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The HomeCo Daily Needs REIT (ASX: HDN) share price won’t be going anywhere on Monday.

This morning the convenience retail-focused real estate investment trust (REIT) requested a trading halt.

Why is the HomeCo Daily Needs share price in a trading halt?

The HomeCo Daily Needs share price was placed in a trading halt this morning so the company could undertake a capital raising.

According to the release, the company is raising $88.3 million via a fully underwritten placement at an issue price of $1.61 per share. This represents a 3.6% discount to the current HomeCo Daily Needs share price.

Why is the company raising funds?

The company is raising capital to partially fund the acquisition of a 100% interest in six daily needs assets for a total purchase price of $222 million. This represents a weighted average acquisition capitalisation rate of 5.78%.

The release explains that these assets have 80% exposure to major national tenants. This includes retailers such as Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), and Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL).

In addition, management notes that the acquisition increases exposure to strategic growth corridors and accretive brownfield development opportunities.

Another positive is the highly secure income these assets provide. This is via long weighted average lease expiries (WALE) of 7.1 years, a 99.5% occupancy rate, and a fixed WARR of 3.3%.

HomeCo Daily Needs’ Fund Portfolio Manager, Paul Doherty, commented: “The acquisitions and placement announced today are consistent with HDN’s strategy to secure high-quality daily needs focused assets which complement our model portfolio and deliver stable and growing distributions.”

“The acquisition properties were all secured off market and offer highly defensive and growing income streams via long-term leases to major national tenants, high occupancy and embedded rental growth through fixed annual rental reviews of 3.3%. Furthermore, the assets are strategically located in key growth corridors with low site coverage, which provides further upside potential from future accretive brownfield development.”

Guidance upgrade

Also potentially giving the HomeCo Daily Needs share price a boost is management’s guidance. It is expecting the acquisitions to be accretive to its funds from operations (FFO) in FY 2022.

Management is forecasting 3% accretion to its FFO per share in FY 2022. As a result, it has lifted its distribution guidance from 8 cents per share to 8.25 per share.

Based on the latest HomeCo Daily Needs share price of $1.66, this will mean a yield of 5% for investors.

The post HomeCo Daily Needs (ASX:HDN) share price halted on acquisition and guidance upgrade news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 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?
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with attractive yields

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET and Super Retail 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 Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has been on a rollercoaster ride in 2021. Shares in the Aussie bank are up 4.4% in the last 6 months but 30.7% since the start of the year.

So, what’s been happening for the ASX bank share in recent times?

Why the Westpac share price is on a rollercoaster ride

The year started off strongly for shareholders as the Westpac share price surged higher in the first six weeks of the year.

From January 4 to February 18, shares in the Aussie bank rocketed 24.2% higher. That’s despite the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) climbing just 3% in that same period.

Interestingly, there were no price-sensitive announcements from the bank until its first quarter update on 17 February. There was minimal activity from Westpac once again until its 3 May half-year results release.

Some of the big takeaways from the result include:

• Statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) up 189% on the prior corresponding period (pcp) to $3,443 million
• Cash earnings up 256% on pcp to $3,537 million
• Return on equity increased to 10.2%
• Net interest margin down 4 basis points on pcp to 2.09%

The Westpac share price has muddled along in the months since. Shares in the Aussie bank have climbed just 4.4% in the last 6 months and are underperforming the benchmark Aussie index.

Recent months have been eventful for shareholders with a number of announcements and big changes at the bank.

The bank has provided an update on Westpac New Zealand and announced it will hold onto the trans-Tasman subsidiary. Another major announcement moving the Westpac share price was the uncovering of potential fraud.

Westpac initiated proceedings against Forum Finance in July after reporting a potential exposure of around $200 million after tax from the alleged fraud.

There was also the $87 million in compensation unveiled for failing to provide critical information to customers in its financial advice business between 2005 and 2019.

The Westpac share price was once again one to watch after selling its Westpac Life New Zealand business in early July after the A$373 million sale of its general insurance business to Allianz.

The post It’s been a rollercoaster for the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price over the last 6 months appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• A look at insider buying among ASX 200 big four bank shares
• Analysts name Westpac (ASX:WBC) and this dividend share as buys
• How have ASX bank shares performed during the August 2021 earnings season?
• The Macquarie (ASX:MQG) share price is outperforming the ASX big 4 in the past month
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price slumps amid reports of sale delays

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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 Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price has been trotting on an upwards trajectory until recently. The conglomerate’s shares hit a record high of $42.66 on 20 August before some profit-taking swooped in.

Similarly, Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) has suffered the same fate although tracking lower around the same time. The company’s shares reached an all-time high of $67.20, also on 20 August.

However, when looking at year-to-date, Woolworths shares have edged 14% higher while Wesfarmers shares have gained 12%.

Woolworths expands customer offering, seizes growth opportunities

While many businesses have been severely impacted by COVID-19, it has been a different story for Woolworths.

The business has trialled or implemented a range of initiatives, focusing on customer convenience.

Last month, Woolworths announced it teamed up with Uber Eats to offer same hour grocery delivery across Australia. The partnership centred on delivering groceries, fruits and vegetables to customers at short notice.

Another feature, the contactless direct to boot pick-up service grew to 379 sites, bringing the total to 629 stores. Direct to boot offers customers the opportunity to order online and have a personal shopper fill the order in-store. The forward-thinking measure is another example the company has executed to attract new market share.

And if that’s not enough, Woolworths launched a trial of 4 temperature-controlled self-service lockers.

Clearly, the company is adapting and taking advantage of changing consumer trends during the pandemic. This has led to bumper earnings for Woolworths which has had an overall positive effect on its shares.

Is the Woolworths share price a buy?

Since the release of its full-year results, a number of brokers have weighed in on the company’s shares.

Australia’s leading investment house, Morgans, raised its price target for Woolworths shares by 4.9% to $38.40. Following suit, Macquarie had a more bullish outlook, adding 7.8% to $41.50.

Furthermore, analysts at Citi increased its rating by 2.6% to $40.60 apiece. Based on the current Woolworths share price of $39.66, this implies a slight upside of 2.3%.

Woolworths has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 32.57, meaning investors are willing to pay $32.57 for every $1 in earnings. It’s evident there are high-growth expectations for the company in the near-term future.

The post Why the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price has outperformed Wesfarmers so far this year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 4 ASX shares just got a massive boost
• Is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price a buy for dividends?
• These ASX 200 dividend shares are about to dish out $40bn to shareholders
• It hasn’t been a great week for the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price
• How have ASX retail shares performed during the August 2021 earnings season?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 Wesfarmers 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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If one of your ASX shares goes ex-dividend, it’s one of the best reasons to have the price of your shares go down. Nothing is free in this world, and so if new shareholders of a company don’t get to receive a dividend, then that reality will be reflected in the share price.

So here are some of the most prominent ASX shares that are going ex-dividend this coming week.

8 ASX dividend shares are going ex-dividend this week

HUB24 Ltd (ASX: HUB)

Wealth manager HUB24 is going ex-dividend this week, today to be precise. HUB24 is set to shell out 5.5 cents per share, fully franked, on 15 October. At the last HUB24 share price of $29.19 the company has a dividend yield of 0.34%.

L1 Long Short Fund Ltd (ASX: LSF)

This listed investment company (LIC) is one of the largest on the ASX, despite its age of approximately 3 years.

It will be paying out a 3 cents-per-share dividend, fully franked, on 1 October after it trades ex-dividend today. At the last Long Short Fund share price of $2.75, the company has a dividend yield of 1.64%.

Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR)

Tassal shares are going ex-dividend on Tuesday for this salmon producers’ final dividend for FY21 of 3 cents per share, fully franked. At the last Tassal share price of $3.56, the company has a dividend yield of 3.93%.

TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG)

Telecom company TPG is next up. This telco’s shares are also going ex-dividend on Tuesday.

TPG’s interim dividend will come out at 8 cents per share, fully franked, on 13 October. At the last TPG share price of $6.64, the company has a dividend yield of 2.41%.

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

Home appliance company Breville trades ex-dividend on Tuesday for the company’s final dividend of 13.5 cents per share, fully franked, which will be paid out on 7 October. At the last Breville share price of $30.35, the company has a dividend yield of 0.87%.

News Corporation (ASX: NWS)

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is our last Tuesday ex-dividend share.

Shareholders can look forward to receiving their cash payment of 9.47 cents per share, unfranked, on 13 October. At News Corp’s last share price of $29.50, the company has a dividend yield of 0.77%.

Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW)

Recently made famous for its shenanigans with Boral Limited (ASX: BLD), Seven Group is another company trading ex-dividend this week, specifically on Thursday.

Shareholders can look forward to receiving their 23 cents-per-share dividend, fully franked, on 29 October (clearly the Seven board isn’t into superstition). At the last Seven Group share price of $20.70, the company has a dividend yield of 2.22%.

Carsales.com Ltd (ASX: CAR)

Carsales shareholders will be, er, driving away… with their fully franked 22.5 cents-per-share final FY21 dividend on 18 October after it trades ex-dividend on Friday. At the last Carsales share price of $25.25, the company has a dividend yield of 1.87%.

The post These 8 ASX shares are going ex-dividend this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• How have ASX telecommunication shares performed during the August 2021 earnings season?
• 2 fast-growing ASX shares named as buys
• Why the Boral (ASX:BLD) share price is down 17% in a month
• 3 top ASX growth shares for investors in September

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. owns shares of and has recommended Hub24 Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hub24 Ltd, TPG Telecom Limited, and 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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As billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson blasted off for joy flights this year, investors’ thoughts have turned to space.

For many decades, the prohibitive cost of sending humans outside earth meant space travel was monopolised by the public sector.

But this is no longer the case, according to Nucleus Wealth head of investments Damien Klassen.

“For me, what is incredible is the pace of cost reductions being seen in the sector,” he said on the Nucleus blog. 

“Elon Musk’s SpaceX has brought the cost of launching equipment into space down by a factor of 10. And there is a realistic roadmap to bringing it down by another factor of 10.”

He pointed out that only 20 years ago solar power was “a novelty”, but after dramatic cost reductions, it is now transforming the energy industry.

“The question is, what sectors could be affected by a similar change? What emerging trends should we be watching today?” 

Klassen said the entry of the private sector makes the new space race very exciting.

“Plus it is an interesting hedge on the continued souring of US-China relations. If the space sector isn’t at least on your radar, it should be.”

How to get exposure to the space sector

There are many ways to invest in the space industry in overseas markets.

Mammoth US defence contractors, like Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT), are one path.

“But space investment is only a part of a very large company. And they are often not working on some of the cutting edge technology.”

Klassen mentioned that there are a couple of space-themed exchange-traded funds in the US too: Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ: UFO) and ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (BATS: ARKX).

But as for ASX shares, he named 4 companies.

“Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS) is the biggest of the crew,” said Klassen.

“Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN), Xtek Ltd (ASX: XTE), and Kleos Space SA (ASX: KSS) round it out.”

The Australian companies are small caps, so there is considerable risk compared to the much larger overseas investments.

“If you are looking for Australian stocks, then be prepared for some red ink on your P&L,” Klassen said.

“You need to be comfortable with the product and see a path to profitability.”

He warned investors to avoid buying “a dream”.

“If there is another space race, you can expect most defence contractors to benefit. That will not be the case for smaller stocks.”

Electro Optic Systems shares have lost 37% for the year, while Xtek has shaved 26% off its value. Meanwhile, Brainchip has gained 10.5% so far in 2021 and Kleos Space has returned a handsome 56.5%.

The post Want to invest in space? Here are 4 ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
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• Electro Optic Systems (ASX:EOS) share price falls despite revenue growth
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of Brainchip Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Lockheed Martin. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Electro Optic Systems 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 Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price will be one to watch on Monday.

This follows the release of an update on its takeover approach this morning.

Why is the Sydney Airport share price on watch?

The Sydney Airport share price could be heading higher today after it announced the receipt of a revised indicative, conditional and non-binding proposal from the Sydney Aviation Alliance.

According to the release, the Sydney Aviation Alliance has proposed to acquire the airport operator by way of scheme of arrangement and trust scheme at an indicative price of $8.75 cash per stapled security.

This represents a 9.4% premium to the Sydney Airport share price at Friday’s close. It is also an increase on Sydney Aviation Alliance’s previous offers of $8.25 cash per share on 5 July and $8.45 cash per share on 16 August.

However, unlike the previous offers which were determined not to be in the best interests of Sydney Airport securityholders, the Sydney Airport Board is open to this proposal.

What was the response?

The release explains that after taking advice and considering all relevant factors, the Sydney Airport Board intends to grant the Sydney Aviation Alliance the opportunity to conduct due diligence on a non-exclusive basis.

This is to enable it to put forward a binding proposal, subject to entry into a non-disclosure agreement on acceptable terms. That due diligence is expected to take four weeks from entry into the non-disclosure agreement.

Should all go to plan and the Sydney Aviation Alliance makes its $8.75 cash per share offer binding and on acceptable terms, the current intention of the Sydney Airport Board is to unanimously recommend that securityholders vote in favour of the proposal.

This will be in the absence of a superior proposal. It also remains subject to an independent expert concluding that the proposed transaction is in the best interests of Sydney Airport securityholders.

However, the company has warned that there is no certainty that a binding offer will be made. As a result, Sydney Airport securityholders do not need to take any action in response to this proposal.

The post Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price on watch after new takeover approach appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How have ASX travel shares performed during the August 2021 earnings season?
• Why is the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price in focus this week?
• The Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price has gained 37% in the last 6 months
• Transurban (ASX:TCL) share price could get boost from WestConnex rumour
• Why some investors may be hoping the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price 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 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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Trust in institutions has been waning in recent times, so an ASX-listed company is doing well if its reputation improves over time.

This week 4 ASX shares enjoyed a nice boost from exactly that.

Research firm Roy Morgan this week revealed the latest Australia’s ‘most trusted brands’ league ladder.

And it seems in the age of COVID-19, Australians have high trust in basic goods retail.

Australians trust their supermarkets

Supermarket giants Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) are the most and second most trusted brands respectively, as Australians stepped over each other to buy precious toilet paper.

A couple of Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) labels also rated highly for the June quarter, with Bunnings Warehouse coming 3rd and Kmart ranked 5th.

The privately held grocery chain Aldi was the 4th most trusted, rounding out the top 5.

Roy Morgan chief Michele Levine said the big three supermarkets have proved essential for Australians in the past 18 months.

“The latest lockdowns in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra will again emphasise their importance to many.”

The other big winner was department store Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR), whose shares have enjoyed a long-awaited revival in the past few weeks.

It was a new entrant to the top 10, ranking as the 7th most trusted brand in the country.

Similarly, Woolworths’ department store BigW also barged into the club for the first time, at number 10.

Much uncertainty after current lockdowns end

When current coronavirus lockdowns end, 70% or 80% of the adult population will be fully vaccinated.

And that would bring unprecedented difficulties for retailers, according to Levine.

“This is a big difference from prior lockdowns as Australians will be ‘living with COVID’ for the first time when these lockdowns end,” she said.

“This new ‘COVID-normal’ will provide a challenging environment for retailers that rely heavily on personal interactions between staff and customers. The big question facing retailers is how they manage the questions of ‘vaccination mandates’ for staff and ‘vaccination passports’ for customers without destroying the trust they’ve built up over the past year.”

The retail sector, as the public-facing layer of commerce, would have to put up with enforcing the rights of the vaccinated — or more aptly, the denial of unvaccinated customers.

“Retailers in particular will face the ‘sharp edge’ of these issues with the high level of interactions between staff and customers they deal with every day of the week.”

The post 4 ASX shares just got a massive boost appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Analysts rate these ASX dividend shares as buys
• Is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price a buy for dividends?
• These ASX 200 dividend shares are about to dish out $40bn to shareholders
• It hasn’t been a great week for the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price
• Top broker says Coles (ASX:COL) share price is a buy

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 owns shares of and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET and Wesfarmers 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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Luckily for income investors, the Australian share market is home to a good number of quality dividend shares.

Two that are highly rated by analysts right now are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is this supermarket giant. It has been over a century since GJ Coles opened his first store in Collingwood, Victoria in 1914. Since then, Coles has gone on to become one of Australia’s most recognisable brands and one of the big two players in the supermarket industry.

Coles now has over 800 supermarkets across the country, over 900 liquor retail stores, and over 700 Coles express stores. From this vast network, the company processes the equivalent of 35 transactions every second.

It was thanks partly to this strong market position that the company was able to deliver a 3.1% increase in sales to $38,562 million and a 7.5% jump in net profit after tax to $1,005 million in FY 2021.

Morgans is positive on Coles. In response to its full year results, the broker retained its add rating and lifted its price target to $19.80. It is forecasting fully franked dividends of 61 cents per share in FY 2022 and then 62 cents per share in FY 2023.

Based on the current Coles share price of $17.29, this represents yields of 3.5% and 3.6%, respectively.

Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)

Another ASX dividend share to consider is the retail group behind the BCF, Macpac, Rebel, and Super Cheap Auto retail brands.

Super Retail was on form again in FY 2021. Last month it reported a 22% increase in sales to $3.45 billion and a 107% jump in normalised net profit after tax to $306.8 million. This was driven by growth across the business, which was underpinned by a favourable redirection in consumer spending.

Credit Suisse was pleased with its performance in FY 2021. It currently has an outperform rating and $14.41 price target.

In addition, the broker is forecasting dividends per share of 53 cents in FY 2022 and 50 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current Super Retail share price of $11.86, this will mean fully franked yields of 4.5% and 4.2%, respectively.

The post Analysts rate these ASX dividend shares as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top broker says Coles (ASX:COL) share price is a buy
• What does the future look like for the Coles (ASX:COL) share price?
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with attractive yields
• Is the Coles (ASX:COL) share price a buy for dividends?
• 2 blue chip ASX dividend 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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET and Super Retail 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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Investors searching for growth shares, may want to look at the shares named below.

These shares have been tipped to grow strongly over the 2020s and are currently named as buys.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Appen. It is a leading developer of high-quality, human annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).

Through its huge team of skilled contractors, Appen prepares or creates the data for the machine learning models of some of the largest tech companies. This includes the likes of Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft.

Appen had been growing at an explosive rate year on year until the pandemic hit last year. This led to a reduction in demand for its services from its biggest customers as they held back on major projects.

The good news is that management believes demand will increase again post-pandemic. It has also been making acquisitions to bolster its offering.

In light of this, a very sharp pullback in the Appen share price this year could potentially be a buying opportunity for investors.

The team at Citi appear to believe this is the case. The broker currently has a buy rating and $18.80 price target on its shares.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Another ASX tech share that has been rated as a buy is Xero. It provides small and medium sized businesses with a cloud-based business and accounting solution.

It has been growing at a consistently solid rate for over a decade and shows no signs of slowing. For example, in FY 2021, the company increased its subscribers by 20% to 2.74 million despite the pandemic.

The good news is that this represents only a 6.1% share of its estimated overall market opportunity of 45 million globally.

Another positive is the company’s plan to monetise its growing user base via its app store. This has the potential to support strong revenue growth for decades according to the team at Goldman Sachs.

It is for this reason that the broker continues to be very bullish on the Xero share price. Its analysts currently have a buy rating and $165.00 price target on its shares.

The post Why Appen (ASX:APX) and this ASX growth share could be buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the Appen (ASX:APX) share price in the buy zone?
• How have ASX technology shares performed during the August 2021 earnings season?
• 2 highly rated ASX growth shares to buy
• 2 fantastic ASX 50 shares that analysts rate as buys
• 2 excellent ASX 200 blue chip shares that may be worth a spot in a portfolio

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 Appen Ltd and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Appen Ltd and Xero. 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 two ASX dividend shares in this article both have dividend yields of more than 4%.

These are businesses that have yields which are quite a bit more than what someone could get from the bank.

FY21 was a strong year for the below two businesses:

Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS)

Metcash is a company that is across three different industries: food, hardware and liquor. It supplies IGAs, Cellarbrations, The Bottle-O, IGA Liquor, Duncans and Thirsty Camel around the country. It also owns the hardware businesses Mitre 10 and Home Timber & Hardware, as well as owning most of the Total Tools business.

The ASX dividend share revealed in FY21 that revenue increased 9.9% to $14.3 billion. Group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 19.9% to $401.4 million. Underlying profit after tax grew 27.1% to $252.7 million. It saw strong sales growth in all pillars driven by a shift in consumer behaviour and success of its MFuture initiatives, according to management.

In regards to the dividends, the board decided to increase the target payout ratio from 60% to 70%. The board declared a final dividend of 9.5 cents per share, bringing the full year dividend to 17.5 cents – an increase of 40%. It also announced a share buy-back of up to $175 million. The business also recently increased its ownership of Total Tools from 70% to 85% for $59.4 million.

It’s currently rated as a buy by the broker UBS. Based on the projection of a full year dividend of $0.18 per share (an increase on FY21), that represents a grossed-up dividend yield of 6.4%.

Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)

Nick Scali is a leading furniture retailer. The ASX dividend share has a network of showrooms in Australia and New Zealand.

Not only did the business perform strongly in FY21, but it may also use some of its earned cash to make acquisitions. In July 2021, Nick Scali confirmed that it was talking to Greenlit Brands about potentially acquiring the Plush Sofas business.

FY21 saw sales grow 42.1% to $373 million, whilst underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) doubled to $84.2 million. This also saw earnings per share (EPS) double to $1.04. The full year dividend was grown by 37% to $0.65 per share.

The online segment reported a few different things. Nick Scali online written sales orders were $18.3 million in FY21, up from $3 million in FY20. The online written sales orders of $5.5 million in the fourth quarter of FY21 was an increase of 84% year on year. Online saw full year revenue of $15.3 million, with an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) contribution of $8.8 million.

Nick Scali said it was going to launch a lounge visualisation tool in July 2021. It also said that e-commerce was going to launch in August 2021 across both Australia and New Zealand.

It’s currently rated as a buy by the brokers at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG). For FY22, Macquarie thinks Nick Scali is valued at 16x forward earnings with a projected grossed-up dividend yield of 7.6%.

The post 2 ASX dividend shares that could be buys with yields above 4% 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 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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