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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by around 0.2% today to 7,341 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) and AMP Limited (ASX: AMP)

Macquarie announced today that Macquarie Asset Management is going to buy AMP Capital’s global equity and fixed income (GEFI) business, including fixed income, Australian listed equities, listed real estate and listed infrastructure, for a purchase price of up to $185 million.

The AMP GEFI business currently manages approximately $60 billion in assets under management (AUM) for AMP Australia as well as external institutional, retail and direct clients. As a result of the transaction, Macquarie Asset Management’s pro forma AUM will be approximately A$720 billion.

Ben Way, head of Macquarie Asset Management, said:

This transaction represents another opportunity, following our recent acquisition of Waddell & Reed, to add scale and expand our public investment capabilities. It cements Macquarie’s position as the leading investment manager in Australia by AUM, and provides new clients joining us from AMP Capital with access to Macquarie’s diversified investment offerings and global platform. Clients will be at the centre of our considerations as we work closely with AMP on a successful integration.

The Macquarie share price ended the day higher by 0.4% and the AMP share price went up around 0.5%.

Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)

ASX 200 agricultural real estate investment trust (REIT) Rural Funds saw its shares go into a trading halt today to announce a capital raising.

It’s doing a 1 for 8.4 accelerated pro rata non-renounceable entitlement offer to raise $100 million.

Rural Funds explained that throughout FY20 and FY21, it has acquired $104 million of land and water in Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Maryborough for the development of 5,000 hectares of macadamia orchards. Planting has commenced at Maryborough, with 500 hectares to be planted by November 2021. An additional 500 hectares will be planted by June 2022. The equity raising will provide the funding for these developments.

The money will also be used for acquisitions. It’s looking to acquire additional cattle properties which are likely to have similar productivity development potential as Rural Funds’ existing cattle properties.

Rural Funds also said $38.4 million will be used to buy water entitlements in the NSW Riverina, which are leased to a private farming company for a term of five years. Rural Funds said it believes demand for secure water in this region will increase over the long-term, as permanent plantings such as almond orchards continue.

The capital raising price is $2.47, a 5% discount to Rural Funds’ last closing price on 7 July 2021.

Rural Funds confirmed its forecast FY22 distribution of 11.73 cents per unit, being a 4% increase on FY21.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The Pointsbet share price fell around 1% today.

The ASX 200 corporate bookmaker announced that it has appointed NFL all-time great and future hall of famer Drew Brees as a global brand ambassador.

Pointsbet said that Brees, who is starting a broadcasting career with NBC Sports, will deepen the NBC Sports and Pointsbet relationship as the company continues to expand and realise the growing North American online sports betting opportunity.

Brees will both star in and help develop original content for Pointsbet, providing sports betting education and commentary, host events and steer marketing and promotional concepts, among other areas.

Mr Brees will be issued with 202,940 Pointsbet shares, released in equal proportions after one year, two years and three years from the issue date.

The post ASX 200 rises, Macquarie up, Rural Funds launches capital raising appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The 5 best performing ASX healthcare shares of FY21, did yours make the cut?
• ASX 200 midday update: Zip rockets, AMP asset sale
• Why is the Rural Funds (ASX:RFF) share price halted?
• 3 stellar ASX 200 growth shares that could be buys in July
• Is the Macquarie (ASX:MQG) share price a buy for dividends?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of RURALFUNDS STAPLED. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited and RURALFUNDS STAPLED. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings 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 FirstWave Cloud Technology Ltd (ASX: FCT) share price is continuing an impressive run this week.

This follows the technology company’s announcement today of a leadership change and business update for its fourth-quarter performance.

At the time of writing, the FirstWave share price is up 6%, trading at 8.8 cents after hitting an intraday high of 9.1 cents around midday. This gives the company’s share price a gain of more than 33% in the past week.

Let’s take a closer look at what the company updated the ASX with today.

FirstWave CEO drops resignation bomb

In its first piece of news, FirstWave revealed that CEO Neil Pollock has tendered his resignation with immediate effect.

With the board accepting Mr Pollock’s hasty departure, FirstWave executive chair John Grant will assume leadership responsibilities until the company can find a permanent replacement. No reason was indicated as to why Mr Pollock decided to leave the company.

Mr Grant briefly touched on the outgoing CEO, saying:

The FirstWave Board acknowledges Neil’s contribution to FirstWave since 2017, including over the last 12 months as CEO. Neil leaves with our best wishes for his future endeavours.

The surprise exit appears to have had little bearing on the FirstWave share price, with investors more focused on rewarding the company for its positive Q4 FY21 results.

FirstWave records strong growth

In the same release, FirstWave provided investors with a trading update for its fourth-quarter performance.

The company revealed international annualised recurring revenue (IARR) is expected to exceed $3 million at the financial year’s end. This is up to a 50% increase on the result achieved from the end of the third quarter (roughly $2 million).

FirstWave said its continued focus on expense management and collections led to a reduction in cash burn. This includeed corporate costs such as rent, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and employee costs.

As a result, the company noted that its cash balance was in line with forecasts, sitting at $9.96 million.

Mr Grant went on to talk about FirstWave’s trading performance and FY22 plan, saying:

Our performance in the fourth quarter was encouraging, with international revenue growth continuing and our cash position remaining strong.

On stepping into the CEO role on an interim basis, I will take some time to review the plan for FY22 and will report back to the market as part of our fourth quarter update at the end of the month.

About the FirstWave share price

Despite this week’s massive rise, the FirstWave share price has fallen close to 50% since the start of the year. The company’s share price reached a 52-week low of 6.6 cents before rebounding to May levels.

At today’s price, FirstWave presides a market capitalisation of roughly $65.7 million, with approximately 747 million shares outstanding.

The post Here’s why the FirstWave (ASX:FCT) share price is making a splash today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Boral (ASX:BLD) share price slips as Seven Group’s stake surpasses 40%
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• The Brickworks (ASX:BKW) share price just hit another all-time high
• Why Magellan, Origin, Piedmont Lithium, & WiseTech Global are dropping
• Mining shares in the ASX 200 might unearth US$26b worth of dividends

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 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 Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) share price is in the red today as the stake Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) has in the company surpasses 40%.

Right now, the Boral share price is trading at $7.39. That makes it 0.14% lower than its previous close and 1 cent less than what Seven Group is currently paying for the building product company’s shares.

Let’s take a look at the latest news on Seven’s takeover bid.

Quick refresher

In May, Seven Group lobbed a takeover bid for Boral, offering $6.50 per share – a nil premium on the Boral share price’s previous close. Boral quickly rejected the offer, urging its shareholders not to take it up.

At the time, The Motley Fool reported the bid was likely an attempt to evade ‘creep rules’ that inhibited Seven from increasing its 23.2% stake in Boral without placing a takeover bid. Seven claimed it would be happy to increase its stake to 30%.

After increasing its bid a number of times, Seven offered Boral shareholders $7.40 for each share they would part with, conditional upon it receiving at least a 34.5% stake in Boral.

$7.40 is in line with the Boral share price’s 52-week high and the highest it’s been since 2018.

The latest news on Seven’s takeover bid for Boral

On Tuesday this week, Seven Group’s hold in Boral surpassed 34.5%.

And it seems that some Boral shareholders were waiting anxiously for it to do so.

Today, it was confirmed that Seven Group now has a 40.95% hold in Boral, having convinced the owners of around 26.1 million shares to part ways with the company.

According to reporting by the Financial Review, Seven Group CEO and Boral board member Ryan Stokes will be asking for at least 1 more seat on Boral’s board following the takeover bid.

However, the $7.40 Seven is paying is significantly less than the $9.13 Boral’s appointed independent expert found its share price should be.

But it seems many Boral shareholders appear unwilling to wait for its share price to gain the extra $1.74.   

The takeover bid officially closes on 15 July and investors will likely be keeping an eye on Seven’s potentially increasing holding until then.

Boral share price snapshot

Despite today’s lacklustre performance, the Boral share price has been gaining this year.

It’s currently up by around 49% year to date. It has also gained more than 100% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $8.5 billion, with approximately 1.1 billion shares outstanding.

The post Boral (ASX:BLD) share price slips as Seven Group’s stake surpasses 40% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are 3 of the most traded ASX 200 shares today
• Boral (ASX: BLD) share price lifts as Seven gets increased stake
• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on the market today
• Boral (ASX:BLD) share price lifts, Board rejects increased offer from Seven
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Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Yesterday I looked at three ASX shares that brokers have given buy ratings to this week.

Unfortunately, not all shares are in favour with them right now. Three ASX shares that have just been given sell ratings by brokers are listed below. Here’s why these brokers are bearish on them:

AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL)

According to a note out of Credit Suisse, its analysts have retained their underperform rating and reduced the price target on this energy company’s shares to $6.70. The broker remains bearish on AGL and suspects that there will be further consensus downgrades to earnings estimates for the coming years in the near future. It also has a few concerns with its demerger plans. The AGL share price is trading at $8.16 this afternoon.

ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX)

A note out of Citi reveals that its analysts have downgraded this stock exchange operator’s shares to a sell rating with a slightly improved price target of $71.10. It wasn’t surprised to see volumes for both cash equities and futures fall markedly in the second half compared to the prior corresponding period. And while the broker is expecting some details on its medium term growth plans with its full year results, whether this will be sufficient to materially alter forecasts is questionable and perhaps unlikely, it says. In light of this, it feels its shares are expensive again. The ASX share price is fetching $76.48 today.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)

Analysts at Morgan Stanley have retained their underweight rating and $39.60 price target on this fund manager’s shares. This follows the company’s quarterly funds under management update which revealed sizeable fund outflows for the June quarter. The broker believes the current Magellan share price doesn’t reflect the risks of further funds outflows in the quarters that follow. As such, it feels its shares are expensive at the current level. The Magellan share price is trading at $51.57 this afternoon.

The post Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How did ASX renewable energy shares perform in FY21?
• ASX 200 rises, Challenger soars, Zip jumps
• Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price is see-sawing today
• Best and worst performing ASX sectors of financial year 2021

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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Winners keep on winning… That sentiment might be going around today after shares in one of the ASX’s oldest companies –  Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW) – hit a new all-time high this morning.

The Brickworks share price started out at $25 today, but climbed to a new mark of $25.64 soon after open. At the time of writing, the price has partially retreated to $25.45, still a gain of 1.07% on yesterday’s close.

However, today’s record is just the latest notch in what is starting to become a whittled down bedpost. Shares in the 87-year-old company hit what was then a new high of $20.65 back in January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

It took until October last year for the company to reclaim that level after the 2020 market crash. But since then, it’s been onwards and upwards for Brickworks shares. The company, on today’s pricing, is now up 30% year to date, 61% over the past 12 months, and 74% over the past 5 years.

We take a look at what could have been driving the Brickworks share price higher.

What’s behind the rise in the Brickworks share price?

Well, a big driver behind Brickworks’ most recent leg of share-price performance was the update the company gave investors last month.

In this update, the company informed the markets it had added a $100 million boost to its profits as the result of a revaluation of some of its property assets. As such, Brickworks said it now expected to deliver record earnings from its property portfolio for FY21, with property earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in the range of $240 million to $260 million, up from $129 million a year ago.

Brickworks isn’t only in the business of making bricks and other construction materials. It uses land from its old production sites as property assets. This is an approach that has evidently worked especially well over the past year or so.

However, there is another reason why the Brickworks share price might have reached a new high today. That is the performance of its unofficial ‘sister’ company Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL). I say sister company because Soul Patts and Brickworks have a rather unusual ASX relationship. Brickworks owns a large chunk of Soul Patts shares, 39.4% of the entire company in fact. But Soul Patts also owns a large share of Brickworks (43.9% of all shares). As such, the fortunes of these two companies are very much intertwined.

Soul Patts also hit a new all-time high today. Just after market open, Soul Patts shares topped out at a new record of $34.52 a share. This mutually beneficial situation for both companies could be feeding into the Brickworks share price as well today.

Brickworks has a market capitalisation of $3.84 billion, and a trailing dividend yield of 2.37%.

The post The Brickworks (ASX:BKW) share price just hit another all-time high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company 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 Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has given back most of its morning gains but remains slightly higher for the day. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.1% to 7,334.7 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping:

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)

The Magellan share price is down 4.5% to $51.46. This morning analysts at Morgan Stanley responded to the fund manager’s quarterly update by retaining their underweight rating and $39.60 price target on its shares. It notes that Magellan experienced fund outflows during the June quarter, reversing inflows from the previous quarter.

Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)

The Origin Energy share price is down almost 2% to $4.57. This may have been driven by further weakness in oil prices overnight. In other news, this morning analysts at Credit Suisse retained their neutral rating and lifted their price target on Origin’s shares to $4.50.

Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL)

The Piedmont Lithium share price has continued its slide and is down 4% to 91 cents. This is despite there being no news out of the lithium explorer. This latest decline means the Piedmont Lithium share price is now down over 12% since this time last week. It looks as though this has been driven by profit taking. Even after these declines, its shares are up almost 150% in 2021.

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)

The WiseTech Global share price has fallen 3% to $31.23. Investors have been selling the logistics solutions company’s shares following the release of a broker note out of Macquarie. According to the note, the broker has downgraded its shares to a neutral rating and cut the price target on them to $33.00. Macquarie made the move after reducing its earnings estimates slightly to reflect recent container volumes data.

The post Why Magellan, Origin, Piedmont Lithium, & WiseTech Global are dropping appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ASX 200 midday update: Zip rockets, AMP asset sale
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• These ASX 200 tech shares are beating the broader market today
• Why Nanosonics, Oil Search, Opthea, & Piedmont Lithium are tumbling

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 Piedmont Lithium Inc. and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended WiseTech Global. 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 of mining shares might soon be set for a big dividend banquet. The mining sector has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in the past year by about 5.3% — but according to one broker, the best could be yet to come.

Let’s look at the latest analyst forecast…

Are mining shares the pay dirt of the ASX 200?

Analysts at UBS are estimating US$26 billion (AUD$34.6 billion) worth of dividends will be paid by the world’s biggest mining companies this earnings season. While not all of this would be allocated to ASX companies and shareholders, there would still be some sizeable gems for Aussies.

Furthermore, the broker explained the iron ore, copper, and nickel price strength had opened the potential for record dividend payments.

The US$26 billion figure forecasted by analysts is shared between Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), Anglo American, and Glencore. While the last two are not ASX-listed, the others feature in the ASX 200.

UBS basic materials analyst, Miles Allsop said:

We expect BHP to positively surprise due to stronger than expected first-half earnings per share, Anglo to positively surprise by moving to a 60 per cent payout ratio (from 40 per cent historically) and Glencore to slightly disappoint by sticking to the US6c-a-share commitment made in February 2021

Aside from Rio Tinto, Allsop also expects strong production numbers for the first half from Aussie iron ore producers.

Dividends to add more dollar signs

Investors of ASX 200 mining shares could be set to grow their gains even further if UBS’ predictions are accurate. This would be on top of an already solid past year of share price appreciation.

For example, Rio Tinto, BHP, and Fortescue have rallied an impressive 33%, 38.5%, and 62.4% respectively. This news follows asset manager Janus Henderson yesterday forecasting a ‘dividend bonanza‘.

The post Mining shares in the ASX 200 might unearth US$26b worth of dividends appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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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ASX energy shares have broadly reaped the rewards of rapidly rising energy prices over the past 12 months.

While the price of most energy sources, including coal and uranium, have increased, for the purposes of this article, we’ll narrow our focus on the oil markets. And on 3 leading ASX energy shares that concentrate on oil and gas production.

Namely, Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) and Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH).

How have oil prices moved?

There are a few major crude benchmarks you can look to for global oil prices. The 2 we tend to quote here are Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI). While the 2 don’t move in perfect correlation, they do track one another fairly closely.

So how has WTI moved over the past year?

12 months ago, WTI was selling for US$40.62 (AU$54.16) per barrel. Today that same barrel is worth US$71.73. That’s an increase of 76%. And we’re not even going back to the early pandemic market lows, when WTI fell to US$16.94 per barrel on 24 March 2020.

Little wonder then that leading ASX energy shares involved in the sector have enjoyed outsized gains.

The Santos share price, for example, is up 41% over the past 12 months. The Oil Search share price has gained 29% over that same time. Only Woodside, up 12%, trails the 24% gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) since this time last year.

What can ASX energy shares expect from global oil prices?

Many factors will influence the price of crude oil over the remainder of 2021, and hence impact on ASX energy shares. How well the world manages to stamp down COVID-19 and reopen borders and travel remains a wild card.

Output from OPEC+ also remains somewhat of a wild card. The cartel failed to reach an agreement on any production increases last week, with the biggest rift appearing between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

For a more concrete idea of future global oil supply, we turn to the United States, which was briefly the world’s largest oil producer in the months prior to the pandemic.

Yesterday (overnight Aussie time) the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its new domestic oil production report. As Bloomberg reports, the EIA “sees limited domestic oil production growth through next year despite rising oil prices and rebounding demand”.

The EIA expects US crude output in 2022 to reach 11.9 million barrel per day (bpd), an increase of only 60,000 bpd from it previous forecast. The agency upped its price forecast for WTI in 2022 by US$6.23 per barrel to US$62.97 per barrel.

While that’s below today’s prices, it’s well above what crude was selling for 12 months ago.

Saxo Market’s head of commodity strategy, Ole Hansen, also offered a fairly bullish outlook for oil, noting US producers’ reluctance to turn the taps back to full. In Saxo’s Q3 2021 Quarterly Outlook report, Hansen writes:

While not in short supply, the oil market will be supported by a period of synchronised global demand growth where OPEC+ can increasingly control the price given the prospect of a lack of response to higher prices from non-OPEC+ producers; this is especially true for those producers in North America who are no longer pumping at all cost…

Tightening market conditions emerging during the past six months are another reason why, for the first time in a number of years, asset managers are once again viewing commodities as an interesting investment case.

As I wrote up top, a number of wildcards remain in play as to how oil prices will move. But if demand grows and increased output remains tight, it should offer continuing tailwinds for ASX energy shares.

The post How new US oil forecasts could impact ASX energy shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• ASX 200 oil shares tumble as OPEC+ nations squabble
• Why Nanosonics, Oil Search, Opthea, & Piedmont Lithium are tumbling
• ASX 200 up 0.55%: Challenger jumps, Nanosonics sinks
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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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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price will be one to watch over the next few weeks in the run up to the release of its full year results in August.

Ahead of the release, the team at Bell Potter have revealed what they are expecting from the banking giant.

What to expect from the CBA full year result

CBA is scheduled to release its full year results in just over a month on 11 August. According to the note, Bell Potter is forecasting a cash net profit after tax of $8.51 billion for the 12 months ending 30 June. This will be an increase of 16.5% from $7.3 billion a year earlier. It also implies a half on half 19% cash net profit after tax increase in the second half.

Bell Potter expects this to be driven largely by a low loan impairment expense coupled with steady growth in operating income and a decline in operating expense.

Its analysts commented: “Our cash NPAT estimates on a continuing basis are increased by up to 20% mainly due to changes in loan impairment expenses (and with this decreasing to 6% in the following year). While we were caught off-guard by the speed of recovery in mainstream banking, we still expect operating income and operating expense growth to result in a 2-3% “Jaws” in the long term.”

What about the CBA dividend?

Based on the current CBA share price, Bell Potter is forecasting an attractive dividend yield from the banking giant in August.

It estimates that the CBA dividend in 2021 will be a fully franked $3.34 per share, which represents a 3.4% yield. This comprises a final dividend of $1.84 cents per share and its interim dividend of $1.50 per share.

Looking ahead, the broker is expecting the CBA dividend to continue to increase in the years that follow. And expects it to exceed a 4% yield by 2023.

Is the CBA share price in the buy zone?

Bell Potter has increased its CBA share price target to $105.00 but lowered its rating to neutral.

It explained: “The price target is increased by $15.00 to $105.00 as such. CBA’s better dividend prospects in the medium term (yield reaching back to around 4.0% by 2023) and solid recovery in consumer, business and institutional banking may be intact but we have decided to lower the rating from Buy to Hold in the meantime.”

The post What to expect from the Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) FY 2021 result appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• NAB (ASX:NAB) share price up following prediction of no rate hike until 2024
• ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price takes the cake among big four bank shares
• Is the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price worth buying at $100?
• CBA (ASX:CBA) economists expect inflation sooner than RBA
• Forget CBA! Here are the 5 best performing ASX bank shares of FY21

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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The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is having another impressive day on the ASX. At the time of writing, BHP shares are up a robust 1.54% to $49.54. That’s about 4% off its all-time high of $51.82 that we saw back in May.

The BHP share price is now up 8.6% since 21 June. That is in addition to being up 15% year to date, and 38.5% over the past 12 months.

So where to now for the BHP share price?

Could BHP shares be a buy today?

Well, one broker who thinks it could be onwards and upwards from here is investment bank Goldman Sachs. Goldman currently has BHP shares rated as a ‘buy’. It has a 12-month share price target of $53.80 for BHP.

That implies potential upside of 8.5% on the current share price. Goldman is expecting high commodity prices (mainly coal, copper and oil) to tip buckets of cash into BHP over the next year.

It’s also expecting a 50% increase in earnings and a doubling in free cash flow. That price target doesn’t include dividends though. Goldman is anticipating US$2.58 ($3.46) in dividends per share from BHP over FY2022. That would equate to a forward and fully franked dividend yield of 6.97% on current pricing.

Goldman isn’t the only one bullish on BHP shares right now. As my Fool colleague James covered yesterday, Macquarie is another broker who rates BHP as a buy today. Macquarie currently has a 12-month share price target of $63 on BHP shares. That would imply an upside of almost 27%. Macquarie is also expecting material increases in the company’s dividends going forward.

At the current BHP share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $143.76 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 27.15 and a trailing dividend yield of 4.16%.

The post The BHP Group share price is rising again — so where to from here? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s what leading brokers are saying about the BHP (ASX:BHP) share price in July 2021.
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX finishes FY21 on a high
• ASX blue chips set to unleash buybacks and dividends! But which is better?
• These high yield ASX dividend shares could be buys
• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price caught between bulls and bears in June

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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