Tag: Motley Fool

The Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) share price is pushing higher on Tuesday morning.

In morning trade, the regional bank’s shares are up 1% to $8.86.

Why is the Bank of Queensland share price on the move?

The catalyst for the rise in the Bank of Queensland share price this morning has been the release of an announcement.

According to the release, the company’s imminent APRA Basel III Pillar 3 report for the period ending 31 May will include a decrease in its collective provision.

Bank of Queensland revealed that it expects to reduce its collective provision by a further total of $75 million. This is being driven primarily by Australia’s improved economic outlook, leading to improvements in data quality relating to collateral.

Pleasingly, the releases may not stop there. The bank advised that it continues to monitor the ongoing economic impacts resulting from COVID-19 and will assess its collective provision accordingly.

Bank of Queensland’s Managing Director and CEO, George Frazis, notes that business and consumer confidence continues to strengthen and drive Australia’s economic recovery.

He said: “Today, Australia is experiencing strengthening business and consumer confidence driving our economic recovery, supported by strong housing growth, lower unemployment rates and increasing business investment.”

“The reduction in the collective provision during the quarter reflects this improvement in the current economic environment. We continue to prudently manage our provisions to ensure we are well covered for any potential lifetime losses arising from COVID-19,” Mr Frazis added.

Are the company’s shares good value?

According to a recent note out of Goldman Sachs, which hasn’t taken into account today’s news, the broker has a buy rating and $9.83 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on today’s Bank of Queensland share price, this implies potential upside of 11% over the next 12 months. And if you include dividends, this stretches to over 15%.

The post Why the Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) share price is pushing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What were Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) shares up to last month?
• Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) share price falls as ME Bank faces charges
• The ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price leads the ASX 200 banks this week

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 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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Are you interested in adding some ASX shares to your portfolio in June?

Four ASX shares that could be worth considering this month are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

Appen has a team of over one million crowd sourced experts preparing the data that goes into artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models. It does this for some of the biggest tech companies in the world such as Google and Facebook. And although demand has softened during the pandemic, it is expected to rebound once the crisis passes. Especially given how spending on AI is forecast to grow materially over the next decade. Ord Minnett currently has a buy rating and $24.75 price target on its shares.

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)

Cochlear is one of the world’s leading hearing solutions companies. It has a long track record of delivering solid earnings growth thanks to its world class portfolio of products, ageing populations, and its high level of investment in research and development. Positively, all these drivers remain in place today, which appears to have put Cochlear in a position to continue its growth over the next decade. Macquarie has an outperform rating and $245.00 price target on its shares.

IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

Another ASX share to look at is IDP Education. It is a provider of international student placement services and English language testing services. While the company has been hit hard by the pandemic, it is expected to come out of the crisis in a stronger position and win further market share. It has also been tipped to resume its rapid growth once trading conditions return to normal. Last week, UBS put a buy rating and $28.25 price target on its shares.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

Kogan is an ecommerce company which has been benefitting greatly from the shift to online shopping. And while inventory issues have brought its earnings growth to an abrupt end recently, this is only expected to be a short term headwind. After which, Kogan and its acquired Mighty Ape business appear well-placed to benefit from the structural shift online. Credit Suisse has an outperform rating and $17.93 price target on its shares.

The post 4 buy-rated ASX shares for June appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX edges even higher, led by tech rebound
• Quarterly rebalance: Appen kicked out of ASX 100, Uniti added to ASX 200
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 2 ASX tech shares that could be good value
• Up 25% in a month: Is the Appen (ASX:APX) share price still good value?

James Mickleboro does not own any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Appen Ltd, Cochlear Ltd., Idp Education Pty Ltd, and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Appen Ltd and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear 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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On Tuesday 8 June 2021, an article was published on Fool.com.au titled iCar Asia (ASX:ICQ) share price tumbles 6% on AGM Presentation.

It has been brought to our attention that this article contained factual errors regarding the EBITDA performance of iCar as referenced in slide 5 of the AGM Presentation as per this ASX release: https://www.fool.com.au/tickers/asx-icq/announcements/2021-06-08/3a568567/icar-asia-agm-presentation/

The Motley Fool incorrectly noted the company’s EBITDA loss as well as iCar Asia’s EBITDA performance.

The release actually states:

EBITDA losses improved by 34% to a loss of 1.8 million against FY20’s January to April period which saw a loss of $2.7 million. The EBITDA margin also improved to minus 31% in 2021, an improvement in EBITDA loss of 51% between the two timeframes.

Motley Fool Australia apologises for the error, and has removed the article from Fool.com.au.

The post Article Correction – iCar Asia (ASX:ICQ) appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 4 buy-rated ASX shares for June
• 2 top ASX 200 shares that might be buys today
• Here are 3 ASX shares that are cashed up
• Carsales (ASX:CAR) and 4 other ASX tech shares still worth holding: analyst
• Why this leading broker rates the Premier Investments (ASX:PMV) share price as a sell

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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares in this article could be interesting ideas to look at.

Businesses in the ASX 200 might be market leaders in their category in Australia or even the world.

Here are two that might be worth thinking about:

TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG)

TPG is one of the largest telecommunications businesses in Australia. It’s the combined business of the old TPG as well as Vodafone Australia.

It’s currently rated as a buy by five brokers including Morgans.

Morgans believes that the short-term TPG share price decline is a possible opportunity, with a price target of $7.17. That suggests the potential upside is more than 25% over the next 12 months.

Over the last six months the TPG share price has fallen 22%.

TPG management said that the business is building momentum, continuing its merger integration plans, its 5G mobile network is on track to reach scale in the top six cities by the end of the year. It will begin offering 5G fixed wireless services in this half year period.

The ASX 200 share has made solid progress on merger integration activities and is targeting $70 million of cost synergies across the group in 2021, which excludes the contribution from fixed wireless services and revenue synergies from cross-selling.

While the business is in a stronger position to respond to aggressive competition in the market and mitigate headwinds, it will continue to be impacted by global travel restrictions, NBN margin erosion and the new RBS levy.

Morgans has projected that TPG is trading at 21x FY21’s estimated earnings.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is a cloud accounting software ASX 200 share with a global subscriber base.

The company is growing at a healthy double digit rate in all of its major markets. In FY21, Australian subscribers grew 22% to 1.15 million. The UK saw subscriber numbers increased 17% to 720,000. New Zealand subscribers went up 14% to 446,000. North American subscribers rose 18% to 285,000. The rest of the world subscribers saw 40% growth to 175,000, with the largest growth in South Africa and Singapore.

A global subscriber base means that Xero has a larger total addressable market.

Xero continues to invest in its product as Xero balances short-term customer needs and investing for the long-term. Product spend increased from 31.4% of operating revenue in FY20 to 36.7% in FY21.

The ASX 200 share has been making acquisitions to improve its offering to clients. Recent names include Planday, Tickstar and Waddle. A key trait of the Xero offering is a large ecosystem of services and tools for business owners and accountants.

Xero CEO Steve Vamos said in the release of the FY21 result:

The past year has brought home to many people in small business the need to understand in real-time their financial position and how it may change. The value and importance our customers place on their subscription and connection to the broader Xero community is increasing.

In FY21, Xero saw operating revenue rise 18% to NZ$848.8 million, with annualised monthly recurring revenue increase 17% to NZ$963.6 million. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went up 39% to NZ$191.2 million in FY21, demonstrating operating leverage.

The post 2 top ASX 200 shares that might be buys today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX edges even higher, led by tech rebound
• Quarterly rebalance: Appen kicked out of ASX 100, Uniti added to ASX 200
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• The ASX stock market is not open today, here’s why
• Second “imminent” Vale dam collapse will sweep these ASX shares off their feet

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

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Following my article last week covering 3 ASX shares with high debt levels, this week I’m taking a look at 3 shares that have a reasonable chunk of cash on their balance sheets.

Last week’s piece highlighted some companies that are at higher risk when it came to balance-sheet health. As I said in that article, a company with a good balance sheet is often better positioned to weather economic storms. When challenging times do hit, a business with spare cash is often more likely to survive, and sometimes thrive, through hardship.

Let’s take a look at a few companies that might be able to ride out turmoil better than others.

ASX shares that have plenty of moolah

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

Life360 brings parenting to the digital age. It offers a range of features, such as location sharing and driving reports, to ultimately provide increased peace of mind for parents. The company’s proprietary platform had 28 million global monthly active users at the end of March 2021. This platform operates a freemium model – meaning that many customers opt for the no-cost option. However, there are paid tiers available.

At the end of December 2020, Life360 held US$56 million in cash on its balance sheet. Additionally, not a single dime of debt was in sight. This is useful for a company like Life360, given it is still loss-making.

Furthermore, that cash might come in handy in the future if this ASX share identifies more acquisition opportunities.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

Furniture e-commerce company Temple & Webster sprang to prominence on the back of the COVID-19 online boom. While the business was already growing steadily, the pandemic was like nitrous oxide to the e-commerce engine. Sure enough, revenue quickly roared higher – from $126.4 million at the end of 2019 to $263.8 million by the end of 2020 for this ASX share.

Over this time, Temple & Webster’s profit margin lifted from 2.9% to 8.8%. The higher margins meant the company was adding to its cash reserves rapidly. At the end of last year, cash and cash equivalents came to $38 million. Giving its balance sheet that extra shine, Temple & Webster also had no debt as well.

Temple & Webster is already profitable, so it can use its cash to push heavier marketing, acquire other companies, or simply hold on to it for a rainy day.

Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL)

Redbubble is an e-commerce company with a twist. Rather than simply selling its own products, it offers the world’s largest marketplace for independent artists. According to its first-half trading update, approximately 570,000 artists made sales through the marketplace during the half-year period.

It has been a challenging 5 to 6 months for Redbubble, which has been dogged by margin contraction and reduced growth. However, unless the company swings to unprofitability again, the cash reported at the end of December should still be there – all $129.7 million of it.

Considering Redbubble also held no debt at that time, it might be able to tap into its cash reserves to fund future growth initiatives.

The post Here are 3 ASX shares that are cashed up appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 highly rated ASX tech shares rated as buys
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• 2 high quality ASX tech shares tipped as buys

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. owns shares of and has recommended Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Life360, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group 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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Technology shares have taken a considerable tumble since the market turned on them a few months ago.

Despite a rebound this month, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is still about 10% off its February high.

The trouble is that most high-flying tech companies are considered future-potential growth shares. The market is currently fearing a rise in inflation from the post-COVID economic recovery.

A rise in inflation can lead to higher interest rates, which are poison to stocks relying on the power of future earnings.

But despite this climate, there are still pockets of tech that Wilson Asset Management portfolio manager Tobias Yao has faith in.

“We still have a little bit of tech exposure, but our ideas are now concentrated on companies with reasonable PE multiples,” he told a Wilson video.

“And these companies aren’t COVID beneficiaries.”

Yao looks after the portfolios of listed investment vehicles WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM), WAM Research Limited (ASX: WAX), WAM Microcap Ltd (ASX: WMI) and WAM Active Limited (ASX: WAA).

He named 5 stocks that fit the “reasonable” price-to-earnings criteria that these Wilson funds still hold:

Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

The company best known for its poker machines is these days earning significant revenue out of more modern channels.

“Actually over 50% of its business now is now online digital gaming,” said Yao.

Aristocrat stocks were down 0.18% to trade at $40.84 on Friday afternoon. It started the year at $31.39.

Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR)

Yao was positive on the Australian online marketplace last month acquiring the US business Trader Interactive.

“We really like the recent acquisition, but also we like the transition [of] the transaction model going forward,” he said.

“We think that’s going to permanently lift the revenue growth profile over the medium term.”

Carsales stocks were trading at $19.38 on Friday afternoon, which is down 2.66% on the year.

Codan Limited (ASX: CDA)

Wilson funds have “a large holding” in Codan, according to Yao.

“[It’s] one of the global leaders in metals detection and communications hardware.”

The company this month announced a deal to sell-off its resources technology provider brand Minetec to Caterpillar Holdings Australia.

Unfortunately, the market wasn’t a big fan of the $14 million transaction, sending the shares down from its 52-week high reached in late May.

Codan stocks were going for $18.54 on Friday afternoon, which was down 1.38%.

Atomos Ltd (ASX: AMS) and Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)

In the small cap space, Yao revealed these were the two technology companies that survived his PE ratio cull.

“Atomos is an innovative monitor recorder business and Vista Group… is the leader in software solutions for cinemas.”

Atomos shares are up 1.55% this year, while Vista has risen a whopping 35.7%.

“So there are definitely still pockets of opportunities, but it’s fair to say we’ve become a lot more selective in where we deploy our capital.”

The post Carsales (ASX:CAR) and 4 other ASX tech shares still worth holding: analyst appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 3 unloved ASX shares set to take off: analysts
• 2 growing ASX dividend shares named as buys
• Why Westpac (ASX:WBC) and this ASX 200 share are smashing the market in 2021
• Here’s why this fund manager decided to sell its EML (ASX:EML) shares
• Top fund manager names these 2 ASX shares as buys

Tony Yoo 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 Atomos Ltd and Vista Group Intl. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Vista Group Intl. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Atomos Ltd and carsales.com Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) share price climbed to a record high on Friday.

This followed the release of a trading update by the retail conglomerate.

What was in the update?

According to the update, Premier Investments’ total global sales for the first 18 weeks of the second half were up 70% compared to the prior corresponding period. This was also up a decent 15.8% against the corresponding period in 2019, which was pre-pandemic.

Management advised that its strong growth was driven by a particularly strong performance during the all-important Easter School Holiday period. It also reported a record Mother’s Day and May result.

In light of this, management expects its FY 2021 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to be in the range of $340 million and $360 million. This will be an increase of 82% to 92% year on year and 103% to 115% against FY 2019’s EBIT.

Can the Premier Investments share price go higher?

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it believes the Premier Investments share price is overvalued at the current level.

This morning the broker retained its sell rating but lifted its price target to $21.10.

Based on the current Premier Investments share price of $27.44, this implies potential downside of 23% over the next 12 months before dividends.

What did Goldman say?

Goldman commented: “PMV has reported sales growth for the 18 weeks of 2H21 to be at 70% versus pcp and +15.8% vs. 2H19. This compares favourably to prior GSe of c.30.7% and +7.1% respectively for the half.”

“We revise our earnings forecasts to reflect the stronger higher margin sales, more than expected number of stores in Smiggle and gross margin expansion in FY21. However, we expect this increased margins to normalize into FY22/23. Our revised FY21 forecast implies a pre-AASB16 EBIT of A$358.6mn at the upper end of the revised guidance range of A$340-360mn,” it added.

Unfortunately, Goldman doesn’t expect this earnings momentum to last. It is forecasting Premier Investments to deliver earnings per share of $1.68 in FY 2021, but then just $1.04 per share in FY 2022.

The latter means the Premier Investments share price is trading at a reasonably expensive 26x FY 2022 earnings today.

The post Why this leading broker rates the Premier Investments (ASX:PMV) share price as a sell appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Good things happen to good companies
• Why the Premier Investments (ASX:PMV) share price just hit a record high
• ASX 200 rises again, Domino’s orders an acquisition, Premier sales boom
• 2 ASX 200 shares that could be reliable picks for dividends
• Retail sales rose 1.1% in April, but some ASX retail shares are selling off in May

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 Premier Investments 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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Despite worries about rising inflation, the ASX has been on fire in recent weeks.

On Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) closed above 7,300 for the first time in history. On Friday, it pushed ahead a further 0.13%.

But does this mean the share market is on the verge of an indelicate correction? The bears, like Jeremy Grantham, obviously think so.

Even though the general market is at record highs, however, there are still rising companies on the Australian bourse that aren’t as well-known to investors.

Perhaps they’re not in glamorous industries, or they’re just playing the tortoise to quietly win the long race.

Fortunately, there are professional fund managers whose job is to find businesses that are being underrated by everyone else.

“There’s a lot of cheap companies out there,” Wilson Asset Management portfolio manager Oscar Oberg told a company video.

“You just got to find them… We’re very bullish [on] small caps and micro caps going forward.”

Oberg and his colleague Tobias Yao revealed 3 shares held by Wilson funds that he feels the market doesn’t fully appreciate yet:

Ardent Leisure Group Ltd (ASX: ALG)

In the US, Ardent owns the chain of Main Event ten-pin bowling and arcade centres in 43 locations. The company in Australia is best known for running theme parks, such as Dreamworld on the Gold Coast.

“The US recovery is actually going really well on the back of strong government support for consumers and the much more relaxed COVID restrictions,” said Yao.

He added that at the current valuation, the risk-reward trade-off is “really appealing” for his team.

“Our view is that at the current share price, you’re not paying anything for the theme parks division, which is over $100 million on the balance sheet.”

Ardent shares closed Friday at precisely $1, meaning a 40.85% gain for the year to date.

Virtus Health Ltd (ASX: VRT)

Virtus is one of the large IVF providers in Australia, with a market capitalisation of around $516 million.

Yao’s team bought the stock 12 months ago on the COVID recovery prospects, but the reasons for holding it now have evolved.

“Our current investment thesis is premised on the new CEO’s ability to find new revenue streams — precision fertility, genetics testing, and also digitisation services that they can use for companies overseas.”

Virtus stocks finished Friday at $6.42, which is 17.15% up from the start of the year.

The price is still attractive, according to Yao, who works on the WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM), WAM Research Limited (ASX: WAX), WAM Microcap Ltd (ASX: WMI) and WAM Active Limited (ASX: WAA) funds.

“It’s trading on 14 times price-to-earnings ratio, so we think a lot of these additional optionalities are not being priced into the current share price.”

Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM)

Oberg picked out one of the 3 free-to-air television networks in Australia as his example of a hot bargain.

“Seven West Media, which we own in WAM Capital and Microcap, that’s trading on a price-to-earnings multiple ratio of 3.5 times earnings right now. It’s less than half of what Channel Nine [Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC)] trades on,” he said. 

“A company like that is sitting right now in our wheelhouse — it’s a company we like to invest in.”

Seven West shares finished last week at 42 cents, which is 15.3% up just this year.

The post 3 unloved ASX shares set to take off: analysts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why this fund manager decided to sell its EML (ASX:EML) shares
• Top fund manager names these 2 ASX shares as buys
• Wilson Asset Management thinks these 2 small cap ASX shares are a buy
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• ASX 200 drops, Nine rises and Centuria Industrial REIT falls

Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Virtus Health 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) edged even higher last week, once again breaking a new all-time high. Although the ASX 200 closed at 7,312 points on Friday afternoon, it climbed as high as 7,331 points on Wednesday. But a lot of bouncing around over the week left the index slightly lower by the end of the week, albeit with a week-to-week gain — it’s fourth in a row.

That was despite many of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares having lacklustre weeks. The major ASX banks finished the week more or less flat after a strong performance in recent weeks. A sector that performed even worse was ASX travel shares.

Companies like Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN), Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD), Webjet Ltd (ASX: WEB) and Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) all fell more than 3% over the week, with Corporate Travel falling more than 6%. Lockdowns in Vitoria, as well as a recent extension of the overseas travel ban by the Federal Government, may have been factors at play here. Other ASX blue chips like Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) all fell over the week as well.

Miners, tech shares dominate ASX 200 gains

But in these companies’ place, some other ASX sectors were shining. ASX resources shares had a fairly strong week, with BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: FMG) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) all edging higher last week on the back of a robust iron ore price.

Fortescue was the standout iron miner, rising 1.1%. But these weren’t the only miners that enjoyed some green last week. ASX gold miners also put on a strong performance. Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM), Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) and Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) all rose strongly over the period, supported by a bump in the gold price late in the week.

As we touched on earlier, ASX tech shares were standout performers last week. This sector’s gains were lead by Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), which shot up close to 30% over the week. Altium received a takeover offer mid-week from US company Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ: ADSK), which Altium informed investors it had rejected for “undervaluing the company”. Altium’s fellow WAAAXer Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) was also a top performer in the tech space, rising more than 13% over the week.

Meanwhile, Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) rose close to 10% and back to over $100 per share, while Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) enjoyed a tamer 2.6% gain.

How did the markets end the week?

It was a bit of a mixed bag for ASX 200 shares last week. Monday kicked things off on the wrong foot with a drop of 0.18%. Tuesday reversed this somewhat with a gain of 0.15%. But Wednesday saw negative sentiment return with another fall of 0.31%.

Investors seemed to shake off the gloom on Thursday and Friday, though, and enjoyed gains of 0.44% and 0.13% respectively, Since the ASX 200 started off at 7,295.4 points and finished up at 7,312.3 points, the week’s gain stands at 0.23%.

Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) had an even better week in the green last week. The All Ords started out at 7,543.3 points and finished up at 7,577.2 points, a rise of 0.45%.

Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?

Time now for our most salacious segment, where we look at the ASX 200’s best winners and poorest losers. So put the kettle on and fetch the bikkies, while we, as always, start with the losers:

Worst ASX 200 losers	% loss for the week
NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH)	(7.4%)
HUB24 Ltd (ASX: HUB)	(6.4%)
Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)	(6.4%)
Virgin Money UK (ASX: VUK)	(5.1%)

The ASX 200’s wooden spooner last week was mining services company NRW Holdings. Despite its sizable 7.4% fall, there was no real news or announcements out of the company that can easily explain this drop. However, it’s worth noting that the markets have been sending this company down for a while now, with the shares down close to 50% since early February.

Next up was wealth management company HUB24. As with NRW, there was no official catalyst we can point to for the company’s 6.4% fall last week. But unlike NRW, HUB24 has been a top performer in 2021 so far, up almost 19% year to date and more than 32% since early March. Perhaps some good old fashioned profit-taking was at play here.

As we flagged earlier, Corporate Travel Management was another poor performer last week.

And, after a strong few weeks, Virgin Money UK was the worst ASX bank last week, dropping a touch over 5%. Even so, the shares are still up more than 57% year to date.

With the losers out of the way, let’s take a gander at last week’s winners:

Best ASX 200 gainers	% gain for the week
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)	28.6%
Iress Ltd (ASX: IRE)	20.4%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	19%
Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB)	16.2%

As you can see, Altium was the best performing share by a mile last week. Given that Autodesk offered up $38.50 per share for the circuit board software company, it’s understandable that investors propelled the company towards this offered price (although it finished up the week at $35).

ASX financial company Iress was also attracting some serious buying pressure last week. This seems to be the result of takeover rumours aswirl. The shares remained up 20% by the end of the week, despite Iress telling the markets that it had in fact, not received any offers as of yet.

Whitehaven Coal also had another strong week, and hit a new 52-week high on Friday. Rising coal prices have been kind to Whitehaven, and the company is now up 26.5% year to date.

And finally, biotech company Mesoblast was also enjoying some time in the sun, despite no real news or announcements coming out of the company last week. Mesoblast is now up 23.5% over the past month.

A wrap of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares

Before we go, here is a look at the major ASX 200 blue-chip shares as we commence yet another week on the ASX boards:

ASX 200 company	Trailing P/E ratio	Last share price	52-week high	52-week low
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)	39.35	$296.64	$320.42	$242
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)	22.54	$101.36	$102.64	$62.64
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)	22.5	$26.29	$26.88	$16
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ)	17.11	$28.25	$29.55	$16.40
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)	20.31	$26.46	$27.84	$16.56
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)	8.72	$23.22	$26.40	$13.56
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)	24.02	$3.58	$3.61	$2.66
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)	38.3	$42.91	$43.87	$35.66
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)	33.17	$55	$56.67	$40.90
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)	27.58	$48.95	$51.82	$33.73
Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)	16.12	$124.94	$132.94	$90.04
Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)	21.2	$16.67	$19.26	$15.28
Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)	–	$14.32	$15.64	$12.36
Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)	–	$6.04	$7.49	$4.99
Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)	18.3	$28.33	$38.15	$23.08
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)	–	$23.62	$27.60	$16.80
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)	18.38	$151.56	$162.06	$111.25
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)	–	$103.52	$160.05	$47.09

And finally, here is the lay of the land for some leading market indicators:

• S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) at 7,312.3 points.
• All Ordinaries Index (XAO) at 7,577.2 points.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJX: .DJI) at 34,479.6 points after rising 0.04% on Friday night (our time).
• Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) going for US$38,822 per coin.
• Gold (spot) swapping hands for US$1,862 per troy ounce.
• Iron ore asking US$214.40 per tonne.
• Crude oil (Brent) trading at US$72.69 per barrel.
• Australian dollar buying 77.04 US cents.
• 10-year Australian Government bonds yielding 1.49% per annum.

That’s all folks. See you next week!

The post ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX edges even higher, led by tech rebound appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Quarterly rebalance: Appen kicked out of ASX 100, Uniti added to ASX 200
• 2 ASX 200 dividend shares rated as buys
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 4 ASX shares in the retail sector with juicy dividend yields
• The ASX stock market is not open today, here’s why

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of National Australia Bank Limited, Bitcoin, Newcrest Mining Limited, and Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Altium, Appen Ltd, Autodesk, Bitcoin, CSL Ltd., Hub24 Ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Altium, Appen Ltd, COLESGROUP DEF SET, Corporate Travel Management Limited, Macquarie Group Limited, Telstra Corporation Limited, Transurban Group, Webjet Ltd., Wesfarmers Limited, and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Autodesk, Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and Hub24 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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A number of shares will be on watch on Tuesday after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced its quarterly changes to the S&P/ASX Indices. These are effective prior to the open of trading on 21 June and follow its June quarterly review.

Here is a summary of some of the key changes being made:

ASX 50

Gold mining giant Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX: NST) will join the exclusive ASX 50 index next week. It will be replacing commercial explosives and blasting systems provider Orica Limited (ASX: ORI).

ASX 100

Retail giant Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) and fellow retailer Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) have been added to the ASX 100 index at the next quarterly rebalance. They will be replacing struggling artificial intelligence data services company Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) and telco TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG).

ASX 200

Joining the benchmark ASX 200 index are gold explorer Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN), lithium giant Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE), and growing telco Uniti Group Ltd (ASX: UWL). They will take the place of shipbuilder Austal Limited (ASX: ASB), mining services company Perenti Global Limited (ASX: PRN), and embattled gold miner Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) next week.

In respect to Uniti, it notes that it joins the ASX 200 index after just over two years of being a listed company.

Uniti’s Chairman, Graeme Barclay, commented: “Uniti’s inclusion in the ASX 200 Index is validation of the successful implementation of our strategy, to become the preeminent challenger in the FTTP market, with a clear focus on profitably deploying, managing and maximising the utilisation of our own fast-growing national data infrastructure network within our Wholesale and Infrastructure business unit, well supported by growth and profitability in both our Consumer & Business and CPaaS business units.”

What now?

Given how some fund managers have strict investment mandates that mean they can only buy shares from certain indices, this news is likely to be a boost to the shares being added to indices and the opposite for those removed. In addition to this, index-tracking ETFs will need to buy and sell these shares in order to accurately reflect the indices.

This could make it an eventful day for some of the shares listed above.

The post Quarterly rebalance: Appen kicked out of ASX 100, Uniti added to ASX 200 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 4 ASX shares in the retail sector with juicy dividend yields
• The ASX stock market is not open today, here’s why
• Second “imminent” Vale dam collapse will sweep these ASX shares off their feet
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week

James Mickleboro does not own any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Appen Ltd and Austal Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Appen 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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