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The Endeavour Group Limited (ASX: EDV) share price is soaring in late morning trade, up 8% to $6.50 per share.

This comes on the second day of trade for the liquor and hotels company and represents a welcome bounce back for shareholders following yesterday’s losses.

Shares opened yesterday at $6.50 per share and closed the day at $6.07 per share, a loss of 6.7%. With today’s 8% gains, the Endeavor share price is back where it started in listed life.

Remember, it takes a higher percentage gain to offset losses. A 50% share price loss, for example, requires shares to gain 100% to get back to even. A handy reminder on risk management.

Why did Endeavour list on the ASX?

The 332 hotels, 1,775 liquor licenced venues, 12,364 poker machines and 290 TABs and KENO outlets that Endeavour owns were, until a few days ago, mostly owned by Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).

But Woolworth’s had been planning to demerge its 85.4% holdings in Endeavour since 2019. Then along came the global pandemic, and things were put on the backburner.

So, why did Woolworth’s decide to split away from its liquor and hotels business segment?

According to the company, it wanted to focus on its core grocery business, saying the split would maximise shareholder value over time. Woolworth’s shareholders received 1 Endeavour share for each share they owned in Woolies.

While the Endeavour share price is soaring today, Woolworth’s share price is sliding, down just over 2% to $36.94 per share.

The post The Endeavour (ASX:EDV) share price is shooting 8% higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ASX 200 drops again, Westpac falls, Transurban down
• Endeavour Group (ASX:EDV) share price falls on ASX debut
• Why Catapult, Earlypay, Nuix, & Woolworths are tumbling lower
• ASX 200 down 0.25%: Woolworths sinks, Afterpay jumps, Westpac NZ update

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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At lunch on Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on track to end the week on a positive note. The benchmark index is currently up 0.3% to 7,294.8 points.

Here’s what has been happening on the market today:

CSL shares downgraded

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is trading lower today. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Credit Suisse this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded CSL’s shares to a neutral rating and trimmed the price target on them to $310.00. The broker is expecting CSL’s gross margins to come under pressure due to higher plasma donation costs in the United States.

Zip to be hit by new Afterpay product?

The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is trading lower today after analysts at Citi suggested that the new pay anywhere offering from Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) could be a threat to its US business. This new service will allow US consumers to generate a single-use card to enter at checkout for some of the largest retailers in the lucrative market such as Amazon. Citi notes that there is a high customer overlap between Afterpay and Zip’s QuadPay business in the US.

Charter Hall update impresses

The Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) share price is pushing higher today after the property company provided an update on property revaluations. According to the release, the company’s funds under management (FUM) Platform will generate gross valuation increases of $3.3 billion from these revaluations. That’s even after factoring in $0.6 billion of development capex. This will result in forecast FUM rising to approximately $52 billion, up $12 billion over the course of FY 2021.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 today has been the Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) share price with a 7% gain. Although there has been no news out of the gold explorer, its shares were given a boost by being added to the ASX 200 index on Monday. The worst performer has been the WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price with a 3% decline. This is despite there being no news out of the logistics solutions company.

The post ASX 200 up 0.3%: CSL downgraded, Zip drops, Charter Hall impresses appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why Charter Hall, Collins Foods, Endeavour Group, & Telix are pushing higher
• Why the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price is down 5% today
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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, CSL Ltd., WiseTech Global, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and 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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A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) shares have had an awful time of late.

The stock has lost more than 65% in the past 12 months, due to multiple forecast downgrades mainly from the impact of COVID-19 on its sales to China.

As of Friday morning, the A2 Milk share price stood at $6.38, compared to a 52-week high of $20.

However, Castle Point co-founder Stephen Bennie reminded everyone that it was an explosive growth story immediately before this.

The milk producer’s revenue shot up from NZ$154 million to NZ$1.73 billion in just 5 years from 2015 to 2020.

“Similarly impressive growth occurred at the bottom line, with profits increasing from $2.4 million to $388 million in the same corresponding periods — an increase of 16,000%!” he wrote on Good Returns.

“Scant wonder the share price rose from 70c to $20 over those 5 years of remarkable growth, as the company became a significant player in the global infant milk powder industry.”

So it is fair to say most of A2 Milk’s shareholders would be growth investors. 

But now the A2 Milk share price has plunged, has it actually become a value play?

How shares change hands from growth to value investors

Bennie used a simplified model from Dundas Global Investors to explain how a stock changes from value to growth and vice versa.

A value stock, once it appreciates, is sold off by value investors to realise their gains. The buyers are growth investors, who like the way the valuation is expanding.

A growth stock, when they deflate, is sold off by demoralised growth investors. The buyers are value investors, who are attracted by the low price and the potential to grow back again.

According to Bennie, despite the sharp sell-off, A2 Milk is not yet “ticking many of the boxes” for value investors.

“At current levels A2 is trading at a 380% premium to the book value of its assets, so it is not an asset play. It’s not cheap in terms of current earnings or next year’s expected rebound — the PE ratio for FY21 is 48x and for FY22 it’s 25x.”

The enterprise value of the milk maker is still more than 3 times annual revenue, which is still too high for value investors.

“The additional stumbling block for value investors with A2 is that its rise was so stratospheric and its subsequent fall so abrupt, that it is nigh on impossible to know what a bedrock steady state earnings might be — never mind trying to assess if it is cheap on that level of earnings.”

When will we know if A2 is ready for value investing?

There is a simple observation that would indicate when value investors are finally comfortable with A2 Milk.

“A strong indication that [growth] investors are largely gone and that it’s now mainly owned by cardigan-wearing value investors, is that the share price no longer goes down on bad news,” said Bennie.

“That is because value investors are realists and accept that some bad news is part of life.”

He added that growth investors “detest bad news” that confronts their optimism, so will sell at each negative development.

“Currently with the share price continuing to react badly to negative news, A2 clearly still has plenty of growth and GARP investors on the share registry,” Bennie said.

“And likely only a handful of very early and unusually optimistic value investors.”

The post Is A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) now an ASX value share? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• The A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price is up 5% today
• ASX 200 up 1%: Tech shares rise, Bank of Queensland’s provision update

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares in A2 Milk. 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 A2 Milk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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In late morning trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to finish the week on a positive note. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.25% to 7,294.5 points.

Four ASX shares climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are pushing higher:

Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC)

The Charter Hall share price has climbed 2% to $15.54. This morning the property company provided an update on property revaluations and the resultant impact on its Funds Under Management (FUM). According to the release, the company’s FUM Platform will generate gross valuation increases of $3.3 billion, inclusive of $0.6 billion of development capex. This will result in forecast FUM rising to approximately $52 billion as at 30 June 2021, up $12 billion over the course of FY 2021.

Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF)

The Collins Foods share price is up 2% to $12.77. This gain appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Morgans. According to the note, the broker has retained its add rating and lifted its price target by 17% to $13.38. The KFC restaurant operator is due to release its full year results next week and Morgans is expecting a strong result from the core Australian business.

Endeavour Group (ASX: EDV)

The Endeavour share price is up 7% to $6.46. Investors have been buying the drinks business following its spin-off from Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) on Thursday. Endeavour operates a retail drinks network through Dan Murphy’s and BWS, and a portfolio of licensed hospitality venues.

Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX)

The Telix share price has jumped 10% to $6.20. This is despite there being no news out of the biopharmaceutical company today. However, Telix has released a number of positive updates over the last few weeks that may have caught the eye of investors. This includes positive feedback from the US FDA relating to its prostate cancer imaging investigational product Illuccix.

The post Why Charter Hall, Collins Foods, Endeavour Group, & Telix are pushing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Collins Foods Limited and TELIXPHARM DEF SET. 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 Collins Foods 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd (ASX: HUO) share price is on the rise today after the company released a market update this morning.

At the time of writing, the salmon farmer’s shares are up 7.06% to $2.880.

Prior to today’s announcement, the market hadn’t heard from Huon since its February half-year results, which saw Huon shares tumble 15% to $2.63 on the day of the results being released.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s announcement.

Huon responds to unsolicited takeover offers

Within Huon’s half-year results, the company revealed that it had “[attracted] interest from potential strategic partners and investors over a sustained period”.

The board announced a strategic review to assess such corporate level transactions and offers for the benefit of its shareholders.

In today’s announcement, Huon revealed that it is currently “facilitating due diligence by select interested parties in order to explore whether a transaction could be consummated for the benefit of shareholders”.

While the company is certainly exploring its options, it also advised that there is no certainty that a binding transaction might eventuate.

Upbeat outlook for salmon market

Pleasingly, Huon advised that it had experienced a recent steady increase in demand from the domestic wholesale market.

The improved market conditions were driven by the reopening of hospitality and food service businesses, and the general easing of COVID-related lockdowns in Australia.

The company said that pricing and volumes in the wholesale/food service market had recovered to pre-COVID levels.

It also highlighted that exports markets (before freight costs) were generally back to pre-COVID levels.

Huon believes it is currently trading in line with its previous guidance, and expects a harvest of around 35,000 tonnes for FY21. The company reaffirmed its previous FY21 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) guidance of $15 million to $20 million.

Huon share price jumps 16% this week

Things were getting pretty dire for Huon shares, hitting an all-time record low of $2.25 on 16 June. This represents a 50% dive from its February 2020 pre-COVID price of about $4.50.

The Huon share price has made a strong bounce off lows, potentially influenced by a significant new shareholder last week.

Today’s market update has provided another boost of confidence for Huon shares, rallying 7.81% to a 5-month high of $2.90 at the time of writing.

The post Here’s why the Huon (ASX:HUO) share price is rocketing 7% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB) share price might be a good business to think about for a few different reasons. It’s up 5% today.

Bubs sells a number of different products including goat milk formula, cow milk formula, vitamins, cereal and other food for young children. It also sells goat milk products through the Caprilac brand.

Here are three reasons why the Bubs share price could be one to think about:

Growth in Australian retailers

Bubs is seeing increasing brand share in Australia. It remains the fastest growing infant formula manufacturer across Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) and Chemist Warehouse. In the third quarter of FY21, it saw brand retail scan sales growth of 37%.

It was the number one goat formula brand in Chemist Warehouse during the quarter. Bubs total scan sales in Woolworths were up 436%.

Bubs’ distribution in supermarkets and pharmacies in Australia continues to increase. For example, it recently increased its distribution to Coles stores to more than 700.

China child policy changes and growth

China – one of the world’s biggest markets for infant formula – recently changed its child policy to allow people to have three children rather than two. This may (or may not) lead to an overall increase in demand for infant formula.

Bubs said that it’s seeing accelerated growth in China. Bubs’ third quarter cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) offtake sales increased 60% year on year across the top-tier platforms in China. CapriLac CBEC third quarter offtake sales increased 175%.

Caprilac remains the number one top selling brand with nearly 80% market share on Tmall Global.

Total China export sales were up 28% quarter on quarter. Bubs infant formula CBEC sales were up 47% quarter on quarter.

International growth

Bubs is pursuing international growth in a number of countries.

The company said that it continues to build its presence in Malaysia and Vietnam. Bubs also said that it is progressed with registration in South Korea and Redmart in Singapore, with first shipments for both markets expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of FY21.

Bubs also just announced that it’s launching into the USA formula market, it’s going to sell on Walmart.com. It will include a bi-lingual English and Hispanic label product. It will also launch on Amazon.com in the USA.

In the US, its supply chain infrastructure is in place. It’s aiming to commence its expansion of retail distribution with a US broker appoint, including a national network of sales agent companies selected as exclusive sales representatives across the US.

Bubs believes that the US market for infant milk formula is worth over US$5 billion annually. Selling through the websites of Walmart and Amazon gives it immediate scale access to the market, according to management.

The post 3 reasons why the Bubs (ASX:BUB) share price could be a buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Weebit Nano Ltd (ASX: WBT) share price is rocketing in morning trade, up 15% at the time of writing.

The ASX tech share is involved in developing next-generation semiconductor memory technology. Below we take a look at its latest progress update.

What progress did Weebit announce?

Weebit Nano’s share price is gaining after the company announced it has created the “commercial integration of an oxide-based ReRAM (OxRAM) cell with an ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selector”.

In an industry first, the company said this represents an important step towards commercialisation for the stand-alone memory market.

A selector enables optimised cell access within a memory chip’s array. Weebit said that OTS technology is ideal for selectors in standalone (discrete) ReRAM chips for its tiny size, low energy use, high switching speed and endurance.

Weebit reported it had achieved this success, alongside development partner CEA-Leti, 3 months ahead of schedule. It reported this will enable the “implementation of 3D memory stacking and crossbar architectures” in future developments.

Commenting on the progress, Weebit’s CEO Coby Hanoch said:

This achievement demonstrates our commitment to addressing the discrete memory market as part of our mid-term strategy. We see a broad range of opportunities for discrete ReRAM, from NOR flash to storage class memory, in a range of segments.

Given our 2024 target for a discrete solution, we anticipate that other opportunities will arise as well. We will continue to share our progress in meeting this mid-term goal, while we continue our near-term focus on the embedded memory module where we are making good progress.

Gabriel Molas, senior scientist at CEA-Leti, noted that creating the required OTS selector was highly complex and based on several years of research by the partnership’s team.

Weebit Nano share price snapshot

Weebit Nano shares have had a stellar 12 month run, up 570% since this time last year. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has gained 28% over that same time.

Year-to-date the Weebit Nano share price remains down 31%, despite today’s big lift.

The post Why the Weebit Nano (ASX:WBT) share price is rocketing 15% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the way some consumers make purchases. And with access to high-speed internet greater than ever, online shopping activity has experienced a sea-change in the last year, even in countries that have been slow to adopt e-commerce and digital payment systems in the past.

These changes have played right into the hands of Latin America’s leading online commerce platform MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) and social media titan Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), which is slowly rolling out its own digital payments and shopping tools to cash in on the global trend as well.

While each has significant growth opportunities ahead, both stocks present investors with unique risks. Which one is the better buy right now?

MercadoLibre: All-out expansion, but local economy headwinds

MercadoLibre was a growth stock before COVID-19, but the pandemic has accelerated Latin America’s migration to online shopping. Revenue has skyrocketed into triple-digit percentage territory over the last 12-month stretch, notching a 111% year-over-year gain in Q1 2021 (or up 158% when excluding the effects of currency conversion) to $1.4 billion.  

E-commerce remains a small fragment of shopping activity in most Latin American countries, still just a single-digit percentage of the grand total spent on retail in the most populous countries like Brazil and Mexico. But MercadoLibre is reporting a sharp uptick in activity on this front. In Q1 alone, it said it had 69.8 million active users, 62% more than a year ago. That’s only about 10% of the total population of Latin America, though, so there’s no shortage of room for the company to continue expanding.

One way it’s extending its reach is with its digital payments business. Many people in Latin America don’t have a basic banking relationship but do have a smartphone. Mercado Pago and Mobile Wallet — MercadoLibre’s digital payments and mobile money management applications — are opening up access to basic checking and payments services to millions of people. The result? More online shopping on MercadoLibre. Total payment volume increased 82% year over year in Q1 (129% excluding currency conversion) to $14.7 billion, $2.9 billion of which was transacted with Mobile Wallet. The company reported that some three-quarters of respondents plan to continue using digital payment options even after the pandemic ends.

MercadoLibre is the primary beneficiary from a massive move to online activity south of the border, but there are risks. Many countries the company operates in have been experiencing persistently high inflation, which erodes the value of the company’s profitability and assets on its balance sheet over time. MercadoLibre may have begun to address this issue with its recent (and still rather small) purchase of Bitcoin to facilitate transactions in the currency, which could help it stave off inflationary effects. But for now, investors should keep an eye on how inflation is throttling growth (which is apparent in the difference between currency conversion-neutral revenue and the much lower realized revenue figures in Q1). 

Facebook: A tech platform with massive optionality, but regulatory concerns

Facebook needs little introduction. Its family of apps (including Instagram and WhatsApp) had 3.45 billion monthly users during the first three months of 2021, a 15% increase over a year ago. In spite of its massive size and reliance on advertising, it’s still growing at a rapid pace. Revenue was up 48% year over year to $26.2 billion in Q1 2021, and management expects a similar rate of growth in Q2 before moderating in the second half of the year.  

Like other massive tech platforms, Facebook is highly profitable. It generated $24.2 billion in free cash flow over the 12 months that ended March 31, 2021 (a 26% free cash flow profit margin). This gives Facebook massive wiggle room to invest in new ventures. One area is digital payments and small business e-commerce. Facebook tapped software firm Shopify to power Facebook Shops, online Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp storefronts for merchants. It has also launched WhatsApp Payments in India and Brazil, allowing users to transfer money to each other and to small businesses that use the platform. This payments service could eventually make it a bigger rival of MercadoLibre.

Facebook’s aspirations on this front extend far beyond that, though. It’s still hard at work getting Diem — a blockchain-based stablecoin (a type of cryptocurrency with a value pegged to a fiat currency, in this case the U.S. dollar) — up and running. Diem is being designed to power Facebook’s ambitious global digital payments system. If it can overcome regulatory hurdles, Diem could be a big deal considering the social media company has billions of users already.  

Speaking of regulatory hurdles, though, Facebook has many on the horizon. It has frequently come under scrutiny for its practices related to personal user data, and Apple and Alphabet‘s Google have started eliminating app activity tracking on smartphones this year (which makes digital ads that Facebook relies on less valuable to marketers). Also, a looming worry is the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit to unwind the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp (purchased in 2012 and 2014, respectively), citing anti-competitive practices at Facebook to squash its competition. If the FTC gets its way, Facebook’s empire would be broken up. The individual parts would likely still remain formidable players in the tech space, but not as dominant as the sum of their individual parts right now under the Facebook umbrella. 

Which is the better buy?

MercadoLibre is earlier on in its growth journey as it expands e-commerce across Latin America, but it trades for a premium 111 times trailing-12-month free cash flow. That metric will moderate over time as the company reaches a more profitable scale, but along the way, there will be some wild swings in stock price — especially considering the uncertain economic situation surrounding some of the countries it operates in.

For now, Facebook is a far more stable company and is still growing at a fast pace. It trades for 40 times trailing-12-month free cash flow, a reasonable value given its expected expansion this year and even faster-growing bottom line. A possible break-up of its business could be a problem in a couple of years as the antitrust lawsuit progresses, but it won’t be the end of the line for Facebook if the FTC wins the case. At this juncture, I prefer the regulatory risk over the inflation pressure MercadoLibre faces, and I think Facebook is the better buy (though MercadoLibre is certainly worth a look too).

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Better buy: MercadoLibre vs. Facebook appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Nicholas Rossolillo owns shares of Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Facebook, and Shopify. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Facebook, MercadoLibre, and Shopify. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2023 $1,140 calls on Shopify, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2023 $1,160 calls on Shopify, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, and Facebook. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is on course to end the week on a disappointing note.

In late morning trade, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are down 5% to $8.07.

Why is the Zip share price tumbling lower today?

Today’s weakness in the Zip share price appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Citi this morning.

According to the note, the broker has been looking at the new pay anywhere offering from Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) in the United States.

This new service will allow US consumers to generate a single-use card to enter at checkout for some of the largest retailers in the lucrative market. The transaction is then facilitated by Afterpay, with all the usual benefits of instalment payments.

The new retailers that have been on-boarded include the likes Amazon, Dell, Kroger, Nike, Target, and Walgreens. Combined, the 12 new retailers represent almost half of the ecommerce volume processed in the US market.

Unsurprisingly, this news went down well with the market, sending the Afterpay share price hurtling higher this week.

Why is this bad for Zip?

Citi believes that Afterpay’s new offering will increase customer engagement in the US market and put pressure on Zip’s US-based QuadPay business.

This is because the broker’s research suggests that there is a high customer overlap between the Afterpay and QuadPay in the US. Therefore, if consumers are attracted to Afterpay’s app because they can shop at those retailers, it could come at the expense of QuadPay.

In other news

A note out of Morgan Stanley this morning reveals that its analysts are positive on Afterpay’s new offering as well.

The broker sees the product as supportive for sales growth and merchant-fees. It also suspects that it could present an opportunity for Afterpay to build relationships with these major retailers, potentially leading to their integration into its network in the future.

Morgan Stanley has retained its buy rating and $145.00 price target on Afterpay’s shares.

The post Why the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price is down 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here are 3 of the most heavily traded ASX 200 shares today
• Why Afterpay, Core Lithium, De Grey Mining, & Pro Medicus are storming higher
• Up another 6%, Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price hits 4-month high
• The Zip share price (ASX:Z1P) has risen 23% in June, is it a buy?
• ASX 200 down 0.25%: Woolworths sinks, Afterpay jumps, Westpac NZ update

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 AFTERPAY T FPO and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) share price is moving higher in morning trade, up 2%.

Below we take a look at the latest funds under management (FUM) update from the integrated property group.

What funds update did the Group provide?

Charter Hall’s share price is rising after the company reported a strong increase in FUM.

According to the release, Charter Hall’s FUM Platform will generate gross valuation increases of $3.3 billion. That figure includes $600 million of development capital expenditures.

Charter Hall now forecasts its Group FUM will increase to roughly $52 billion by 30 June. That represents 28% growth in FUM in the 2021 financial year, an increase of $12 billion.

Commenting on the FUM update, Charter Hall’s CEO David Harrison said:

Today’s valuation outcomes demonstrate the success of our investment selection process. We’ve seen impressive valuation gains across most sectors, delivering strong returns for our investors. Our focus on securing long-leased assets to high-quality tenants, often secured through off-market sale-and-leaseback transactions, or through our develop-to-core development pipeline, continues to deliver attractive enhanced returns.

Harrison said the company had secured $6.0 billion in net acquisitions in the 2021 financial year, with $7.8 billion of new acquisitions and $1.8 billion worth of assets sold.

Charter Hall’s net valuation in FY21 increased by $3.7 billion, in addition to $1.8 billion of capital expenditures during the period.

Breaking the valuation growth over the past 12 months down by sector, its industrial assets increased by 15.5%, office assets increased by 3.7%, long weighted average lease expiry (WALE) retail increased by 14.5%, social infrastructure increased by 9.9%, and shopping centre retail increased by 1.3%.

Charter Hall share price snapshot

Charter Hall shares gained 59% over the past 12 months. That’s more than double the 26% gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over that same time.

Year-to-date the Charter Hall share price is up 3%.

Charter Hall pays a 2.3% dividend yield, 40% franked.

The post Why the Charter Hall (ASX:CHC) share price is moving higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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