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The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price could be a mover on Wednesday. This is after the company announced the results of its second lithium spodumene concentrate digital auction.

Battery materials exchange price surge

Pilbara Minerals launched a new sales and trading platform for its Pilgangoora project in March. The company saying it provides “flexibility to transaction by auction, tender process or bilateral sale.”

During the inaugural battery materials exchange (BMX) auction held on 29 July, Pilbara Minerals received 62 online bids. The bids ranged from US$700/dry metric tonne (dmt) to US$1,250/dmt free on board Port Hedland, for a 10,000 dmt cargo of spodumene concentrate.

On Thursday, Pilbara Minerals revealed the results of a second spodumene concentrate digital auction. The highest bid was almost double that of its July auction.

Pilbara Minerals said that it intends to accept the highest bid of US$2,240/dmt for the intended 8,000 dmt (spodumene concentrate 5.5%, free on board Port Hedland basis) cargo.

The company added:

…given the strong margins yielded through the BMX trading platform to date, Pilbara Minerals expects to channel more concentrate sales through the platform, including concentrate generated from the recommencement of the Ngungaju processing plant.

According to S&P Global, a China-based bidder said, “We started [bidding] at slightly over $1,100/dmt and we were expecting the price to hit a maximum of $2,000/mt. This [closing price] is a really crazy high one.”

A Chinese refiner also commented that “if we buy at this price, there will be no profit margin left for us.”

Pilbara Minerals share price takes a breather

The Pilbara Minerals share price has been consolidating around the ~$2.20 level since early August.

It has rallied 159% year to date and surged more than 600% in the last 12 months.

During this time, lithium prices have ballooned from multi-year lows to record highs.

In an update for the quarter ending in June last year, reporting agencies indicated spodumene prices in the range of US$410-423/dmt.

The post Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price on watch as lithium prices boom appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares so far today
• Lithium surge, Sydney Airport takeover, ACCC torches Qantas deal. Scott Phillips on Nine’s Late News
• Here are the 3 heaviest trading ASX 200 shares on Monday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price up 6% on Monday as lithium prices hit record high

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun 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 Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price has been out of form in 2021.

Since the start of the year, the supermarket giant’s shares have fallen almost 7%.

Is the Coles share price in the buy zone?

One leading broker sees the weakness in the Coles share price this year as a buying opportunity.

According to a recent note out of Morgans, its analysts have an add rating and $19.80 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current Coles share price of $17.28, this implies potential upside of almost 15% over the next 12 months before dividends.

But the returns don’t stop there. Morgans is forecasting a fully franked dividend of 61 cents per share in FY 2022. If you include this, the potential return on offer stretches to over 18%.

What did the broker say?

Morgans is a fan of Coles due to its strong market position and the belief that consumers will continue to stay at home due to COVID-19. The broker expects this to support solid sales across its 800+ store supermarket network.

And while rival Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) will benefit from the same trends, the broker notes that its shares trade on significantly higher multiples. As a result, it sees far more value in the Coles share price at present.

Morgans commented: “While vaccines are being rolled out across Australia, we think people will continue to spend more time at home due to the ongoing risk of COVID flare-ups with the working-from-home trend also likely to stay for some time (eg, Sydney and Melbourne remain in lockdown indefinitely).”

“This will be beneficial for the major supermarket operators. We continue to see COL (~24x FY22F PE and ~3.5% yield) as offering better value than WOW (32x FY22F PE and 2.5% yield),” it added.

Overall, it feels this makes the Coles share price a good option right now.

The post Why this analyst sees 15% upside for the Coles (ASX:COL) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Coles (ASX:COL) share price on watch amid latest push to Kmart market
• 4 ASX shares just got a massive boost
• Analysts rate these ASX dividend shares as buys
• Top broker says Coles (ASX:COL) share price is a buy
• What does the future look like for the Coles (ASX:COL) share price?

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 shares of and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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 a few new additions to your portfolio in September, then look no further.

Analysts at Morgans have picked out a number of ASX shares that they class as their best ideas for the month.

The first two I looked at can be found here. Whereas below are two more that the broker rates highly in September:

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

Morgans is a fan of this toll road operator and appears to believe it would be a top long term option. This is due to the quality of its assets and its expectation for dividends to rebound quickly once lockdowns and border closures end.

It commented: “We think TCL will continue to be attractive to investors given its market cap weighting (important for passive index tracking flows), the high quality of its assets, management team, balance sheet, and growth prospects. Watch for rapid recovery in DPS alongside traffic recovery and WestConnex acquisition prospects. A negative overhang is the contaminated soil disposal issues related to its West Gate Tunnel Project.”

However, despite being on its best ideas list, the broker still only has a hold rating and $14.26 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest Transurban share price of $13.82.

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)

Another ASX share the broker is positive on is Treasury Wine Estates. Morgans acknowledges that there are risks to the reallocation of its wine from China, but has been very impressed with the performance of its US business. It also believes the company is undervalued based on a sum of the parts (SOTP) valuation.

Its analysts explained: “TWE has the China reallocation risk and it will take 2-3 years to recover these earnings in new markets. However, outside of China, its key markets, particularly the US, are recovering faster than expected from COVID. The new business units centred around the brands, are now fully in place and we are excited to see what they can earn with TWE effectively creating the benefits of a demerger without the extra costs. It also demonstrates that the SOTP is worth materially more than the whole. It shines a light on Penfolds and its best-in-class margins and may ultimately lead to corporate activity in some form in the future. We rate this management team highly.”

Morgans has an add rating and $14.01 price target on the company’s shares. This compares favourably to the current Treasury Wine share price of $12.28.

The post 2 more of the best ASX share ideas according to this leading broker appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy now
• Transurban (ASX:TCL) share price slides as WestConnex bid day arrives
• Here are the 3 hottest ASX shares to buy right now: expert
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with attractive yields
• Could this be the next international challenge for Treasury Wines (ASX:TWE)?

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 shares of and has recommended Treasury Wine Estates Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Are you looking to make some additions to your portfolio in September? If exchange traded funds (ETFs) are of interest to you, then you might want to look at the three listed below.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

The first ETF to look at is the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF. This ETF gives investors access to a number of the most promising tech shares in the Asian market. This includes ecommerce giant Alibaba, search engine company Baidu, WeChat owner Tencent, and online retail platform Pinduoduo.

The BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF has come under pressure recently amid a crackdown on tech shares by Chinese regulators. While this is disappointing, it could be a buying opportunity for long term and patient investors.

BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

Another ASX ETF to look at is the BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF. This ETF gives investors exposure to the leading companies in the global cybersecurity sector. This includes the likes of Accenture, Cisco, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Okta, Splunk, Zscaler, Crowdstrike.

Due to the growing threat of cyberattacks globally, demand for cybersecurity services has been increasing strongly. The good news is that this trend is expected to continue in the future, which puts these companies (and the ETF) in a strong position for growth over the 2020s.

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 allows investors to gain exposure to the largest companies involved in video game development, hardware, and esports. This includes 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. This could make the ETF a top long term option for investors.

The post 3 highly rated ETFs for ASX investors in September appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 popular ETFs for ASX investors to buy
• 2 top ASX growth shares that might be worth buying
• 3 top quality ETFs for ASX investors
• 3 ASX tech shares to buy
• 2 excellent ETFs for ASX investors this week

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 shares of and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS and BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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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If you’re a fan of growth shares like I am, then you may want to look at the two listed below.

Here’s why these could be growth shares to buy this month:

Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Hipages. It is a leading Australian-based online platform and software as a service (SaaS) provider that connects tradies with residential and commercial consumers.

The Hipages platform not only helps tradies grow their businesses by providing job leads, but it also allows them to communicate with customers and run general admin duties.

Last month the company released its FY 2021 results and delivered a 22% jump in revenue to $55.8 million. This was ahead of its guidance for the year. In addition, the company revealed that its monthly recurring revenue (MRR) rose 27% year on year to $5.2 million.

Goldman Sachs remains very positive on the company and sees it as a great long term option. It notes that Hipages currently captures around 5% of total industry advertising spend. However, it sees scope for this to increase to 40% to 60% in the future as the company builds out its ecosystem.

The broker currently has a buy rating and $4.35 price target on the company’s shares.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

Another ASX growth share to look at is REA Group. It is a leading provider of property and property-related services via websites and mobile apps across Australia and Asia.

It is best-known for the realestate.com.au website which is dominating the ANZ market. So much so, during FY 2021, the company revealed that 12.6 million people visited its website each month on average. This led to a 35% increase in average monthly visits to 121.9 million, which was 3.3 times more than its nearest competitor.

This led to the company delivering a 13% increase in revenue to $928 million and a 19% jump in EBITDA to $565 million. The latter was ahead of expectations.

Looking ahead, thanks to its dominant market position, the thriving housing market, and new acquisitions and revenue streams, REA Group appears well-positioned for growth over the 2020s.

The team at Macquarie are very positive on the company’s outlook. As a result, the broker has an outperform rating and $185.00 price target on its shares.

The post 2 excellent ASX growth shares named as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• 3 excellent ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) shares worth a closer look
• 2 fantastic blue chip ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) shares to buy in September
• 2 exciting ASX tech shares to buy

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 shares of and has recommended Hipages Group Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price closed up 0.6% yesterday to finish the day at $106.66 per share.

That gain was a welcome reprieve for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) listed iron ore miner.

The Rio Tinto share price has been trending steadily lower since early August, under pressure from sliding iron ore prices, which have dropped 23% over the past 4 weeks.

With some 6 weeks having now passed since Rio reported its half-year financial results for the 6 months ending 30 June, we take a look at a brief recap of those results, and how the Rio Tinto share price has been tracking since then.

What results did the ASX 200 miner report for H1FY21?

The company released its half-year results after market close on 28 July.

That meant the Rio Tinto share price wasn’t impacted by those results until the following day. We’ll look at those moves below. But first, here are some of the key metrics the miner reported.

The company’s consolidated sales revenue hit US$33.1 billion. That was up 71% from the prior corresponding period. Cash flow also leapt to US$10.2 billion, up 262% from the prior corresponding half year.

Little wonder then that the company shared the wealth with its investors.

Rio declared an interim dividend of $3.76 per share, fully franked. If investors weren’t already pleased with that, they likely were satisfied with the declaration of a special dividend of US$1.85 per share, also fully franked.

Rio Tinto’s CEO Jakob Stausholm highlighted that the company’s future isn’t dependent on iron ore alone.

Stausholm said: “We are further strengthening the portfolio with our commitment to fund the high-quality Jadar lithium project, which signals our large-scale entry into the fast-growing battery materials market.”

How has the Rio Tinto share price performed since the results?

On 29 July, the first day investors had to digest the half-year results, the Rio Tinto share price closed up 1.5%.

As mentioned up top, it’s since come under increasing pressure from falling iron ore prices.

Rio Tinto shares are down around 20% since the company released its half-year financial results. By comparison, the ASX 200 is up 1% over that same time.

The post How has the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price performed since reporting results? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The latest ASX 200 mining shares to get hit by broker downgrade
• How have these ASX 200 iron ore shares performed since reporting results?
• Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price grounded as US$2.4b lithium mine faces local opposition
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• How have ASX resources shares performed during the August 2021 earnings season?

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 fund manager Wilson Asset Management (WAM) has told investors about two ASX shares that it has in its portfolio.

WAM operates several listed investment companies (LICs). Some, like WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE), focus on larger companies.

There’s also one called WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM) which targets “the most compelling undervalued growth opportunities in the Australian market.”

The WAM Capital portfolio has delivered an investment return of 16.7% per annum since inception in August 1999, before fees, expenses and taxes. This gross return outperformed the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index return of 8.8% per annum over the same timeframe.

These are the two ASX shares that WAM Capital outlined in its most recent monthly update:

Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR)

Carsales owns and operates the biggest online automotive classified business in Australia. If someone wants to buy a vehicle, then there’s a good chance they may use a Carsales digital offering to research or find it. The website reportedly has a monthly unique audience of 4.35 million. There are 29.5 million monthly sessions by users.

Readers may have heard of carsales.com.au, but it also has a similar website for bikes, boats, construction vehicles, caravan camping sales, trucks, tyres and farm machinery.

The ASX share is increasingly becoming a global player in the auto world. It operates leading auto websites in countries with sizeable populations such as South Korea, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina.

WAM noted that Carsales’ FY21 result showed a 10% increase in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to $254 million. Carsales also achieved the highest annual growth in net profit after tax (NPAT) in seven years. Adjusted net profit rose 11% to $153 million and reported net profit grew 9% to $131 million.

The fund manager said that car buyers and sellers in Australia, South Korea and Brazil used its sites at record levels as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to buying and selling cars online.

The classifieds business also announced the 49% acquisition of Trader Interactive, a US-based marketplace business that has a leading position in the recreational vehicle, powersports, commercial truck and equipment markets. This acquisition was founded through a combination of debt and a $600 million fully underwritten pro-rata accelerated renounceable entitlement offer.

City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX)

City Chic was the other ASX share that WAM named in its portfolio. This business is a global retailer that sells plus-size clothes, footwear and accessories for women. It has a store network in Australia and New Zealand, whilst also selling a large amount of products online.

WAM pointed out that it achieved “strong” sales and customer growth in FY21. Sales increased 33%, customers rose 61% and customer website traffic grew 68% year on year.

The fund manager stated that this result reflected the company’s expanded online product offering and the acquisition of local UK leader Evans, which gave it entry into the UK plus-size market.

The ASX share’s diversified global footprint has minimised the impact of lockdown enforced store closures in Australia, with 44% of sales recorded outside of Australia and New Zealand, according to WAM.

In the fund manager’s eyes, City Chic is well positioned to expand its market share and benefit from the strength of the Australian and global consumer.

The post Wilson Asset Management (WAM) thinks these 2 top ASX shares are a buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These three ASX retail shares delivered double (and triple!) digit returns in 2021
• The WAM Capital (ASX:WAM) share price is up 6% in a month. What’s next?
• These 8 ASX shares are going ex-dividend this week
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• 3 ASX 200 shares hitting fresh all-time highs on Monday

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 has recommended carsales.com 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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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, Tribeca Investment Partners Alpha Plus portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu unveils 2 best ASX shares to buy now and why she regrets selling Xero.

Hottest ASX shares

MF: What are the 2 best stock buys right now?

JBL: oOh!Media Ltd (ASX: OML) is one. This is a little bit smaller and speculative. 

I think it’s attractive because, yes, their share price had a bit of a rally post-result but, again, this is another reopening play that you would put into your portfolio. Outdoor advertising has been hit very, very hard. Especially for OML, they have big exposure to the airports. The billboards in the airports. And that has been very challenging for them, but now the company has very strong balance sheets and what we have seen is that the advertising has picked up significantly across TV, across radio, across pretty much every medium aside from outdoor.

Our view is that outdoor being a premium asset in the media, traditional media category, it will return in a sharp way. We actually have seen that, when domestic travel picked up before the latest lockdown. We saw those numbers pick up significantly. Yeah, to us, this company will rip as soon as all the travelling, even domestic travel, starts opening up. Its earnings are well placed to grow very strongly.

Another great thing is that the outdoor market has gone through quite a significant consolidation. OML now is the largest player in that space and it’s trading at the cheapest, compared to its global peers. Just on that basis, we really think that it’s not going to remain that cheap for long.

MF: And the second pick?

JBL: Let’s go Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC). 

Ramsay is one that, again, I’m picking companies that have a reopening trait to them. Simply because their earnings will grow better than other companies that didn’t get impacted. Ramsay, obviously private hospitals, and elective surgery at the moment is being suspended — it’s having an earnings impact. However, remember, this is infrastructure-like, private hospital assets.

It used to trade at such a big premium to the market, at a premium to the other healthcare businesses. Now it trades just over 20 times [forward P/E ratio]. The rest of the healthcare sector trades at over 40. 

And this is a business, structurally, things are looking better, not looking at the pandemic. Simply because if you look at the private health insurance membership, it started growing for the first time in decades. People are becoming more health-conscious because of the pandemic, so that should generally flow through to a very healthy chain of private hospital growth every year.

At the same time, private hospitals have gone through an efficiency program, trying to take out costs. So when revenue does return, we will see nice top-line growth and nice margin expansion in the next 12 to 18 months.

MF: I didn’t realise private health take-up has increased this year. That’s a reversal of the long-term trend.

JBL: Yeah. It’s reversed. And they’ve been sustainably higher — every month we’ve seen very positive growth coming through. That’s very positive for the industry. 

Remember the old days when they were positive. They used to put on 5% to 7% [premium increases] per year, and then the private hospitals put up their prices 7% a year. It’s very healthy for that whole ecosystem.

The ASX share for a comfortable night’s sleep

MF: If the market closed tomorrow for 5 years, which stock would you want to hold?

JBL: Easy. Ramsay would be sitting in there. I think even CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) would be sitting in that case, as well, but CSL’s expensive. Ramsay would be, absolutely. 

Hospitals have still got to run no matter what happens. The pandemic is the only [event] that actually hurt the private hospitals. Otherwise, hospitals would be running year in, year out.

Looking back

MF: Is there a move that you regret from the past? For example, a missed opportunity or buying a stock at the wrong timing or price.

JBL: It happens all the time. I think I have a selective memory. I just normally blank them out. 

When Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) was sold off in March, we bought. We stepped up and we bought a lot of Xero in March. I think it went to like $90-something dollars, and then it rallied back to like $130. 

At $130, $140, I was like, “Nah, we’re done. I need to take profit and put into other things”.

And, of course, the share price keeps moving. I do regret, for a high quality company, I do regret not holding onto it. 

But you know what? I probably put into something that will equally outperform meaningfully.

This is always the hardest thing for investors, knowing when to sell — because your behavioural biases come in. 

The post 2 ASX shares that won’t stay cheap: fund manager appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price too expensive right now?
• Is the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price heading to $165?
• ASX 200 tech shares are dragging the market on Monday
• Why Appen (ASX:APX) and this ASX growth share could be buys
• These ASX 200 dividend shares are about to dish out $40bn to shareholders

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of CSL Ltd. and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ramsay Health Care Limited and oOh!Media 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 Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price has flipped from high ascender to swift decliner in mere months. Unfortunately for shareholders, more steel production curbs are being imposed in China. This continues to weigh on the weakening price per tonne of iron ore.

The iron ore producer’s shares closed on Tuesday at $18.08. This means the Fortescue Metals share price has shaved off 31.25% over the past 7 weeks.

Let’s take a look at what is impacting the company.

What’s weighing on the Fortescue Metals share price?

Policies stronger than steel

What was once booming is now bending back down at the peril of China’s production curbs. Iron ore prices fell another 4.5% yesterday to a 10 month low of US$123.84 a tonne. It seems investors are growing increasingly anxious over the drastic plunge in the commodity’s price.

Since July, the iron ore price has been in free fall, tumbling 46% from record highs of US$230 a tonne to today’s current price.

Certainly, the heat on iron ore producers is only getting hotter. According to reports, China’s steel-producing province Yunnan has instructed steel mills to ensure crude steel output decreases in 2021. Meanwhile, government documentation noted that part of September’s planned production would be delayed to November and December.

The steel mills of Yunnan province are responsible for approximately 2.3% of China’s total crude steel production.

On top of this, investors are remaining wary of the looming potential increase in global supply. Brazilian iron ore miner, Vale, recently shared its production forecasts at a conference with analysts. Vale expects to produce 370 million tonnes in 2022, increasing from the 343 million tonnes this year.

If supply was to increase out of pace with demand, this could potentially weaken iron ore prices further, likely dampening the Fortescue Metals share price.

Analysts revise outlook

The not-so-optimistic road ahead has led some analysts to step down their price targets for iron ore. For example, analysts from Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) have recently shifted year-end forecasts from US$175 per tonne to US$125.

Similarly, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) mining and energy economist Vivek Dhar foresees further woes. The economist is forecasting the iron ore price to fall to US$100 by the fourth quarter of 2022.

If these estimates eventuated the Fortescue Metals share price could also be under pressure in the near and medium-term.

The post The Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price is down 31% in 7 weeks. What’s next? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• The latest ASX 200 mining shares to get hit by broker downgrade
• How have these ASX 200 iron ore shares performed since reporting results?
• Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price struggles amid new production curbs in China
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

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

But which ASX dividend shares should you consider buying? Two that are rated highly are listed below. Here’s what you need to know:

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT. It is a real estate investment trust focused on social infrastructure properties. These include properties such as childcare centres and government sites.

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT was on form in FY 2021. It reported a 103% increase in statutory profit to $174.1 million thanks to a strong operating performance and further increases in its property valuations.

This allowed the company to increase its distribution to 19.71 cents per share. This comprises a distribution of 15.7 cents and a special distribution of 4 cents.

Looking ahead, management has provided guidance for a distribution of 16.7 cents per share, which represents a 6.4% increase year on year. Based on the current Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT share price of $3.72, this will mean a yield of 4.5% for investors.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company. It has a buy rating and $3.81 price target on its shares. It notes the company has the balance sheet capacity to make significant acquisitions, which are not included in its guidance.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Another ASX dividend share to consider is Westpac. Thanks to Australia’s solid economic recovery from the pandemic, a thriving housing market, and its material cost reduction plans, Westpac’s outlook has been improving greatly.

All in all, this has analysts forecasting solid dividend growth from Australia’s oldest bank in the coming years.

For example, the team at Citi has pencilled in dividends per share of $1.16 in FY 2021 and then $1.30 in FY 2022. Based on the current Westpac share price of $25.72, this will mean fully franked yields of 4.5% and 5%, respectively.

The broker also sees decent upside for its shares. Citi currently has a buy rating and $30.00 price target on Westpac’s shares at present.

The post 2 high quality ASX dividend shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of 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 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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