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A Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) decision made the headlines today, as it increased its loan assessment for borrowers.

According to reporting by News Corp (ASX: NWS) and the Australian Financial Review, CBA is going to be adopting a stricter assessment of the capacity of some borrowers to repay their home loans at higher interest rates.

CBA has recently increased its interest rate on fixed interest rate mortgages. It has now increased the interest rate floor on which it assesses home loans to 5.25%, up from 5.1%, according to the AFR. However, the interest rate buffer would remain at 2.5% – that’s the rate above the current interest rate that the bank stress tests prospective borrower. 

The biggest ASX bank reportedly said that many of its borrowers are not at capacity – only 1.3% of new home loan applications are expected to be hit by this higher floor.

The AFR quoted what the bank said in an email to mortgage brokers:

We have taken into consideration the ongoing affordability for our customers during the life of their loan, as well as any potential changes the customer may incur.

Regulators taking a closer look

This came a day after the quarterly statement by the Council of Financial Regulators. There are four members – the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and The Treasury. The Reserve Bank Governor chairs the CFR and the RBA provides secretariat support.

In that statement, the CFR said:

Members discussed developments in household borrowing and the housing market. Housing credit growth has picked up and a further increase is expected over the months ahead. Over the past few years owner-occupiers have accounted for most of the increase in household borrowing. The demand for credit by investors has been subdued, but is now increasing. Housing markets are strong across Australia.

Council members reiterated the need for lending standards to remain sound in an environment of low interest rates and rising housing prices. There have been signs of some increased risk taking recently, but overall lending standards in Australia remain sound. APRA has written to the largest Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) to seek assurances that they are proactively managing risks within their housing loan portfolios, and will maintain a strong focus on lending standards and lenders’ risk appetites.

Council members are also paying close attention to the implications of trends in household debt. They discussed the risks that could build if growth in household borrowing substantially outpaced that in income, as well as potential policy options to address these risks.

The banks have been put on notice.

Time will tell whether the other banks of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: ANZ), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ), Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN), Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN), MyState Limited (ASX: MYS) or Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) make any changes after CBA’s change.

The post Did CBA (ASX:CBA) just make it harder to get a home loan? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s happening with the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price?
• NAB (ASX:NAB) share price edges lower after BBSW class action update
• Latest ASX shares to be hit by a broker downgrade today
• Why CBA, Challenger, Newcrest, & Santos are dropping today
• Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price falls as ASIC is put on blast in Parliament

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie 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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At the small end of the Australian share market, there are a number of companies with the potential to grow materially in the future.

Four that investors might want to get better acquainted with are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Alcidion Group Ltd (ASX: ALC)

The first small cap share to watch is Alcidion. It is a growing informatics solutions company which provides software which has been designed to improve the efficacy and cost of delivering services to patients and reduce hospital-acquired complications. Alcidion appears well-placed for growth in the future thanks to the shift to a paperless environment in the healthcare sector and a number of favourable industry tailwinds.

Booktopia Group Ltd (ASX: BKG)

A second small cap ASX share to watch is Booktopia. This online book retailer has been growing at an explosive rate since its IPO late last year. This has been driven by the shift to online shopping and its new distribution centre. The latter is allowing the company to capture the heightened demand and ship more books than ever.

Serko Ltd (ASX: SKO)

Serko is an online travel booking and expense management provider. It offers businesses the Zeno Travel and Zeno Expense platforms. The former provides AI-powered end-to-end travel itineraries, cost control and travel policy compliance to corporate customers. Whereas the Zeno Expense platform allows users to automate and streamline the expense administration function, identify out-of-policy expense claims, and prevent fraud. It recently signed a game-changing deal with travel giant Booking.com.

Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)

A final small cap share to watch is Whispir. It is a software-as-a-service communications workflow platform provider. Its platform allows businesses and governments to deliver actionable two-way interactions at scale using automated multi-channel communication workflows. Management estimates that it has a total addressable market (TAM) of US$4.7 billion in the just United States.

The post 4 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 3 exciting ASX tech shares to watch

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 Alcidion Group Ltd, Serko Ltd, and Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Booktopia Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alcidion Group Ltd, Serko Ltd, and Whispir 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up 0.1% today to 7,369 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

The Altium share price rose more than 3% today after giving investors a trading update and telling shareholders about its long-term vision.

Altium said that its revenue for FY21 is anticipated to be at the low end of the guidance range of US$190 million to US$195 million. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin is expected to be at the low end of the guidance range of between 37% to 39% on an underlying basis (this excludes acquisition costs and the write-back of Solidworks mini contractual amount due to termination).

The ASX 200 software business said that China is delivering a solid performance after coming back from COVID earlier than the rest of the world. Management said that renewals are strong and Octopart is on track for a record performance. A continued increase for term based licenses is also being observed.

Altium said that the adoption of the Altium 365 cloud platform has increased and there are now more than 13,100 monthly active users and over 6,300 monthly active accounts.

Aram Mirkazemi, the CEO of Altium, said:

Electronics sit at the heart of all intelligent systems, and Altium software and services provide the unique bridges that connect electronic design to the electronics supply chain and the manufacturing of electronics products. With the strong early adoption of our cloud platform, we are evolving from our PCB design origins and are now playing an essential and growing role in the design and making smart products, that spans manufacturability, productivity, research and influence, and component sourcing.

Altium expects that by 2025, recurring revenue will grow from 60% today to 80% or higher.

RPMGlobal Holdings Ltd (ASX: RUL)

The RPMGlobal share price is up around 7% after the release of a software subscription update.

It said that the software subscriptions total contracted value (TCV) has increased beyond $40 million in this financial year, having now sold $40.4 million in the year to date, which was an increase of $9 million from $31.4 million reported by RPMGlobal on 4 May 2021.

The company also said that RPM’s current annual recurring revenue (ARR) from software subscriptions has lifted to $21.5 million.

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)

Woolworths held a meeting today for shareholders to vote on whether to approve the Endeavour Group demerger. The vote passed with more than 98% of shareholders voting for the proposal.

Endeavour Group includes the drinks businesses of Woolworths, including Dan Murphy’s.

The Woolworths leadership said that the business will remain an ASX 20 share. It will have a simpler and more agile operating model which will enable it to grow its food and everyday needs retail ecosystem.

Woolworths also said that Endeavour will be well positioned for success. It will have a broad mandate for growth, be able to pursue its business strategy with flexibility to invest in its best returning opportunities and respond to changing consumer behaviours and industry conditions.

The ASX 200 supermarket business also gave a response to the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Federal Court proceedings regarding underpayments of award-covered salaried managers.

It said that it’s reviewing the proceedings and pointed out that the remediation process to date has involved extensive calculations, assessment and review.

The ASX share share said to date more than $370 million has been paid to current and former salaried team members across the Woolworths Group, with work continuing to remediate affected team members.

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said:

Since 2019, our highest priority has been, and continues to be, addressing the issue of underpayments for our team, and to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

We welcome the opportunity for further clarity from the court process on the correct interpretations of the relevant provisions.

The post ASX 200 rises, Altium up, Woolworths votes on demerger appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price slides amid legal stoush on underpayments

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. owns shares of and has recommended Altium and RPMGlobal Holdings. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Altium and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended RPMGlobal Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Are you looking to add some dividend shares to your portfolio? Then take a look at the ones listed below.

Here’s why they could be top options for income investors:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

Accent is a retail group with a collection of popular footwear-focused store brands. These include stores such as HYPEDC, Platypus, Sneaker Lab, Stylerunner, The Athlete’s Foot, and the recently acquired Glue Store. It has also recently launched a new brand called 4 Workers. This brand is targeting the workwear market.

Given the popularity of its brands, its store expansion plans, and favourable trading conditions, Accent has been tipped to continue growing its earnings and dividend in the coming years.

In respect to its dividend, Bell Potter is forecasting dividends of 11.7 cents per share in FY 2021 and 12.3 cents per share in FY 2022. Based on the latest Accent share price of $2.78, this represents fully franked yields of 4.2% and 4.4%, respectively.

Bell Potter currently has a buy rating and $3.30 price target on its shares.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Wesfarmers is the conglomerate behind several popular retail brands such as Bunnings and Kmart. It also has a diverse portfolio of industrial businesses.

Thanks to the key Bunnings business, Wesfarmers is on course to record a strong full year result in FY 2021. The hardware giant has been benefiting from the housing market boom and home improvement-related stimulus. This has underpinned stellar sales and profit growth this year.

Analysts at Macquarie appear to believe its growth can continue, leading to increasing dividends in the near term. The broker is forecasting fully franked dividends of $1.74 per share in FY 2021 and $1.76 per share in FY 2022.

Based on the latest Wesfarmers share price of $57.72, this represents attractive yields of 3% and 3.1%, respectively. Macquarie has an outperform rating and $58.12 price target on its shares.

The post 2 growing ASX dividend shares for income investors appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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James Mickleboro does not own any shares 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 Australia has recommended Accent Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is lifting, despite no news being released by the airline today.

The Qantas share price was trading at $4.85, up 2.97% at the market close today.

Yesterday, the airline announced it will be introducing new routes through an expanded deal with Alliance Air.

Let’s take a closer look at the latest news from Qantas.

Qantas readying for domestic take-off

According to Qantas, it’s getting ready for an expected boost to domestic travel by expanding its 3-year agreement with Alliance Air.

The expansion will see Qantas use 4 more 94-seat E190 jets for its regional QantasLink services. The new planes will bring the total number of aircraft used by QantasLink up to 18.

The new E190 jets mean Qantas can use its Boeing (NYSE: BA) 737 aircrafts to create new routes and increase flight frequency.

E190 jets can complete 5-hour trips, which Qantas says is perfect for linking regional centres with smaller capital cities.

The first route to see more travellers seated on E190 jets will be between Adelaide and Canberra. The small capital cities will see the frequency of flights between them double to 18 a week after the new planes’ introduction.

Qantas says more routes and services resulting from the new agreement will be announced shortly.

Additionally, Jetstar has loaned 3 Airbus A320 aircraft from Jetstar Asia in Singapore for use in Australia.

According to Qantas, the increased demand for Australian domestic services coincides with decreased demand in Asian international services.

The Singaporean planes will join 6 that Jetstar has already borrowed from Jetstar Japan.

Jetstar can also use up to 5 Boeing 787-8 planes that normally fly internationally in its domestic operations.

Commentary from management

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce commented on the airline’s latest news:

Since travel demand started to recover about a year ago, our strategy has been to think creatively about how we use our fleet to add capacity back in, generate revenue and get more of our people back to work…

Expanding our long-standing relationship with Alliance gives us access to a different aircraft type without spending any capital…

Victoria represents about 20 per cent of our total network and with restrictions in Melbourne easing and as borders start to reopen, we expect to see a quick rebound in travel demand just as we have in other cities when lockdowns ended.

Qantas share price snapshot

This year has been tough on the Qantas share price, though it’s not far from the ASX green.

Qantas shares have fallen 0.81% in 2021 but are up 11.61% since this time last year.

The post The Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price has taken off today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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The Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX: WGX) share price ended the day in the green. This comes after the company released a trading update for the FY 2021 period.

At the closing bell, the gold miner’s shares finished today up 0.49% to $2.06.

How has Westgold been performing?

Investors appeared to be pleased with the company’s latest financial update, sending Westgold shares slightly higher.

In today’s statement, Westgold advised that COVID-19 related travel restrictions and labour availability have continued to impact operations. However, despite the disruptions, the company is set to achieve overall growth from its core Murchison gold projects for FY21.

With just a few weeks remaining to finish out the current financial year, Westgold projects an improved gold output. As such, the company is estimating gold production to be in the range of 245,000 ounces and 250,000 ounces. This is an increase on the 235,000 ounces of gold attained in FY20.

C1 (direct) costs is expected to be within the guidance range of around $1,200 to $1,300 per ounce. All-in sustaining costs (AISC) which include operating costs and sustaining capital expenditure is predicted to be between $1,460 and $1,560 per ounce.

Most notably, Westgold highlighted that it’s on track to report a FY21 net profit before tax of roughly $110 million. This is particularly pleasing given that the company has spent several years heavily investing in its Murchison gold assets.

Near-term outlook

Looking ahead, Westgold anticipates the June quarter output will fall below the original target, producing between 56,500 ounces to 61,500 ounces of gold. The company attributes the shortfall to a number of factors hindering operations. This includes the availability of mining personnel, haulage constraints, unfavourable weather conditions, and mine plan sequencing issues.

To counter the loss in potential revenue, management is carefully managing costs to meet its June quarter cost guidance.

About the Westgold share price

Since the start of 2021, Westgold shares have sunk by more than 20%. The company’s share price is currently within the lower end of its 52-week range of $1.855 to $2.98.

Westgold has a market capitalisation of about $851 million, with approximately 423 million shares on its registry.

The post Westgold (ASX:WGX) share price lifts on trading update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why BetMakers, Blackmores, Lynas, & Westgold shares are dropping

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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At the G7 Summit on Sunday, a joint declaration was signed between Germany and Australia to boost cooperation on commercialising and purchasing green hydrogen. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed to set up a German-Australian hydrogen innovation and technology incubator. 

The deal will be backed up with $50 million in funding from Australia and 50 million euros (A$78 million) from Germany.

Dr Michael Zettinig, head of governmental affairs at the German-Australian Chamber, said:

It is a great win for Australia as a future exporter and for Germany as a purchaser and technology partner. This gives both countries a competitive edge in the global hydrogen landscape.

With green hydrogen seemingly constantly in the news, let’s take a look at 3 ASX hydrogen shares operating in the sector.

3 ASX shares involved with hydrogen

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

The chair of Fortescue, Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, is one of green hydrogen’s biggest proponents.  

As reported in the Australian Financial Review on 15 June, Forrest is planning on developing green energy projects in various locations in Africa. He reportedly has investors primed to inject more than $US100 billion into producing green hydrogen that will be aimed at European markets.

The ASX blue-chip company is planning on investing billions into hydrogen fuel as it aims for net-zero emissions by 2040. The Fortescue share price is up by more than 60% over the past year.

Hazer Group Ltd (ASX: HZR)

According to the company’s literature, Hazer Group operates in the research and development of graphite and hydrogen production technology.

Part of the company’s mission is to develop innovative solutions using its technology to serve the global industrial hydrogen market. Hazer is aiming to produce hydrogen at a lower cost than other alternatives and reduce the carbon footprint of its customers.

The $135.16 million cap company has had a great 12 months, with the Hazer share price rising by around 137% over the past year. 

Province Resources Ltd (ASX: PRL)

The Province Resources share price hit an all-time high in April when the company announced its global green hydrogen project agreement. Signed on 16 April, the company entered a memorandum of understanding with global renewable energy leader Total Eren. The joint venture with the French company will develop a potential 8-gigawatt green hydrogen project in Australia.

Province Resources is valued at around $152 million and has had an astonishing 12 months growing its share price by more than 640%.

So why all the fuss with green hydrogen? 

As highlighted by an ABC report earlier this year, green hydrogen is made without fossil fuels and “has been identified as the clean energy source that could help bring the world to net-zero emissions”. According to the article, green hydrogen can be used in the fuel cells of electric cars and trucks as well as container ships. Green hydrogen also has the potential to be used instead of coal via “green steel” refineries which burn hydrogen instead.

Other uses also see hydrogen-powered electricity turbines used to generate power and as a substitute for natural gas for cooking and heating in homes.

Foolish takeaway

There appears to be somewhat of a money trail following green hydrogen lately. The European Union plans to scale up renewable hydrogen projects and invest a cumulative amount of 470 billion euros ($740 billion) by 2050.

With that sort of investment splashing around, it is difficult not to get excited by the newly formed German-Australian hydrogen deal and what it could potentially mean for Australian companies that already have a green hydrogen vision.

The post Why green hydrogen is in the news again and 3 ASX shares in the sector appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• These 5 ASX shares are delivering the biggest gains in 2021
• What’s going on with the Hazer (ASX:HZR) share price today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• The Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price is gaining today

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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Commonwealth Bank of Australia‘s (ASX: CBA) share price is slipping in late afternoon trading, down 1.8% to $104.06 per share.

Barring a last moment rally, today will mark the first of the 4-day trading week (the ASX was closed on Monday in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s birthday) to see the CBA share price close in the red.

What happened with the CBA share price this week?

CommBank finished Wednesday up 1.32% to a new record high of $104.82 per share.

The big 4 bank appears to be solidly holding above $100 per share. That milestone was achieved for the first time ever on 28 May, when the CBA share price closed at $100.56.

Wednesday’s strong performance came despite allegations emerging on the day that CommBank may have violated anti-money laundering laws.

As my Foolish colleague Brendan Lau wrote, “The potential legal headache is linked to an investigation into BSP Financial Group Ord Shs (ASX: BFL) by Papua New Guinea authorities.”

Acting as a correspondent bank to BSP, CommBank enables BSP’s customers to transfer money in to and out of Australia.

Should the Papua New Guinean courts find that BSP violated the law, CommBank as well as National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB), which also acts as a correspondent bank to BSP) could be held liable for their role under Australian law.

Time will tell…

Another new record high as CommBank drops offline

Yesterday, saw the CBA share price hit yet another new record high. The bank closed up 1.04% at $105.91 per share.

This came as the bank was hit by internet woes that prevented customers from accessing its mobile banking app in the afternoon hours.

CBA was in good company though. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), among others, were hit with the same accessibility issues.

Apparently, all the impacted businesses use the same content delivery network, Akamai. Though at time of writing, the cause of yesterday’s temporary outage has not been verifiably determined.

Though the CBA share price will finish the last day of the week in the red, shares remain up 51% over the past 12 months and up 24% so far in 2021.

The post What’s happening with the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• 4 ASX 200 shares making all-time record highs
• ASX investors couldn’t get enough of meme stocks last week
• Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) share price hits new record despite money laundering scandal

Bernd Struben 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 Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX: MGV) share price is moving on up after the company announced “thick gold intersections” at its flagship mine in Western Australia.

Shares in the gold miner touched an intraday high of 38.5 cents today before losing ground late this afternoon. At the time of writing, the Musgrave share price is trading at 37.5 cents, up 4.17%.

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

Strong assay results

In a statement to the ASX, Musgrave Minerals advised it has strong assay results from the Big Sky Prospect at its Cue Gold Project in WA.

The company described the results as “thick gold mineralisation”, saying highlights from initial drilling include:

• an 84m wide ore containing 1.4g of gold per tonne
• a 42m wide ore containing 1.1g of gold per tonne
• a 36m wide ore containing 1.2g of gold per tonne, and
• a 12m wide ore containing 1.7g of gold per tonne.

The results indicated “the potential for a large well-mineralised gold system with discrete zones of high-grade mineralisation…” the company said.

Investors, it seems, are digging today’s news, judging by the rise in the Musgrave share price.

Management commentary

Musgrave managing director Rob Waugh, said

The [reverse circulation] drilling has confirmed the potential for significant gold mineralisation at Big Sky and the possibility of a number of higher-grade zones within the broader anomalous trend.

The near surface nature of the oxide, regolith gold mineralisation is expected to be favourable for open-cut mining. Regional drilling will continue with the aim of defining discrete higher-grade zones for resource definition.

Gold commodity prices

Gold is currently trading at around US$1,800 per troy ounce. It is down 4.48% this week and 5.84% year-to-date. According to the website, Trading Economics, investor worries over inflation have subsided, and as such, the price of gold has fallen in recent weeks.

Gold is traditionally seen as a safe-haven asset against inflation.

Musgrave share price snapshot

The Musgrave share price has fallen 13.6% over the past 12 months. After rising a whopping 175% in the 52-weeks to April 2021, Musgrave shares have been on decline since then.

Musgrave Minerals has a market capitalisation of around $200 million.

The post Musgrave (ASX:MGV) share price lifts on ‘thick’ gold deposits appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• The Coles (ASX:COL) share price could be heading to a record high
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• Jumbo (ASX:JIN) share price rises to reach new 52-week record

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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I like to keep an eye on substantial shareholder notices. This is because these notices give you an idea of which shares large investors, asset managers, and investment funds are buying or selling.

Two notices that have caught my eye are summarised below. Here’s what this fund manager has been buying:

Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T)

A change of interests of substantial holder notice reveals that Clime Investment Management Limited (ASX: CIW) has taken advantage of weakness in the Mach7 share price to top up its position.

The notice reveals that Clime has picked up ~2.7 million shares in the enterprise image management systems provider since 6 May. This has increased its stake to a total of ~21.79 million shares, which represents a 9.22% stake in the company.

Clime was paying between $1.00 and $1.15 for the shares. So, with the Mach7 share price currently fetching $1.03, investors are able to buy in at around the same levels.

One broker that would approve of these purchases is Morgans. It currently has an add rating and $1.68 price target on its shares.

Straker Translations Ltd (ASX: STG)

Another change of interests of substantial holder notice reveals that Clime has been increasing its position in this translation technology company.

According to the notice, the fund manager has bought over 2 million shares on-market since the end of last month. This has lifted its holding in Straker to ~5.4 million shares, which represents an 8.4% stake in the company.

The release explains that Clime paid between $1.90 and $2.35 for the shares, with the most recent purchases taking place on Tuesday. The latter price is just a touch under the Straker record high of $2.45. This appears to be an indication that the fund manager believes the company is going places.

So, with the Straker share price pulling back to $2.00 today, this could be an opportunity for investors to buy in at an attractive price. Ord Minnett certainly sees it that way. Last week the broker put a buy rating and $2.46 price target on its shares.

The post Fund managers are buying these ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Why the Straker (ASX:STG) share price is falling 6% today
• The Mach7 (ASX:M7T) share price slips despite strong IT healthcare outlook
• Why the Straker (ASX:STG) share price is in a trading halt
• 2 growing small cap ASX shares brokers rate as buys

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 MACH7 FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MACH7 FPO and Straker Translations. 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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