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The Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) share price continues to defy expectations. In the past month, the battery materials and technology company has set all-time high after all-time high. Even today, shares in the company finished 1.8% higher while the broader market struggled.

In the past month, the Novonix share price has gained around 44%. However, this is infinitesimal compared to the staggering 1,023% rise over the last year.

The seemingly unstoppable rise has given the battery-focused company a market capitalisation of $5.75 billion. This is despite Novonix generating approximately $5.23 million in FY21 revenue.

Clearly, there is some level of expectations for a brighter future playing into the company’s valuation. So, let’s take a look at what kind of future management is expecting.

Novonix share price rides the electric wave

The high growth thematic behind the electric revolution is not exactly a new one at this point. As more stringent climate policies are put in place, the shift towards an electric-powered society through the use of renewables could increase.

Novonix’s expertise in lithium-ion battery technology and synthetic graphite solutions have put the company in the ‘green revolution’ basket for investors.

Many analysts are forecasting an explosion in demand for lithium and other battery-related elements. For Novonix, the expected shortage in supply is where it is finding its value proposition.

At Novonix’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, CEO Dr Chris Burns highlighted an anticipated gap in the market for anode materials — which are required in the batteries of electric vehicles (EVs). He said:

Over the past year, the focus of the company has been on making preparations to scale up its synthetic graphite anode operation to fill the gap in the US supply-chain and meet the demand that will quickly escalate as the world makes its transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and greater use of stationary energy storage at all levels – utility scale, commercial scale and at the household level.

Additionally, the company made mention of its advantage in being the only fully domestic US supply chain of EV battery anode material.

Currently, anode materials travel from the United Kingdom to China, and then to the US. Instead, Novonix offers a much shorter trip by being located locally in the US.

Management’s goal of playing a big role in a growing industry has a lot of investors excited. In turn, the Novonix share price has managed to dodge the waning sentiment witnessed in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) recently. Over the last month, the benchmark index has shaved off 2.3%.

The post Novonix (ASX:NVX) share price combats today’s selloff to remain up 44% in a month. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 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. 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 APA Group (ASX: APA) share price has actually dropped in 2021 so far. What could happen next for the business?

APA has been through a bit of volatility this year. The share price has been above $10 earlier in the year and as low as $8.20 at the end of October.

APA shares have dropped by 3% this year, but the business has seen a strong recovery in the last few weeks. Since the end of October 2021, the APA share price has gone up more than 15%.

Takeover attempt

APA has been trying to buy the Australian energy infrastructure business Ausnet Services Ltd (ASX: AST) which is a large electricity transmission business. APA submitted a non-binding indicative offer for AusNet on 21 September 2021.

Management of APA considers the AusNet business to be “highly attractive”. But, AusNet has decided to proceed with the bid from Brookfield. While APA said it has received strong support from investors in both AusNet and APA for its proposed acquisition, APA said it will continue to remain “financially disciplined”.

Coincidence or not, the APA share price has risen since the date of that announcement.

Basslink debt acquisition

But APA isn’t giving up on making deals happen.

A couple of weeks ago, the business announced it had bought an interest in the debt of the business that is the borrowing entity for Basslink Pty Ltd, which owns and operates the 370km high voltage direct current electricity interconnector between Victoria and Tasmania.

Basslink is the only electricity interconnector between Tasmania and Mainland Australia. It provides two-way access to 500MW of electricity and is critical to the export of Tasmanian renewable energy to Australia’s mainland.

Basslink Pty Ltd entered into voluntary administration and receivership on 12 November 2021.

APA is interested in buying Basslink from the receivership and managers. The face value of the debt that APA acquired an interest in is approximately $99 million, which was bought at a discount and funded from APA’s existing debt facilities.

The acquisition of the debt interest in Basslink provides APA with the opportunity to work with the receivers and managers to put Basslink on a sustainable footing.

If APA is successful in acquiring Basslink, APA will work with Hydro Tasmania, the State of Tasmania, the Australian Energy Regulator and other key stakeholders to convert Basslink to a regulated asset.

APA’s strategy is to expand its electricity transmission footprint and invest in renewable energy sources.

Is the APA share price a buy?

Morgans thinks that APA is a buy, with a price target of $9.98. The broker says that APA is benefiting from the fact that its contracts with customers are linked to CPI inflation, so this is helping the business more than the decline in demand because of more expensive gas prices.

The broker thinks APA is going to pay a distribution of $0.55 per share in FY23, which translates to a forward yield of 5.8%.

The post The APA (ASX:APA) share price has gone backwards in 2021 so far. What’s next? 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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended APA 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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ASX listed and unlisted companies investing in commercial property have weathered the pandemic better than many analysts had forecast.

In fact, some have broadly outperformed the 8% gain delivered by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in 2021 to date.

Despite the headwinds battering the Aussie office markets as many workers continued to work from home this year, the Centuria Office REIT (ASX: COF) has gained 5% in 2021. Atop the share price gain, COF also pays a 7.4% trailing dividend yield, unfranked.

The Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP) has seen strong ASX investor demand, gaining 19% year-to-date. CIP pays a trailing dividend yield of 4.6%, unfranked.

As for Centuria Capital Group (ASX: CNI), which runs the above 2 real estate investment trusts (REITs) as well as investing in unlisted healthcare and other commercial property assets, its share price is up 22% since 4 January. Centuria pays a 3.2% trailing dividend yield, 38% franked.

With these figures in mind and an eye on the year ahead, the Motley Fool turned to Centuria Capital Group’s head of funds management, Ross Lees, for his insights into Australia’s commercial property markets.

Motley Fool: What’s your take on how the office market performed in 2021?

Ross Lees: Despite the backdrop of the pandemic, Australia’s office, industrial, and healthcare markets have all performed quite well.

The domestic office market has been resilient, which has surprised most in the investment markets. In fact, the volume of office transactions throughout Australia during the January to September 2021 period was roughly double that of 2020 during the same period.

There have been a number of high-quality transactions in both the CBD and metropolitan markets during this year, especially for those assets underpinned by quality tenants and providing predictable income streams and long Weighted Average Lease Expiries (WALEs). This tells us there is strong investment demand.

On the office leasing front, in spite of the lockdowns and prevalence of work from home patterns, in late 2021 we’ve seen an uptick in office leasing enquiries. This has been backed by the wider, positive rhetoric from corporate leaders who have a greater expectation that staff will increasingly return to the office for work, particularly from the beginning of 2022.

MF: And how did the industrial market do this past year?

RL: The industrial market has been the standout performer among real estate asset classes in 2021. We’ve seen landmark portfolio transactions and an insatiable demand, from domestic and offshore investors, wanting to increase their exposure to the Australian industrial sector.

The strong investment appetite is complemented by tangible evidence of rental growth, especially within the east coast markets. In some markets, such as the prime Sydney industrial market, yields are now comparable with global markets.

Demand is most dominant within infill, urban markets where occupiers, especially e-commerce operators, are seeking more space close to densely populated areas in metropolitan regions so they can move their goods to consumers more quickly. We refer to this trend as ‘moving from big trucks to white vans’. That is, consumers want their online purchases to be delivered sooner so the logistics sector deploys smaller vehicles more frequently.

MF: Rounding out the list, how did healthcare assets stack up in 2021?

RL: On the healthcare front, 2021 has seen a significant increase in investment from the institutional sector, especially among those looking to diversify their portfolios into alternative markets.

The challenge for investors is the higher barrier of entry into healthcare real estate. However, the underlying metrics of Australia’s ageing population and increased healthcare costs continue to support investment demand for high-quality healthcare property into the future.

MF: That covers the year almost gone by. Looking ahead, what can ASX investors expect from the office, industrial, and healthcare markets in 2022?

RL: The obvious noise in the market is centred around inflation moving through the financial system and what this could mean for increased interest rates and bond yields; most especially, how they affect capitalisation rates in the real estate sector.

Notwithstanding, most ASX investors easily overlook the fact that real estate has historically been considered a hedge against inflation. Should inflation come through the system, there is a risk of an increase in the cost of building and creating new supply across all property sectors. The outcome is likely to result in rising rents.

Centuria expects consumers to continue the accelerated adoption of e-commerce, increasing the demand for industrial assets from occupiers. During 2022, we also expect workers will return to the office, particularly among the major corporates, which will dispel the perceived negativity associated with the office sector.

We also believe there will be increased demand within decentralised office markets, which lend themselves to better worker commutability, particularly for assets within close proximity to public transport infrastructure and main road arterials.

Modern assets with high ESG [environmental, social and governance] and sustainability credentials are also expected to attract high-quality corporate tenants as well as investors.

MF: How is Centuria positioning itself to take advantage?

RL: Over the past 5 years, Centuria’s position has actively and rapidly shifted to the logistics and healthcare sectors. We have significantly expanded our market share in these sectors, growing our portfolios, which are backed by expert management teams with a high degree of specialisation. We are capitalising on the opportunities in these in-demand real estate sectors to deliver compelling returns to our investors.

Centuria has a considered, long-term approach to its investments and operations. We’ve expanded into sectors by executing on robust corporate strategies rather than by short-term, knee-jerk reactions. We’ve identified the opportunities and advantages of the industrial, healthcare, and decentralised office markets and will continue to expand our portfolios within these asset classes to deliver value to our security holders.

The post Investing in ASX office, industrial and healthcare shares? Here’s the outlook for 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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On Wednesday, we looked at three ASX shares that brokers have given buy ratings to this week.

On the flip side, today we look at a few shares that have just been given sell ratings by brokers. Here’s why they are bearish on these ASX shares:

AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP)

According to a note out of UBS, its analysts have retained their sell rating and cut their price target on this financial services company’s shares to 90 cents. The broker made the move after taking into account the company’s demerger plans. UBS isn’t positive on PrivateMarketsCo’s outlook nor that of the core AMP business. Overall, the broker doesn’t believe the demerger will unlock any near-term value for shareholders. The AMP share price is trading at 95 cents on Thursday afternoon.

GrainCorp Ltd (ASX: GNC)

A note out of Bell Potter reveals that its analysts have downgraded this grain exporter’s shares to a sell rating with a $6.15 price target. The broker believes GrainCorp will benefit greatly in FY 2022 due to two of the largest East coast crops and Northern hemisphere crop failures which have elevated canola crush and marketing returns. However, Bell Potter doesn’t expect this to last and is forecasting a ~50% decline in profits in FY 2023 when conditions normalise. In light of this, it feels is shares are overvalued at the current level. The GrainCorp share price is fetching $6.79 today.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)

Analysts at Credit Suisse have retained their underperform rating and $4.10 price target on this airline operator’s shares. The broker suspects that Qantas could now report a greater than expected loss in FY 2022 of ~$1.6 billion. This is due to the emergence of the omicron variant and the prospect of the international travel recovery being delayed. The Qantas share price is trading at $4.91 on Thursday.

The post Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today 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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Shares in coal freight operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ) are inching higher and trade less than 1% in the green at $3.36 today.

Today’s price levels signal a 9-year low for the company, having come off an all time high of $5.91 in August 2019. Since that time, it has yet to make a long-term recovery on the chart and has traded downwards in a curvilinear fashion until today.

In more recent times, the Aurizon share price has been like a runaway freight train, with the company falling from a high of $3.89 on 21 October and trading flat ever since.

What’s the go with the Aurizon share price lately?

Aurizon’s most recent fall from grace has coincided with a large pullback in the price of coal that’s been in situ since early October.

The price of the black rock has tumbled 42% from 10-year highs of US$269.50/tonne to now trade at US$157/tonne in just over 2 months.

A number of negative catalysts have weighed in on the coal markets lately and are keeping prices bottom heavy.

For instance, China’s policies to curb domestic emissions and pollution have wreaked havoc on major raw materials like coal, iron ore and steel in 2021.

Investor concerns over the global economy’s recovery amid the new Omicron COVID-19 variant have also weighed in poorly for coal producers, Trading Economics says.

Shares in Aurizon have fared slightly better than the underlying commodity, wiping only 14% in value across this time frame.

Given that the company’s earnings are largely contingent on what the black rock is fetching, it is considered a price taker and as a result, its share price fluctuates with movements in the price of coal.

Alas, investors have been selling Aurizon shares alongside the fall in coal spot prices.

What else is weighing in?

The company also completed the acquisition of One Rail Australia from Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG). It expects the acquisition to deliver a positive sales impact and lend diversification benefits into new markets.

Aurizon intends to divest One Rail’s NSW and QLD rail businesses in order to derive more value from the $2.35 billion purchase.

Although the deal beefs up Aurizon’s operations by a considerable amount, not all those familiar with the company are as optimistic.

The team at UBS recently re-rated the company to neutral from a buy and applied a 33% downward revision to its price targets on the share.

UBS now values Aurizon at $3.50 per share, a figure in which the company flew underneath today amid the downward momentum of late.

The team at RBC Capital market agree, and also rate the company to underperform, with a slightly more bearish target of $3.30 on the Aurizon share price.

In view of this, sentiment appears to be low on the company’s shares at the current point in time. Investors don’t appear interested in opening long positions either, as today’s volume is just 35% of Aurizon’s 4-week average trading volume of 7,478,874 shares.

Aurizon share price summary

In the past 12 months the Aurizon share price has tumbled more than 20% after sliding a further 14% this year to date.

During the previous month of trading Aurizon shares have slipped less than 1% in the red and are also down almost 3% in the past week.

Suffice to say, its been a difficult time for Aurizon shareholders over the last year.

The post Why is the Aurizon (ASX:AZJ) share price hitting 9-year lows today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the Aurizon (ASX:AZJ) share price struggled this month?
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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 recommended Aurizon Holdings 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has managed to pull itself out of the red on Thursday afternoon. A big contributor to today’s turnaround has been the gains in ASX 200 bank shares.

Interestingly, the positive sentiment towards banks comes amid new capital requirements instated by The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

Today, ASX-listed banking behemoths such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) have managed to shake off any worries of what these new requirements could mean. At present, these two bank shares are trading 2.07% and 1.06% higher respectively.

Let’s dig into the details of what APRA’s latest buffer requirements actually are.

APRA putting the prudent in prudential

In Australia, we are fortunate enough to have a relatively stable economy. While COVID-19 chucked a spanner in the works, prudent banking policy helped negate a collapse in our financial system.

The regulatory body responsible for keeping the banks and other financial institutions in check is APRA, which was established in 1998. Essentially, the independent authority works to protect depositors, policyholders, and superannuation fund members. In doing this, confidence in the local financial system is perpetuated — allowing the gears to keep on turning.

Today, APRA informed the public that it has begun working on new prudential standards. Importantly, these standards are hoped to strengthen the preparedness of ASX 200 banks in the event of a financial crisis. The new standards are known as CPS 190 and CPS 900.

In discussing the proposed new standards, APRA deputy chair John Lonsdale said:

Although Australia has one of the strongest and most stable financial systems in the world, and failures are extremely rare, businesses in any competitive market can face financial difficulties. Should that happen, we want to be sure each entity has the capability to either recover or manage an orderly exit with the smallest possible impact on the community and the financial system.

In short, the standards will ensure APRA-regulated entities have a plan in place for a financial crisis. Secondly, it will require big banks to take pre-emptive measures so that in the event of failure, APRA can pick up the pieces with minimal damage to the financial system.

What other APRA changes are there for ASX 200 banks?

Another important change that is sure to be discussed in ASX 200 bank boardrooms this week is APRA’s finalised loss-absorbing capacity requirements. In simple terms, this is how much spare capital banks are required to have to protect depositors from any fallout.

APRA has decided to increase the minimum total capital requirement to 4.5% of risk-weighted assets. As a result, including other buffers, a typical major bank will need an 18.25% capital buffer. For context, this was previously 13% under the previous requirements.

However, financial institutions — such as ASX 200 banks — will have until 1 January 2026 to reach the new requirement.

So far, both NAB and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) have suggested they will be able to meet the new requirements.

The post Here’s why ASX 200 banks are making news today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. 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) is yet again taking a tumble today, continuing the trend we have had for most of the week. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down by 0.06% at 7,231 points.

But let’s not let that get us down and instead check out the ASX 200 shares currently topping the market trading volume charts, according to investing.com.

3 most active ASX 200 shares by volume this Thursday

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

ASX 200 lithium producer Pilbara Minerals is our first ASX 200 share to check out today. This company has had a sizeable 15.02 million shares bought and sold on Thursday so far.

There is no major news or announcement out from Pilbara, so we can probably look to the company’s share price to find the answer here. Pilbara shares are presently down a nasty 1.92% at $2.55 a share after falling as low as $2.50 earlier in today’s trading session. This is the likely reason behind Pilbara’s elevated trading volumes.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Blue-chip Telstra is our next ASX 200 share to check out. This ASX 200 telco has seen a hefty 15.29 million shares trade hands so far on the markets this Thursday. There’s nothing new out of Telstra today, so we can probably assume this volume is largely the result of the movement of the Telstra share price itself.

As it’s standing at the time of writing, Telstra is up 0.37% at $4.04 a share after a brief stint in negative territory this morning. This is probably why we’ve seen so many Telstra shares trade today thus far.

AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP)

Our final and most traded ASX 200 share today is the bank and wealth manager AMP, with a chunky 25.65 million shares bought and sold on the markets so far. There’s been nothing new out from AMP today.

However, the company’s shares have shed a depressing 3.57% so far today and are now sitting at 94 cents each. This comes after an earlier boost the company enjoyed this week when it discussed its demerger and strategy plans. This could all be involved in these elevated trading volumes we are seeing. 

The post These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Here are the 3 heaviest traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday so far

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Telstra Corporation Limited. 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 shares of and has recommended Telstra Corporation 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 Webjet Ltd (ASX: WEB) share price was out of form in November.

During the month, the online travel agent’s shares lost 13.5% of their value.

Unfortunately, this has wiped out almost all the gains the Webjet share price had made in 2021.

What happened to the Webjet share price in November?

As with many travel shares, concerns about COVID-19 weighed heavily on the Webjet share price in November.

Early on in the month, a surge in cases in Europe led to countries threatening to lock down again, and in some cases actually doing so. This sparked fears that the travel recovery could be derailed just as things were starting to look positive again.

And then kicking the Webjet share price while it was down, was the emergence of the Omicron variant late on in the month. This quickly dampened any positivity from the release of a reasonably solid half year result from Webjet just a few days earlier.

While very little is known about the variant at this point, investors have been quick to exit positions in case this undoes all of the company’s hard work this year. At the same time, short sellers have been loading up, making the company’s shares one of the most shorted on the ASX.

Is this a buying opportunity?

While it is worth remembering that things could change rapidly if the COVID situation deteriorates, the team at Morgans is bullish on Webjet.

Last week the broker upgraded the company’s shares to an add rating with a $6.60 price target. Based on the current Webjet share price, this implies potential upside of 24% for investors over the next 12 months.

Morgans commented: “WEB is targeting to return to pre-COVID booking levels in the 2H23. Management continues to maintain its aspirational market share targets and wants to reduce the company’s cost base by 20% when it returns to scale. This means that WEB should be materially more profitable post COVID.”

The post Here’s what happened to the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price in November and what could come next appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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 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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It’s been a good day on the ASX for the AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price despite no news having been released by the company.

However, it’s not alone in defying a generally poor day on the market to record a gain.

At the time of writing, the AGL share price is $5.47, 4.09% higher than its previous close.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down around 0.03% while the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is sporting a 0.16% drop.

Let’s take a look at what’s happening with the energy provider on Thursday.

What’s going on with the AGL share price?

The AGL share price is taking off today for no apparent reason, but so is the company’s home index.

The S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) is currently up 1.52%, with only one of its constituents not recording a gain.

That is Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI), which has a good reason to not be in the green. It’s currently frozen as it prepares to be taken over.

AGL is the sector’s top performer. Coming in behind it are the share prices of APA Group (ASX: APA) and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG), recording gains of 1.8% and 0.8% respectively.

The strong performance of the AGL share price comes despite recent reports the company is cutting its workforce ahead of its planned demerger and its former CEO landing it on a list of the 5 biggest corporate mistakes of 2021.

ABC News reported yesterday the company is offering staff redundancy packages as it attempts to cut 10% of its costs.

Today, the Australian Financial Review announced it deems former CEO and managing director Brett Redman’s retirement from his role at AGL the worst instance of corporate succession of 2021.

Redman stepped down from the role in April 2021, shortly after the company announced its plan to split in two.

In fact, Redman seemed to be leaving the role because of the structural separation. Thus, his departure put pressure on the company at a particularly sensitive time.

But despite today’s strong performance, the AGL share price is still in the long-term red. Right now, it is 54% lower than it was at the start of 2021.

The post Why is the AGL (ASX:AGL) share price having such a stellar day? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Own AGL (ASX:AGL) shares? Here’s how the company could be set to raise $500m
• Why is the Origin (ASX:ORG) share price outperforming AGL in November?
• Here’s why this top broker is tipping 40% upside for the AGL (ASX:AGL) share price
• Does the AGL share price really offer a 14% dividend yield?
• The AGL (ASX:AGL) share price has lost 8% so far this month. What’s next?

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 owns shares of and has recommended APA 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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When it comes to ASX initial public offerings (IPOs), it often seems to go in one of two ways. An IPO can pay off big on its first day. Or it can lead to bitter disappointment with a share price slump.

Fortunately for investors in Close the Loop Ltd (ASX: CLG), this company’s inaugural day of ASX trading today seems to fall into the former category.

Close the Loop shares have just IPOed on the ASX boards. And so far, it’s going well. To understate it. The company is currently trading at 31 cents a share. That’s a whopping 55% ahead of the initial IPO pricing of 20 cents a share that the company took its shares to market at. No doubt there are some champagne corks being unleashed over at the Close the Loop company offices as we speak.

Close the Loop share price rockets on IPO

Close the Loop is a company that is aiming to provide ‘end-to-end’ solutions for the designing, manufacturing and recycling of products (hence the name). It’s actually a newly merged entity. It follows the marriage of the old Close the Loop with O F Packaging.

Here’s how CEO Joe Foster described it this morning:

Today, Close the Loop becomes Australia’s most advanced vertically integrated design, manufacturing, collection and recycling company, that reduces waste to landfill and gets recycled content back into new products. 

Our award-winning packaging products and regenerative uses for plastics help companies stay ahead of evolving recycling guidelines and regulations.

So the company raised $12 million ahead of its public float from the placement of its shares at 20 cents each. That price valued the company at a market capitalisation of $65.9 million. At the company’s current post-IPO price of 31 cents a share, its market cap would be closer to $102.15 million.

The post Close The Loop (ASX:CLG) share price rockets 55% on IPO 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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