas IPO

Qualitas is one of Australia’s leading alternative real estate investment managers. Founded 13 years ago, Qualitas’ funds platform now comprise 13 active funds. This includes five specialist commercial real estate credit funds and eight specialist real estate private equity funds.

Together with other investor and non-fund mandates, Qualitas has a total of $4.22 billion in funds under management (FUM), having delivered compound annual growth in FUM of 36% since inception.

Its shares land on the ASX boards today after raising total gross proceeds of $335 million at an offer price of $2.50 per share.

Proceeds from the offer will be used primarily to fund co-investments to grow its FUM and to provide balance sheet capacity to underwrite, bridge, and warehouse time-sensitive investment opportunities.

A real confidence boost for the IPO was news that existing Qualitas shareholders are not selling any shares as part of the offer. This means that existing shareholders will hold the equivalent of approximately 54.4% of total shares on issue. Furthermore, these shares will be subject to voluntary escrow arrangements, with the final tranche escrowed until late 2026.

Based on the above, Qualitas will have a market capitalisation of $735 million upon listing.

“An exciting journey”

Qualitas’ Chairman, Andrew Fairley AM, was pleased to see the company list and appears positive on the future.

He said: “Since its founding, the business has sought to leverage its strong local market knowledge, specialised management skillset, industry contacts and broader investment infrastructure spanning origination, execution and active asset management to deliver on its investment strategies.”

“This investment approach has driven attractive, risk-adjusted returns for our fund investors and, in turn, has enabled Qualitas to consistently grow its underlying FUM and build strong, enduring relationships with domestic and international institutions. We are excited about the future prospects of Qualitas and are pleased to have the opportunity to welcome new investors to share in this exciting journey,” he added.

This sentiment was echoed by Qualitas Co-Founder and Group Managing Director, Andrew Schwartz.

He said: “The IPO provides an opportunity for investors to partner with us in the operating vehicle and enjoy the future growth of a company highly respected by clients and well recognised by peers here in Australia and offshore.”

“In many ways, we are still at the start of our journey and we are presenting this opportunity at a time of strong underlying momentum in our business across all our strategies. We treasure our Qualitas track record and will work hard to maintain our results now and into the future for the benefit of new and existing investors,” he concluded.

The post Qualitas (ASX:QAL) shares are hitting the ASX boards today following its IPO appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Wednesday
• Move over Magellan (ASX:MFG). This global equities manager is gunning for pole position
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: CSL upgraded, Westpac AGM update

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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Ask A Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with fund managers so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In this edition, Eley Griffiths portfolio manager Nick Guidera nominates the ASX share he would be fine to be stuck with for many years.

The ASX share for a comfortable night’s sleep

The Motley Fool: If the market closed tomorrow for 4 years, which stock would you want to hold?

Nick Guidera: Last time I said Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW). I don’t disagree with that… It has had a good run. It’s pulled back. It’s been relatively volatile during the lockdown that we had, which I probably didn’t foresee when we spoke last time. 

I don’t back away from that [pick]. But for interest, I’ve brought another one to the table. 

Beacon Lighting Group Ltd (ASX: BLX). This historically has been a small retailer based in Victoria that has been selling lights across Australia with a fairly consistent rollout story and one that has been subject to the housing market and whether people are willing to spend money on new lights. What’s changed I think is that this business has… managed to dominate the lighting category.

There [are] very few independent lighting retailers left in Australia that aren’t either high-end or in the market that perhaps Beacon doesn’t necessarily view as appealing. There’s a solid rollout strategy still to come in Australia of incremental stores into markets and changing the way their stores operate. 

But what has changed with Beacon is the opportunity for them to move into the trade sector. If you’re familiar with the company Reece Ltd (ASX: REH), Reece is probably one of the quiet achievers of the Australian stock market over many years — slowly moving from plumbings, into bathroom supplies, into effectively the whole water category. Now [it’s] dominating that sector to the point where there is no other real major retailer that competes with them in that space. 

Beacon has historically targeted the consumer with their lighting business. If you’re an electrician, you used to ask a consumer to go and pick your lights, and then they’ll install them.

There’s typically been electrical wholesalers that have sold different parts of behind the wall technology. Beacon’s decided that they’re going to go after that trade opportunity, not into the electrical wholesale realm completely, but offering things like cables, for example, that would sit behind the wall that an electrician would have to install to connect the lights. Encouraging electricians to come into a room, changing their opening hours to make it more appealing for tradies to access, having a tradie entry point, opening tradie accounts and marketing into that space. They’ve increased their total addressable market from being a consumer-facing lighting business into a trade business. 

At the same time, they’re looking at international expansion. They’ve recently given some commentary around their interests in the US market. You have seen Reece successfully make a large acquisition in the US a number of years ago to expand their Australian footprint into the US.

I don’t think you’re going to see anything like that in the near term from Beacon, but it adds further optionality for the business. We’ll have an interesting business over the next 4 years. Certainly, it’s a consumer discretionary business, so it is subject to consumption cycles and markets, but ultimately it has killed the category and eradicated most of its competitors. 

Regardless of how many people are building houses or operating their lighting, [there’s only a choice between Beacon and] a relatively inferior range at Bunnings for people to buy lights for their new homes. That will continue regardless of what your view is on the housing cycle. 

When net migration returns, we should see strong underlying demand for new household formation, which should provide an incremental support to the housing market, but taking the cyclical element to the stock aside, you’ve got a really strong fundamental case of growing stores, growing trade footprint and international expansion.

MF: Looking at the share price graph, it looks like there was a huge re-rate upwards last month.

NG: I think the market is starting to catch onto the opportunity that Beacon has around trade. They have talked about it for probably a year or so, but what subsequently changed is they’ve started doing presentations to the market at a number of conferences, which talk to the opportunities they have around expansion. And I think that’s certainly providing the market with some excitement around what the future earnings profile might look [like].

MF: Beacon also gives out a handy dividend as well?

NG: Yeah. Well, that’s the thing. It is a retailer that generates relatively good cash. They’ve got a good amount of inventory on hand, which means that while the freight costs are certainly causing issues to retailers they have been able to offset some of that with the Aussie dollar strength. They’re helping their gross margin a little bit. You’ve got a really good, strong, private-label business within the business. Their brand is becoming more well regarded across the industry. They’ve also got an online business as well. They’re not just relying on a bricks-and-mortar store footprint.

The post Monopoly, expansion, dividend: the ASX share with everything appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Are these 2 impressive ASX shares buys in December 2021?
• What do Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) and Amazon.com have in common?
• Top ASX shares to buy in December 2021
• 3 key reasons why the Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) share price is compelling
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group 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 good news for income investors in this low interest rate environment, is that there are countless dividend shares for investors to choose from on the Australian share market.

But with so many to choose from, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. To narrow things down, listed below are two ASX dividend shares that are rated highly by analysts. They are as follows:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is Adairs. It is a leading retailer of furniture, homewares, and home furnishings in Australia and New Zealand.

Thanks to its strong market position and omni-channel footprint, which gives it exposure to both online and in-store growth, Adairs has been tipped to grow at a solid rate over the 2020s.

This will also be boosted by the recent agreement to acquire Focus on Furniture for $80 million. Management believes the acquisition is a clear strategic fit, with attractive growth potential and exposure to the $8.3 billion bulky furniture category.

The team at Morgans is a fan of the deal. In response, the broker retained its add rating and lifted its price target to $4.80.

As for dividends, the broker has pencilled in fully franked dividends per share of 23 cents in FY 2022 and then 29 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current Adairs share price of $3.92, this will mean yield of 5.9% and 7.4%, respectively.

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT.

The Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT is a real estate investment trust that invests in social infrastructure properties. These are properties with low competition and substitution risk and long leases such as childcare centres and government sites.

Demand for its properties has been very strong, leading to a sky high occupancy rate, favourable revaluations, ultimately and strong profit growth. For example, in FY 2021, the company reported a 103% increase in statutory profit to $174.1 million.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on its future. So much so, earlier this week the broker reiterated its conviction buy rating and lifted its price target to $4.12.

Its analysts are also forecasting dividends per share of 16.9 cents in FY 2022 and then 17.6 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT share price of $3.84, this will mean yields of 4.4% and 4.6%, respectively.

The post 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with strong yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Adairs (ASX:ADH) share price surging 5% higher today?
• Morgans names 2 high yield ASX dividend shares to buy now
• Brokers say these 2 top ASX shares are buys in December 2021
• Are these 2 ASX dividend shares buys in December 2021?
• What happened with the Adairs (ASX:ADH) share price today?

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 ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. 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 Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form and dropped notably lower. The benchmark index fell 0.7% to 7,327.1 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to edge higher

The Australian share market looks set to edge higher on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 7 points or 0.1% higher this morning. This follows a decent night on Wall Street, which in late trade sees the Dow Jones up 0.15%, the S&P 500 up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq up 0.1%. Overnight the US Federal Reserve said it expects three rates hikes next year.

Oil prices rise

Energy shares including Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could have a good day after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.35% to US$70.98 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.45% to US$74.03 a barrel. The US Federal Reserve’s statement helped reverse earlier losses caused by Omicron concerns.

CSL shares to return

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is due to return to trade today after completing its institutional placement. CSL is raising US$4.5 billion (A$6.3 billion) from institutional investors and a further US$534 million (A$750 million) via a share purchase plan to part fund the acquisition of Vifor Pharma for US$12.3 billion (A$17.2 billion). Management notes that the deal expands CSL’s leadership across an attractive portfolio focused on renal disease and iron deficiency. In response, Citi has upgraded CSL’s shares to a buy rating.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) could have a difficult day after the gold price dropped. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.5% to US$1,763.30 an ounce. The gold price tumbled following news of the US Fed’s rate hike plans.

Annual general meetings

A number of ASX 200 shares are holding their annual general meetings on Thursday and could provide investors with trading updates. These include banking giant Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ), agribusiness company Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD), and commercial explosives company Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI). In addition, airline operator Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) is holding an investor update event this morning.

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

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• ANZ (ASX:ANZ) will hold its AGM tomorrow. Here’s what you need to know
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Wednesday
• Here’s what’s boosting the Santos (ASX:STO) share price today
• What’s impacting the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price today?

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 CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Elders 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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Have you got room for a blue chip or two in your portfolio in December? If you are, then take a look at the blockbuster blue chip ASX 200 shares listed below.

Here’s why they are highly rated by analysts:

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is REA Group. It is the leader in real estate listings in the Australian market. The company’s local operations have a significant lead over the competition and are commanding more than triple the visits (121.9 million monthly visits) of its nearest rival.

In light of this, REA Group looks well-placed for growth thanks to the booming housing market. This should be supported by new revenue streams, cost cutting, price increases, its international operations, and acquisitions. The latter has seen the company grow its presence in mortgage broking through the acquisition of Mortgage Choice.

One leading broker that is particularly bullish on REA Group is Macquarie. Its analysts currently have an outperform rating and $192.00 price target on its shares.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Another blue chip ASX 200 share that could be in the buy zone is Westpac. Australia’s oldest bank has seen its shares crash lower in recent weeks following a disappointing full year result.

Investors were spooked by its weak margin outlook and appeared concerned that it would not achieve its cost cutting plans.

The team at Morgans believe this is a buying opportunity, noting that Westpac’s shares offer the most compelling valuation among the big four. Its analysts currently have an add rating and $29.50 price targets on the bank’s shares.

Morgans commented: “We find the management of the margin-volume tradeoff in Australian home lending in FY21 to be disappointing and we hope for better management of this tradeoff going forward.”

“Having said this, our view has been that the stock was not being priced for perfection and was offering considerable value. While the NIM has now re-based notably lower, we continue to see considerable value in the stock particularly due to our expectation of significant cost out by FY24F,” it concluded.

The post 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares named as buys in December appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why Westpac (ASX:WBC) just copped a grilling from angry shareholders
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: CSL upgraded, Westpac AGM update
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price edges higher amid AGM resolutions
• 3 ASX shares to buy before Xmas (hint: one predicted to rise 41%)
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Westpac Banking Corporation. 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 REA Group Limited and 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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The Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) share price finished in the red on Wednesday amid the company completing a major demerger.

At the close of trade, shares in the mining company were down 4.26% to $8.55.

Let’s take a look at what happened with Chalice Mining on Wednesday.

What did Chalice tell investors today?

Chalice advised the market it had completed its demerger, spinning off its gold-focussed Falcon Metals business.

The company announced it has completed the distribution of Falcon shares to eligible Chalice shareholders.

Investors involved in Falcon’s $30 million initial public offering (IPO) have also been issued their shares today.

Falcon Metals Limited is earmarked for listing on the ASX on Monday with the ASX code FAL. Its shares are scheduled to start trading at 11am next Wednesday although the listing is subject to the company satisfying ASX conditions.

The drop in the Chalice Mining share price today should come as no surprise. As previously reported by my Foolish colleague, it was tipped Chalice shares would trade lower on the day of the demerger announcement, reflecting Falcon’s departure.

However, this is expected to be offset when Falcon Metals shares are distributed.

With the spin-off of its gold assets, Chalice Mining is now expected to focus on its Julimar Nickel-Copper-PGE Project in the Avon region of Western Australia.

This leaves Falcon to go for gold at its key exploration assets in Victoria and Western Australia.

Chalice Mining share price snap shot

The Chalice Mining share price has surged in the past 12 months, up 141%. Year to date, the company’s shares have gained 120%.

However, in the past month, Chalice shares have slipped 12% and have fallen more than 7% in the past week.

At its current share price, the company’s market capitalisation is just over $3 billion.

The post Why did the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price slide today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How will Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) shares be impacted by the Falcon spin off?
• Here’s why the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price is in the spotlight today
• The Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) share price is venturing 10% higher today
• Why API, Chalice Mining, GUD, and Worley shares are charging higher
• Here’s why the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price is glowing today

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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Shares in Booktopia Group Ltd (ASX: BKG) have had a mixed day today after the company announced a collaboration with an international publisher.

Booktopia has entered into a publishing and distribution partnership with Welbeck Publishing Group based in the United Kingdom.

The Booktopia share price leapt 6% to an intraday high of $1.80 near the market open, before plummeting back to its previous closing price of $1.70. At the close of trade today, shares in the company had lifted again and were trading 2.05% higher at $1.74.

More on the partnership…

Earlier this year, the publisher told investors it would secure a 25% stake in the UK-based company’s new standalone subsidiary, Welbeck Australia (WPGANZ) for around $3 million.

In today’s announcement, the company advised that these agreements had been executed.

Now, under this new partnership, Booktopia will distribute WPGANZ’s catalogue of around 300 new titles per year.

Welbeck’s existing distribution agreement with giant Allen & Unwin and United Book Distributors will be transferred to Booktopia Publisher Services (BPS) by the end of the first quarter next year. 

The company noted that the move would not only make WPGANZ the local publisher for Welbeck UK’s backlist of around 4,500 titles, it would also create an opportunity for Welbeck to build a local editorial team to publish Australian and New Zealand authors. The aim would be to bring in 50 new titles to the market each year.

Booktopia founder and chief executive Tony Nash welcomed the news, saying:

Welbeck is a highly-regarded and significant player in the book industry, and we are very excited about the opportunity to partner with them as they grow their presence in Australia and New Zealand.

The partnership and investment in Welbeck Australia will diversify and enhance our future income streams while growing our scale and strategic presence in the publishing and distribution segments of the book industry.

Booktopia share price snapshot 

The Booktopia share price has fallen more than 37% in the past 12 months, with much of the drop happening since its 52-week high of $3.06 in September. The publisher has fallen 33.5% this year to date.

The company has a market cap of $245.86 million at the time of writing.

The post What happened with the Booktopia (ASX:BKG) share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Analysts are tipping huge gains for these small cap ASX shares
• 2 exciting small cap ASX shares named as buys

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Booktopia Group Limited. 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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Not all initial public offerings (IPO) can be a roaring success. Sadly, some must flop, and the Armada Metals Limited (ASX: AMM) share price has done just that on its first day on the ASX.

The company’s stock floated on the market at 12:30 pm AEDT today after raising $10 million through its IPO, wherein it offered shares for 20 cents apiece.

Unfortunately, the Armada Metals share price has ended its first day on the ASX 22% lower, with its shares trading at 15.5 cents.

Let’s take a closer look at the ASX newbie and the IPO process that led it here.

What does Armada Metals do?

Armada Metals is a base metals explorer with a focus on under-explored regions of Africa.

Armada believes the electric vehicle market will demand increasing amounts of ‘green’ metals in the coming years, and Africa is a great place to find them.

It’s currently exploring a multi-target project opportunity for magmatic nickel-copper sulphides in the Nyanga area in southern Gabon. There, it has 2 exploration licences covering 2,991 square kilometres.

Armada Metals has already spent more than US$10 million at the mining sites and has targets ready to drill.

Armada Metals share price slumps on ASX debut

Today was tough for the Armada Metals share price.

The company sold 50 million shares – its maximum planned issuance – during its IPO and raised $10 million in the process.

Most of those funds will go towards exploration activities, mainly drilling programs and regional exploration. The rest will be used as working capital and for covering administration expenses.

At its offer price, the company expected to list with a market capitalisation of $20.8 million.

Instead, at its current share price, Armada Metals has an ASX valuation of about $7.75 million.

On the company’s ASX float, Armada managing director, Dr Ross McGowan commented:

Today signifies the beginning of Armada’s exploration journey as a public listed company… The company is excited to commence its maiden drilling program in the new year, and we look forward to providing shareholders with exploration updates as we prepare the company for growth and future success.

The post Armada Metals (ASX:AMM) share price plunges 22% following IPO appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What happened with the Booktopia (ASX:BKG) share price today?
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Why the Graincorp (ASX:GNC) share price is harvesting some stellar gains this week
• ANZ (ASX:ANZ) will hold its AGM tomorrow. Here’s what you need to know
• Here’s why Westpac (ASX:WBC) just copped a grilling from angry shareholders

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had an equally as rough day as US markets experienced overnight. At the end of the session, the benchmark index finished 0.7% lower at 7,327.1 points.

Unfortunately, it was a broad sell-off in the Australian share market today. Only one sector prevailed as a gainer, with that being utilities. Meanwhile, tech and real estate shares were pummelled following weakness on Wall Street last night. Overall, only 20% of the companies in the top 200 managed to finish above their previous closing price today.

However, the question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the top ten stocks that came through for investors:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX: VUK) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the full-service bank rallied 4.05% despite there being no news out from the company. Yesterday, the UK-focused bank published its stress test results to the ASX. Find out more about Virgin Money here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Alumina Ltd (ASX: AWC). The alumina and aluminium mining and refining company gained 3.88% — once again — without any new announcements. Uncover the latest Alumina details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX: VUK)	$3.08	4.05%
Alumina Ltd (ASX: AWC)	$1.875	3.88%
Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL)	$2.47	2.92%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	$2.39	2.58%
AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL)	$5.94	2.41%
Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX: SPK)	$4.31	2.13%
Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM)	$18.12	1.63%
Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL)	$5.56	1.46%
Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)	$14.50	1.40%
Meridian Energy Ltd (ASX: MEZ)	$4.40	1.38%

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check-in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Wednesday
• Move over Magellan (ASX:MFG). This global equities manager is gunning for pole position
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: CSL upgraded, Westpac AGM update
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Dicker Data Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Dicker Data 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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Shares in integrated grain business Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) have been trading in the green this Wednesday, closing the day 0.79% higher at $7.69.

Today marks another 52-week high for the company, which has been on a stellar run in 2021, having sprung off a bottom of $4.09 in February.

Whilst it’s been relatively quiet out of the agricultural commodity giant’s corner lately, it’s been the exact opposite for its grain terminals. They have recorded their busiest week of harvest in eastern Australia so far this year.

As such, the Graincorp share price is catching bids as the harvest season heats up across the eastern states, particularly now that the weather is more amenable.

What’s up with Graincorp lately?

The company received over a million tonne of grain from key areas in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria this past week, meaning Graincorp has booked more than 8 million tonne (Mt) so far this season.

At least 1.08 Mt of grain came from NSW this week alone, according to reporting from The Land, bringing the most populous state’s total to almost 4.6 Mt for the season.

The company is expecting the trend to continue. It is chasing more casual workers to fulfil the demand and in anticipation of huge crop yields for the remainder of the season.

These trends continue on an enormous upswing of grain receivals in FY21, where the company realised 16.5 Mt of grain versus 4.2 Mt the previous year.

Such a bump in grain received enabled export of around 8 Mt, up from 1.3 Mt in FY20. This has driven the company’s return on invested capital (ROIC) to 11.1%, up from 1.6% in the prior corresponding period.

And these numbers have the analyst teams of several investment firms offering their predictions on the direction of Graincorp’s share price.

RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage on Graincorp last week with a buy rating while valuing the company at $9.10 per share.

Macquarie is equally bullish, holding an outperform rating while setting a price target of $8.03.

It is joined by both Morgans and Sadif Investment Analytics, who each reckon Graincorp is a strong buy with a $7.90 valuation on the stock price.

Despite this sentiment, Bell Potter still has Graincorp as a sell, and reckons its shares are worth $6.15 per share, implying a 20% downside potential from today’s price.

Graincorp share price summary

In the past 12 months the Graincorp share price has climbed to record highs, gaining more than 76%. This year to date it has climbed more than 83%.

Graincorp shares are up around 13% in the past month after jumping 8% over just the past 5 days of trading.

Graincorp has a market capitalisation of $1.7 billion with 228 million shares on issue.

The post Why the Graincorp (ASX:GNC) share price is harvesting some stellar gains this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author has no positions 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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