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In a year when the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has risen more than 10.6%, there are still some popular ASX shares that have caused investors to tear their hair out.

Unfortunately, for amateurs and professionals alike, knowing when to sell shares of failing companies is easier said than done.

Shaw and Partners portfolio manager James Gerrish analysed some of the “laggards” in his flagship growth portfolio this week and related to this dilemma.

“Unfortunately when companies come out with downgrades it can be hard to exit at optimum levels as they tend to gap lower,” he said in his Market Matters newsletter.

“We may have enjoyed a solid year but these positions have been the major detractors on this portfolio’s P&L.”

Let’s take a look at 3 ASX shares that have stunk in 2021, and what Gerrish would do with them:

Appen’s risk-reward okay now 

Technology company Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) sure has been a pain in many investors’ portfolios in recent times.

Just this year alone the share price for the artificial intelligence service provider has plunged 62%.

It didn’t help that in late November the stock fell more than 20% in 2 trading days. This was triggered by Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) research, which was concerned that Appen hadn’t yet provided a year-end guidance and a trend of its big clients bringing its services in-house.

Gerrish agreed that both points made sense.

“The markets certainly backed the Millionaires’ Factory on this one,” he said.

“The question is how much potentially bad news is baked into this particular cake and can we see another spike back up towards $15 (i.e. our initial target)?”

Appen closed Thursday at $9.72. 

Gerrish would like to cut Appen loose soon.

“We feel the risk-reward is ok around $9.50 but at this stage we are looking for an exit moving into 2022 rather than averaging our position here.”

Is there anything more infuriating than A2 Milk shares?

Dairy producer A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) has infuriated shareholders so much that it will now be defending itself against 2 class actions from its own investors.

After touching $20 back in July 2020, the stock closed Thursday at a sorry $5.63.

After buying in at around $8, Gerrish said he doesn’t intend to buy any more A2 Milk shares now but is optimistic in the short term.

“While there’s nothing comforting about A2 Milk trading sub-$6, we can see another spike into the $7 to $8 region, at least as new management starts to get some runs on the board after completely re-basing earnings at their most recent update, while corporate appeal can’t be ignored.”

His team will then look to exit once it hits those levels.

An ugly spring might turn into an awesome autumn

Many Australian investors looked to Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK) this year as a post-pandemic recovery play in Europe.

But after hitting a 52-week high in September, the shares have lost almost a quarter of their value. The Virgin stock price lost an eye-watering 11.3% in just one day last month after a financial update.

It closed Thursday at $3.10.

“The stock’s cheap because the market clearly lacks confidence that the company can deliver on their digital transformation and cost out strategy moving forward,” said Gerrish.

Despite the UK returning to COVID-19 restrictions this week, his team reckons “a resurgence” will be coming in the new year and will “likely” be retaining its position.

The post What I’d do with these ASX dogs of 2021: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Appen, Cooper Energy, PolyNovo, and Sigma shares are falling
• This broker thinks the A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price is heading to $7.70
• How the A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price tanked 5% in November
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• What’s Appening? The Appen (ASX:APX) share price has tumbled 20% in 2 weeks

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns A2 Milk and Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk. 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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If you are looking to bolster your portfolio with some S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares, you may want to look at the two listed below.

Both of these ASX 200 shares have been given buy ratings recently. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

The first ASX 200 share to look at is Goodman Group. It is a leading integrated commercial and industrial property company with a portfolio of in-demand properties. Goodman’s properties have exposure to key growth markets such as ecommerce and logistics.

The team at Citi are very positive on Goodman’s outlook. Its analysts currently have a buy rating and $27.50 price target on the company’s shares.

In response to its recent trading update, Citi commented: “We continue to see upside to FY22 guidance and now forecast FY22 EPS of 76.9c (+17% growth), 2% ahead of guidance. Importantly, our 3 year EPS CAGR lifts 200bps to ~16%, reflecting higher asset values, and development activity.”

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

Another ASX 200 share to look at is property listings company REA Group. It is best-known for the realestate.com.au website, which is dominating the ANZ market with an average of 121.9 million monthly visits to its website in FY 2021.

Goldman Sachs is a big fan of REA Group. The broker currently has a buy rating and $193.00 price target on its shares.

Following its recent acquisition of Mortgage Choice, Goldman said: “We believe the increased focus on finance makes strategic sense for REA, as it looks to capitalize on its strong brand, digital traffic and property data to take share of the sizable, but fragmented mortgage broking industry in Australia. This market has strong near-term volume tailwinds.”

The post 2 highly rated ASX 200 shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• If this is poker, we’re now ALL-IN on ASX shares: expert
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Why did the AGL share price outperform the ASX 200 today?
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Sydney Airport takeover update, Santos falls

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 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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A payments expert has predicted that ASX buy now, pay later (BNPL) shares are going to have a tough year in 2022.

One of the leading minds in the payments space has predicted that bad debts and losses will mount up next year.

Prediction of BNPL woes

According to reporting by the Australian Financial Review, Grant Halverson, who is the founder and boss of payments consultancy outfit McLean Roche, believes that ASX BNPL shares could see even higher bad debts in 2022 which may lead to lower credit ratings and higher funding costs.

Mr Halverson was quoted as saying:

The moment their bad debts go up their cost of funding will go up three or four times faster than the actual rate rises and the rating agencies will downgrade them, and then they’ll get to junk status.

Because they’re all frantically going at the US they’re racing to the bottom. And that means probably more bad debts because they’ve gone after customers who haven’t got credit ratings.

Looking at one of the latest arrears disclosures from a BNPL business, at 30 September 2021, Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) said that its arrears was 1.87%, which was an increase from 0.91% at 30 September 2020. Arrears are accounts greater than 60 days delinquent, whilst bad debts are defined as accounts delinquent that are overdue by 180 days on an annualised basis. Net bad debts were virtually unchanged at 2.44% at 30 September 2021.

Weak 2022 BNPL expectations

The McLean Roche boss doesn’t have a good outlook for BNPL ASX shares like Zip and Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT). Cash and cashflow may weaken from here.

The newspaper quoted Mr Halverson on his views:

They’re going to have to try to raise a lot of money. It partly depends on how quickly interest rates go up, because if they go up quickly there could be carnage. If there’s a slower uptick then obviously the carnage will be slower in my view.

More regulation coming?

There is growing noise that regulation could be on the way for ASX buy now, pay later companies that could allow merchants to pass on the BNPL fees to customers. Not only has the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg indicated this, the Payments System Board (which includes the RBA governor and other important financial officials) has also had its say.

The Payments System Board said in a statement that it concluded:

It would be in the public interest for ‘buy now, pay later’ providers to remove their no-surcharge rules, consistent with the Board’s longstanding position on such rules. Given the complexity of the regulatory issues, the Bank will continue engaging with the Treasury on regulatory approaches.

The post More pain for ASX buy now, pay later shares in 2022: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How to snare a multi-bagger ASX share: expert
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Why is the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price zooming 9% higher today?
• Why Life360, Oil Search, Telix, and Zip shares are storming higher
• Here’s why ASX BNPL shares are in the spotlight today

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 AFTERPAY T FPO and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended AFTERPAY T 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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If you’re looking for an easy way to invest in international shares for diversification, then exchange traded funds (ETFs) could be the answer.

But which ETFs should you look at? Listed below are three excellent ETFs that could be worth getting better acquainted with in December. Here’s what you need to know:

BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

The first ETF to look at is the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF. It provides investors with easy access to a number of the most promising tech shares in the Asian market. This means you’ll be owning a slice of well-known companies such as ecommerce giant Alibaba, search engine company Baidu, and WeChat owner Tencent. There are also a number of lesser known companies included in the fund, such as Meituan Dianping and Pinduoduo, with explosive growth potential. And while regulatory issues in China have been weighing on sentiment, there are signs now that the worst could be over.

BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

Another ASX ETF for investors to consider is the BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF. This ETF gives investors exposure to the leading companies in the global cybersecurity sector. Given the growing number of cyberattacks globally and how much infrastructure is now in the cloud, demand for cybersecurity services is expected to rise strongly in the future. This bodes well for companies included in the fund. This includes Accenture, Cisco, Cloudflare, Crowdstrike, Okta, Palo Alto Networks, and Splunk.

VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF (ASX: ESPO)

A final ETF for ASX investors to look at is the VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF. This ETF gives investors exposure to a portfolio of the largest companies involved in video game development, hardware, and esports. Among the quality companies you’ll be buying a slice of are Activision Blizzard, AMD, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Nvidia, Roblox, and Take-Two. VanEck notes that these companies are well-placed to benefit from the increasing popularity of video games and eSports.

The post 3 excellent ETFs for ASX investors to buy in December appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 top ETFs that could be buys in December 2021
• 2 compelling ASX shares that could be buys in December 2021
• How did the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX:HACK) perform in November?
• Why is the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX:ASIA) struggling this month?
• 3 excellent ETFs for ASX investors in December

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 BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF and VanEck Vectors ETF Trust – VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports 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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ASX tech shares could be the sector to look at for opportunities in December 2021.

There has been a lot more volatility in recent months, which could mean better ideas for investors at better prices.

Companies in the technology sector can make it possible to achieve attractive margins and quicker growth.

These ASX tech shares could be opportunities this month:

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is a leading cloud accounting software business which is providing services all over the world. It has sizeable subscriber numbers in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the US, Singapore and South Africa. Total subscribers went up 23% to 3 million in the most recent result.

It’s currently rated as a buy by the broker Credit Suisse with a price target of $160, which is more than 10% higher than it is today. The broker notes the strong margins at Xero. In the FY22 first half, its gross profit margin improved from 85.7% to 87.1%.

The growth of average revenue per user (ARPU) could be an important contributor to operating revenue going forwards. In HY22, ARPU increased 5% to NZ$31.32.

Xero continues to see its annualised monthly recurring revenue (AMRR) increase, showing what the next 12 months of revenue could be. HY22 AMRR went up 29% to NZ$1.13 billion.

The ASX tech share is going to continue to focus on growing its global small business platform and maintain a preference for re-investing cash generated, to drive long-term shareholder value. Historically, that seems to have worked with the Xero share price up more than 750% over the last five years.

Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ASX: ABY)

Adore Beauty is an e-commerce business which sells thousands of different beauty products through its website.

The company is currently rated as a buy by the broker UBS with a price target of $6. That’s around 40% higher than it is today. The broker is expecting double digit revenue growth from Adore Beauty and its new private label brand products could be helpful.

Adore Beauty’s FY22 first quarter showed ongoing revenue growth, active customer growth and returning customer spending. The revenue in the first three months of this financial year grew by 25%.

FY21 showed a number of different pleasing metrics, including annual revenue per active customer increasing $13 over the year to $219. The gross profit margin increased 1.2 percentage points to 33.1%.

Over the longer-term, the business is expecting scale benefits to increase operating leverage and deliver further earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin expansion.

In the current financial year, it is focused on increasing its market share by building its range ‘authority’, providing an “exceptional” online transaction experience and increasing its content-led engagement.

The post Are these 2 ASX tech shares good buys in December? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How to snare a multi-bagger ASX share: expert
• 2 small cap ASX shares to get excited about
• 3 reasons why the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price could be a high-quality buy
• 10 ASX shares to buy in 2022
• 2 ASX shares with strong long term growth potential

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 Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adore Beauty 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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It’s been a nerve-racking time recently for those following the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

The COVID-19 Omicron variant battered confidence a couple of weeks ago, but this week the index rallied hard to recover those losses.

If this were a plane ride, a few people might be reaching for the vomit bag.

According to Shaw and Partners portfolio manager James Gerrish, the ASX 200 was now within 3% of its all-time high just moments after Omicron scared some pessimists away from ASX shares.

He wrote in his Market Matters (MM) newsletter on Thursday that his team is optimistic for the ASX 200 as 2021 winds down.

“MM is still bullish targeting the 7,700 to 7,800 area into early 2022,” he said.

“Another 4% to 5% rally — although higher levels cant be ruled out as the trend’s clearly up.”

To truly put their money where their mouth is, Gerrish’s flagship growth portfolio currently only holds 1% in cash.

“The important factor to remember is MM [is] fully committed to stocks, as we basically have been since the start of the pandemic,” he said.

“If it was a game of poker we would be all-in!”

Why would the ASX 200 rise to end 2021?

Statistical patterns give Gerrish much confidence heading into the last fortnight before Christmas.

“If we assume (dangerous word) that 7,168 is the low for this December we could easily see 7,500 to 7,600 in the coming weeks, just through [simple] extrapolation of the average monthly ranges post COVID,” he said.

“Over the last 40 years the ASX has rallied 85% of the time from mid-December until January, delivering an average return of 2.9%.”

The Australian stock market is dominated by the finance and mining sectors, and the former has always done well at this time of the year.

“The influential banking sector has rallied 100% of the time since 1992 with an average return of 7% — a potentially huge tailwind for the ASX.”

But what to do in 2022?

Gerrish wrote that his team will focus on its existing holdings as share prices rally heading into the new year.

“Tis the time to be merry and boring!”

But what about when the ASX 200 peaks sometime in 2022?

Then the Market Matters experts will sell some shares off to increase their cash holdings.

“We could comfortably see ourselves taking cash levels significantly higher in Q1 of 2022 while we reassess what comes next as interest rates start to rise.”

The post If this is poker, we’re now ALL-IN on ASX shares: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Why did the AGL share price outperform the ASX 200 today?
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Sydney Airport takeover update, Santos falls
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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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Are you looking for dividend shares to buy? If you are, then you might want to look at the shares listed below.

Here’s why these ASX dividend shares could be in the buy zone:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

The first dividend share to look at is Accent. This retailer owns and operates a growing network of footwear focused brands including The Athlete’s Foot, Platypus, and HypeDC to name just three.

Over the last decade, Accent has been growing its earnings and dividend at a strong rate. And while this is unlikely to be the case in FY 2022 due to the negative impact of lockdowns on its performance, a number of brokers expect its strong growth to resume next year.

One of those is Bell Potter, which has a buy rating and $3.05 price target on its shares at present.

As for dividends, the broker is forecasting fully franked dividends per share of 9.1 cents in FY 2022 and then 13.5 cents in FY 2023. Based on the latest Accent share price of $2.34, this represents yields of 3.9% and 5.75%, respectively.

Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Rio Tinto. This mining giant could be a top option due to the quality of its operations, its exposure to in-demand commodities like aluminium, its attractive valuation, and its generous yield.

In respect to the latter, the team at Goldman Sachs is forecasting fully franked dividend yields of ~11%+ in FY 2022 and FY 2023.

Furthermore, the broker sees decent upside for the Rio Tinto share price at the current level. Goldman has a buy rating and $121.00 price target on its shares at present.

One of the reasons Goldman is so positive on the mining giant is its aluminium business. It explained: “In addition to copper production growth, Rio has one of the highest margin, lowest carbon emission aluminium businesses in the world, with over 2.2Mt of Ali production powered by hydro, and we think ELYSIS inert anode technology could be worth billions of $.”

The post Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why ASX 200 mining shares are flying higher
• Why the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price could be a bargain buy
• ASX 200 retail shares lift as Aussies head into Christmas with $240bn in savings
• Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share prices hit by broker downgrade
• Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price sinks amid Serbian protests, Novak Djokovic weighs in

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. 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 Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fought hard but ultimately fell short of recording another gain. The benchmark index dropped 0.3% to 7,384.5 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to fall

The Australian share market looks set to end the week in a subdued fashion. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 8 points or 0.1% lower this morning. This follows a poor night of trade on Wall Street, which late on sees the Dow Jones up 0.2%, but the S&P 500 down 0.2% and the Nasdaq down 1%.

ANZ rated as a buy

The Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price remains in the buy zone according to the team at Bell Potter. In response to its $25 million civil penalty, the broker has retained its buy rating and $31.00 price target on the banking giant’s shares. While another penalty is disappointing, it notes that the bank is well-provisioned for it. Outside this, the broker like ANZ due to its huge opportunity from funding the decarbonisation transition.

Oil prices fall

Energy producers including Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could end the week in the red after oil prices dropped. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 1.6% to US$71.18 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 1.6% to US$74.60 a barrel. Oil prices fell due to concerns about Omicron restrictions in Europe and China.

Annual general meetings

Fund manager Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL) and investment house Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) will be on watch today when they hold their respective annual general meetings. Both companies could provide their shareholders with an update on their performances at their events.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) could have a poor finish to the week after the gold price dropped. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.5% to US$1,775.10 an ounce. The gold price fell following some strong economic data out of the US.

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

More reading

• Why did the AGL share price outperform the ASX 200 today?
• Could rumours over a Westpac (ASX:WBC) mega-merger ever become facts?
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price dips as company eyes east coast market
• Oil Search (ASX:OSH) share price dips despite PNG court approval of Santos (ASX:STO) merger

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 owns and has recommended 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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Shares in banking giant National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) edged higher on Thursday to finish trading at $28.69, up 0.21%.

It’s been a fairly stable year for the NAB share price, as volatility has been constrained and periods of drawdown have been short-lived.

Each downtick in price action has seen NAB springboard off the bottom and climb to new 52-week highs in the days to weeks afterwards.

As such, shareholders have enjoyed a 22% upside in the last 12 months, after shares have rallied a further 27% this year to date, beating the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s return of 10% in the last year.

With this in mind, we ask – what’s the outlook for NAB investors in 2022? Read on to see what the experts are saying.

What can NAB investors expect in 2022?

In terms of financial performance, data provided by Bloomberg Intelligence reveals that the majority of analysts expect NAB to deliver $17.63 billion in revenue in FY22, which could carry through to $6.4 billion in net profit after tax (NPAT).

This calls for a net margin of 36.5%, and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.95 in FY22. Compared to FY21, that’s a growth of 3.6%. At present, the bank’s total capital ratio is 18.91% as of FY21.

The team at JP Morgan reckon there are plenty of legs left in the NAB share price next year and retain an overweight rating on the stock.

JP Morgan’s stance is reflective of what it deems as NAB’s “stronger-than-peer revenue growth prospects more than offsetting uncertainty on potential enforcement action from AUSTRAC on AML”.

Not only that, the broker notes NAB’s stronger revenue profile versus its peers, and that this reflects NAB’s tilt towards small business banking, which should insulate it from return on equity (ROE) pressures in retail banking.

Whilst it acknowledges that there are still headwinds on the horizon for NAB, JP Morgan has these factored into its forecasts and still sees NAB’s “pre-provision profit growth outstripping peers”.

As such it has a December 2022 price target of $31.40 on the share price, a number which NAB is gradually encroaching on, given its current trajectory.

What is the sentiment on NAB for 2022?

Jarden Securities is equally as bullish on the banking sector and likes the recent focus of Aussie banks in capital management, and cost efficiency over the medium term. It values NAB at $31 a share.

Jefferies is the most bullish on NAB, folding in a $32.60 price target on the share, whereas JP Morgan is a close second.

Goldman Sachs, Bell Potter, Jarden and Barrenjoey each value NAB at $31 a share, whereas Macquarie reckons the bank is worth $30.50 per share.

In fact, the bulk of analysts covering NAB – 62.5% to be exact – have NAB as a buy. The average price target of the analyst group is $30.14, according to the list provided by Bloomberg Intelligence.

With this in mind, taking the wisdom of the crowd, this average figure implies an upside potential of 4.7% at the time of writing.

Hence, the sentiment is bullish on NAB shares and going by what these experts think, it may be a period of marginal growth in FY22 for the company’s share price. However, do note that price targets change often on the back of earnings results, and this may very well be the case for NAB early in FY22.

The post What is the outlook for the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price in 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Can NAB (ASX:NAB) shares ever close in on CBA’s market cap?
• Why ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) is losing market share to other big ASX banks
• Here are the 3 top-performing ASX 200 banks of November
• Why did the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price struggle in November?
• Here’s why ASX 200 banks are making news today

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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended up having a bit of a disappointing day of trading this Thursday. The ASX 200 ended up finishing at 7,384.5 points, down 0.28%.

But one ASX share was a far more pleasing spectacle to watch. That was the Pengana Private Equity Trust (ASX: PE1) share price. Pengana Private Equity shares ended up finishing the trading day at $1.66 each, up a very pleasing 7.82%. That came after closing at $1.54 a share yesterday and opening at $1.55 this morning.

What’s more is that the $1.66 share price that Pengana Private Equity finished at was both a new 52-week and all-time high for the fund.

Pengana Private Equity is a fund that invests in private equity (companies not traded on a public share market). It has returned an average performance of 13.3% per annum since its inception (April 2019) and targets a 4% dividend yield.

So what was pushing this trust up so convincingly today?

A new high for Pengana Private Equity shares

Well, it seems that a monthly investment update could be to thank. Pengana put out this ASX notice this morning before market open.

It informed the markets that the Pengana Private Equity Trust returned 9.3% over the month of November. That’s objectively an impressive performance for just one month. Especially considering the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) actually went backwards by close to 1% over the same period.

So how did the Trust make such pleasing bank during November? Well, Pengana cited its investments in Project Rambler, Deliverr and the successful initial public offering (IPO) of the US carmaker Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ: RIVN). On the latter, Pengana stated the following:

We had exposure to the private equity and a convertible security of Rivian, both of which are now held in the company’s public equity. As a participant in the convertible security, we were entitled to additional IPO shares, which we purchased at the IPO price and exited at a material profit shortly after the initial purchase.

The Amazon-backed Rivian made headlines last month when it rocketed nearly 30% on its first day of trading. So you can see how Pengana Private Equity Trust might have made a quid on this investment.

The post Why did Pengana Private Equity Trust (ASX:PE1) shares jump 8% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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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