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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price edged 0.3% higher on Friday to close at a new 52-week high. Shares in Australia’s largest bank finished the day at $89.39 per share with a $158.6 billion market capitalisation.

This caps off another strong month of trade for the ASX bank share. The CBA share price has climbed 3.8% higher in April as we approach the end of the month. So, what’s pushing the Aussie bank’s valuation higher in 2021?

Why the CBA share price is hitting new heights

2020 was a remarkable period for ASX bank shares and CBA was no exception. Shares in the Aussie bank were smashed in the March bear market as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. 

However, we’ve seen a consistent recovery in bank valuations since late last year. The CBA share price is now up 29.5% since the start of November while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has climbed 19.1%.

Favourable conditions including a strong housing market have helped maintain consistent borrowing demand. The banks have been able to write significant business in recent months as the Aussie housing market has heated up, particularly in major cities.

Government stimulus measures and central bank interventions to drive down lending rates have also been good for the banks. That has allowed them to access cheaper funding and maintain liquidity in Aussie credit.

Another factor has been the continual economic recovery since mid-last year. Stronger jobs and retail numbers have helped increase confidence in an economic bounce back from COVID-19.

As a result, earnings have been strong and the CBA share price has climbed to a new 52-week high. That’s despite a couple of recent hiccups including a deceptive conduct fine and a big four bank class action.

Foolish takeaway

The big four bank shares have been strong performers to start the year. The CBA share price has jumped to a new 52-week high as at Friday’s close and it will be interesting to see how it performs in May.

More reading

• Is the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price a buy for a recovery of dividends?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• Can Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) share price beat its record in 2021?
• Aussie adds digital home loans in an effort to keep up with the big four
• Aussie investors snapped up Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) shares last week

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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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On Friday the Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price pushed higher after it announced a $277 million investment in 5G spectrum.

The telco giant expects this investment to further extend its leadership in 5G now and into the future.

Was this a good move by Telstra?

This morning analysts at Goldman Sachs gave their verdict on this investment and the one that rival TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) made in the same auction.

In respect to Telstra, Goldman was pleased with its investment, which was broadly in line with its expectations. However, TPG’s investment was smaller than the broker was expecting.

It commented: “TLS secured 1,000MHz (in-line with GSe, auction limit), TPG secured a smaller amount than expected, with 400MHz across Melbourne/Sydney/Perth and 600MHz across other geographies (GSe 700MHz), while Optus secured 800MHz nationally excl. Margaret River/Hobart (600MHz).“

As for pricing, the broker notes that prices per Mhz were broadly in line with expectations.

What was Goldman’s overall thoughts?

Overall, Goldman Sachs believes Telstra did better than TPG from the auction and is now in a position to grow its fixed wireless business in the coming years.

It said: “We believe TPG’s lower than expected share of the mmWave spectrum (especially underweight Syd/Melb) could limit overall capacity on their fixed wireless networks (launching in 1H21), which we see as somewhat surprising given we believe it is a key focus. While for Telstra, the outcome is broadly as expected; we forecast Fixed Wireless to grow to a meaningful level for TLS (>10% Fixed wireless penetration of broadband subs by FY24), noting their Fixed Wireless product launch is expected in coming months.”

In light of this, the broker has retained its buy rating and $4.00 price target on the Telstra share price and neutral rating and $7.10 price target on the TPG share price.

More reading

• What’s next for the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price?
• 2 ASX dividend shares with generous yields
• ASX 200 finishes flat, Kogan drops, Accent jumps
• What’s with the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price and other telcos today?
• History is on the side of the battered AMP (ASX:AMP) share price as it plans its demerger

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re on the lookout for growth shares to add to your portfolio, then you may want to look at the two listed below.

Here’s why these ASX shares could be good additions right now:

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

The first ASX growth share to look at is REA Group. It is the dominant player in real estate listings in the Australian market with its realestate.com.au website.

REA Group has been (successfully) battling difficult trading conditions over recent years caused by a housing market downturn and COVID-19. However, those tough trading conditions have now eased and the housing market is booming.

This is expected to lead to a significant increase in listings over the coming years. Which, combined with cost cutting, price increases, and new revenue streams, could support solid earnings growth.

Macquarie is a fan of REA Group. Its analysts currently have an outperform rating and $171.70 price target on its shares.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Another ASX growth share to look at is this leading cloud-based business and accounting software platform provider.

Due to the quality and stickiness of its platform and its international expansion, Xero has been growing both its customer numbers and subscription revenues at a very strong rate over the last few years.

Positively, this has continued in FY 2021 despite many small businesses struggling during the pandemic.

For example, during the first half of FY 2021, Xero’s subscriber numbers increased to 2.45 million, underpinning a 21% increase in operating revenue to NZ$409.8 million.

The good news is that while these are large numbers, they are still only a small portion of its addressable market. Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe Xero can triple its subscriptions to 7.4 million by 2030.

Furthermore, if Xero can successfully broaden and monetise its app ecosystem and expand into new geographies, Goldman believes it would open a further NZ$62 billion in total addressable market (TAM). This is on top of its core TAM of NZ$14 billion across key markets.

The broker currently has a buy rating and $153.00 price target on its shares.

More reading

• 2 excellent ASX 200 blue chip shares to buy
• How $20,000 turns into $250,000 in 10 years with ASX shares
• 2 of the best ASX 200 shares according to analysts
• Broker tips REA Group (ASX:REA) share price to shoot higher from here
• 2 five-star ASX 200 shares that are rated very highly

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 Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA 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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There are a group of ASX shares that keep growing the dividend every year, including through the difficult COVID-19 year.

It can be useful to know that there are businesses that aim to increase their shareholder payout every year. Particularly in this world of limited income growth. 

These three ASX shares have been steadily growing the dividend for multiple years:

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

This is a real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns a high-quality portfolio of properties with a long weighted average lease expiry (WALE). It has increased its distribution in each of the last few years.

The ASX dividend share looks to pay out 100% of its operating profit each year, which helps keep it at a relatively high dividend yield. At the moment the FY21 yield is expected to be at least 5.9% based on management’s guidance.

It has high-quality tenants like Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), Australian government entities, BP and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT has been steadily acquiring more properties that have long-term rental agreements. The WALE at 31 December 2020 was 14.1 years, giving the business good rental visibility.

The REIT is currently rated as a buy by Morgan Stanley, with a price target of $5.35.

APA Group (ASX: APA)

APA is one of the largest infrastructure businesses on the ASX. It owns large gas pipeline networks around Australia. It also has investments in gas storage, gas-powered energy generation and renewable energy.

The ASX dividend share has been growing its distribution in consecutive years going back to before the GFC.

It funds its distribution from its operating cashflow, which is steadily growing as the business finishes more projects. In the last few months it has announced a couple of projects in Western Australian which will unlock further cashflow growth.

In the coming months, APA may be able to announce an acquisition or opportunity in the US. It has been looking for growth ideas there for quite a while. COVID-19 has delayed that search.

At the current APA share price, it has a distribution yield of 5%.

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is an auto parts business, it says it’s the leader in Australasia.

The ASX dividend share has managed to grow its dividend every year since it started paying one several years ago.

Car parts are a pretty defensive sector and the demand has steadily increased over time. Things are booming right now with all of the impacts of COVID-19 and Bapcor is really seeing profit soar across its diverse array of businesses.

FY21 half-year pro flrma net profit after tax (NPAT) grew by 54% to $70.2 million, whilst pro forma earnings per share (EPS) grew by 28.9% to 20.7 cents.

Thanks to the profit growth and the continued strong performance into the second half of the financial year, the Bapcor board decided to increase the interim dividend by a further 12.5% to 9 cents.

At the current Bapcor share price it has a grossed-up dividend yield of 3.2%.

More reading

• Brokers think these shares can outperform the ASX 200
• 2 compelling ASX 200 shares that should be in your portfolio
• Why brokers think these 3 top performing ASX 200 shares can beat the market
• 2 high-yielding ASX 200 dividend shares
• 4 reliable ASX dividend shares to buy for income

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor and Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of APA Group and Woolworths 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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According to the latest Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) weekly economic report, the banking giant continue to expect the cash rate to remain on hold for some time to come.

In light of this, the interest rates on offer with savings accounts and term deposits are likely to remain at significantly low level for the next few years at least.

But don’t let that hold you back from generating a decent passive income. Listed below are two ASX dividend shares that offer investors attractive yields.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Aventus Group (ASX: AVN)

The first dividend share to look at is Aventus. It is Australia’s largest fully integrated owner, manager, and developer of large format retail centres.

Thanks to the quality of its tenancies and its exposure to everyday needs and national retailers, Aventus has been able to collect rent largely as normal during the pandemic. This has led to the company reporting both revenue and profit growth during the first half of FY 2021.

Goldman Sachs was pleased with its performance and appears to believe more of the same is coming in the future.

It currently has a buy rating and $3.04 price target on its shares and is forecasting a ~16.6 cents per share distribution this year. Based on the current Aventus share price of $2.83, this represents a 5.9% yield.

Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Rural Funds. It is the owner of a portfolio of high quality Australian agricultural assets that are leased to experienced operators.

Like Aventus, it has been on form in FY 2021. In February  Rural Funds released its half year results and revealed adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per unit of 6.6 cents. This means it is on track to achieve its full year forecast.

It also revealed that its ultra-long weighted average lease expiry (WALE) metric had increased further. It was up from 10.9 years to 11.1 years over the last six months.

Another positive was that management reaffirmed its FY 2021 distribution guidance of 11.28 cents per share and unveiled its FY 2022 guidance of 11.73 cents per share.

Based on the current Rural Funds share price of $2.38, this will mean yields of 4.7% and 4.9%, respectively.

More reading

• Is the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price a buy for a recovery of dividends?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX dividend shares to buy today
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Westpac, ANZ, CBA share prices dip after class action for ‘junk’ insurance
• ANZ Bank’s (ASX:ANZ) profit result could get an extra boost: Macquarie

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended RURALFUNDS STAPLED. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended AVENTUS RE UNIT. 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 Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished a mixed week with the smallest of gains. The benchmark index rose by a modest 5.3 points to 7,060.7 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Monday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 futures pointing higher

The Australian share market looks set to start the week much as it finished it. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the week 4 points higher this morning. This is despite Wall Street finishing the week very strongly on Friday. The Dow Jones rose 0.7%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.1%, and the Nasdaq stormed 1.4% higher.

Oil prices rise

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could start the week on a positive note after oil prices pushed higher. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price rose 1.2% to US$62.14 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price climbed 1.1% to US$66.11 a barrel. That wasn’t enough to stop both WTI and Brent crude oil recording weekly declines amid demand recovery concerns.

Tech shares on watch

Tech shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) come have a positive start to the week after US tech stocks stormed higher on Friday night. The Nasdaq index rose 1.4% after US investors shrugged off concerns over possible capital gain tax increases. As the local tech sector tends to follow the lead of their US counterparts, today could be a good session.

Gold price softens

Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch today after the gold price softened on Friday night. According to CNBC, the spot gold price fell 0.25% to US$1,777.80 an ounce. Strong US economic data put pressure on the safe haven asset.

Oil Search rated as a buy

The Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) share price could be great value according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. This morning the broker reaffirmed its buy rating but trimmed its price target to $5.55. This compares to the latest Oil Search share price of $3.78. The broker named it as a key pick in the sector, noting that it has leverage to its expected improvement in oil prices.

More reading

• 2 excellent ASX 200 blue chip shares to buy
• Got money to invest for dividends? Here are 3 ASX shares
• Meet the real ASX winners from record high Chinese steel prices
• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week
• These were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week

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 Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of 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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Earlier today I looked at a couple of mid cap ASX shares that are highly rated. On this occasion, I’m going to look a little higher up on the risk scale at small cap shares.

Three small cap ASX shares that could have bright futures are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8)

The first small cap to watch is Audinate. It is the digital audio-visual networking technologies provider behind the industry-leading Dante audio over IP networking solution. Audinate’s solutions replace point-to-point audio and video connections with easy-to-use, scalable, flexible networking. Hundreds of manufacturers have adopted the technology in thousands of professional products, making it Dante the de facto standard for modern AV connectivity. While demand was soft during the pandemic, sales have been increasing strongly. In fact, last week Audinate reported its highest ever quarterly revenue.

Pointerra Ltd (ASX: 3DP)

Another small cap to watch is Pointerra. It is a growing technology company with a focus on the commercialisation of 3D geospatial data. The company’s software allows users to manage, visualise, and share large digital 3D datasets with ease. Last week Pointerra released its third quarter update and revealed further strong growth in cash receipts. For the three months ended 31 March, the company achieved record quarterly cash receipts from customers of $1.37 million. This was more than double the amount recorded during the second quarter of FY 2021. It is also still only the tiniest fraction of an addressable market it estimates to be worth $500 billion annually.

MNF Group (ASX: MNF)

Another small cap ASX share to watch is MNF Group. It is a leading provider of Voice over Internet Protocol technology to businesses and consumers. It has also been performing strongly in FY 2021. For example, in February the company released its half year results and reported a 15% increase in recurring revenue to $55.7 million. This was driven by strong growth in new numbers and a Net Revenue Retention of 115%. Positively, management is optimistic on the future thanks to structural tailwinds and its expansion into the Asia market.

More reading

• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy now
• Why Megaport, Pointerra, Regis Resources, & Zip are charging higher
• Here’s why the Pointerra (ASX:3DP) share price is rocketing 26% higher
• Audinate (ASX:AD8) share price climbs on Q3 update
• 2 fantastic ASX shares that 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 AUDINATEGL FPO and Pointerra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended MNF Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO and Pointerra 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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Are you looking for options in the mid cap space? If you are, you might want to check out the ones listed below.

Here’s why analysts think these ASX mid cap shares could be in the buy zone right now:

IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

The first mid cap ASX share to look at is IDP Education. It is a leading provider of international student placement and English language testing services.

Although the company was hit hard by COVID-19 for obvious reasons, it is now bouncing back strongly. In fact, by the end of the first half, the company reported that testing volumes were broadly in line with those experienced in the final month of 2019 prior to the pandemic.

This bodes well for its second half performance. Especially given how many of its competitors were not as lucky and haven’t survived the crisis. This puts the company in a position to increase its market share once trading conditions return to normal. 

Analysts at Macquarie are positive on the company, particularly given its investments in its digital business. Macquarie feels this side of the business will support margin expansion as the recovery continues. 

Macquarie has an outperform rating and $30.80 price target on IDP Education’s shares.

Nuix Limited (ASX: NXL)

Another mid cap ASX share to consider is Nuix. It is a leading provider of investigative analytics and intelligence software.

The company’s Discover, Workstation, and Investigate platforms allow businesses and governments to transform huge amounts of data from various sources into actionable intelligence. 

Among its customers are the likes of AIG, Airbus, Amazon, BDO, HSBC, Samsung, and Unilever.

Unfortunately, the pandemic appears to have caught up on the company recently, leading to reduced demand and changes in its sales mix. This led to Nuix downgrading its guidance for FY 2021 last week, much to the dismay of shareholders. 

Nevertheless, analysts at Morgan Stanley believe the sell off that ensued is a buying opportunity. Last week it retained its buy rating but trimmed its price target to $7.50.

Morgan Stanley believes the global forensic and investigative software market is a structural growth story and that Nuix is well-positioned within it.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Why Accent, AMP, De Grey, & Nuix shares are charging higher
• ASX 200 down 0.1%: Kogan crashes, AMP’s demerger plans, Telstra strengthens 5G network
• Why is the NUIX (ASX:NXL) share price rebounding today?
• ASX 200 dips, Corporate Travel flies, Nuix sinks

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 Idp Education Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Nuix Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nuix Pty 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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There are a handful of excellent S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) blue chip shares that might be worth owning for the long-term.

The below two businesses continue to generate growth and are among the global leaders in their respective industries:

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is one of the global leaders in the cloud accounting software space. It offers its software in dozens of countries, but there are a few regions that generate most of the revenue for the ASX 200 blue chip share.

For example, Australia has over 1 million subscribers. At the end of the FY21 half-year result, the UK had 638,000 subscribers, New Zealand had 414,000 subscribers and North America had 251,000 subscribers. The rest of the world had 136,000 subscribers – but this division saw 37% growth of subscribers, so it’s rapidly rising.

The Xero strategy is to offer clients – business owners, accountants and financial advisers – the best accounting software possible with lots of time-saving and useful strategic tools. As it’s on the cloud, it can be accessed anywhere in the world. The business owners then pay an affordable monthly subscription. The customer base is very sticky. 

Xero is still in a high-growth phase where it’s investing heavily to grow its market share and improve its offering. It has also been acquiring bolt-on businesses to improve its services.

One of the most attractive thing about Xero is its very high gross profit margin of 85.7%. That means that most of the new revenue can fall onto the next line of profit.

Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL)

Sonic Healthcare is one of the world’s leading pathology businesses. It has operations in many countries including: USA, Germany, Australia, the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium and New Zealand.

This ASX 200 blue chip share has been listed on the ASX for over two decades and it has increased its dividend in most of those years.

Its profit is currently being pushed a lot higher because of all of the COVID-19 testing. A couple of months ago it had performed 18 million PCR tests to date in around 60 Sonic laboratories.

Sonic has managed to produce significant earnings leverage because all of these tests are utilising existing infrastructure.

Sonic’s pre-COVID business remains resilient despite all of the impacts, with FY21 half-year revenue only down 1%. Total revenue was up 33% in the first six months of FY21, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 89% to $1.3 billion and net profit surged 166% to $678 million.

The ASX 200 blue chip share is expecting more growth as its pre-COVID business recovers and COVID-19 testing continues. There is also the potential for COVID-19 serology testing (immunity testing) to grow.

Sonic is looking at using its strengthened balance sheet to make acquisitions. It’s also looking at contract and joint venture growth opportunities in Australia, the USA and Canada.

It currently has a partially franked dividend yield of 2.4%. According to Commsec, the Sonic Healthcare share price is valued at 14x FY21’s estimated earnings.

More reading

• Got money to invest for dividends? Here are 3 ASX shares
• Meet the real ASX winners from record high Chinese steel prices
• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week
• These were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week
• 2 of the best ASX 200 shares according to analysts

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 Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sonic Healthcare 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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Do you have some money set aside to invest for income? The three ASX dividend shares discussed below could be ones to think about.

It’s difficult to generate high levels of income right now because of the ultra-low interest rate setting that central banks have put economies on, including the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

These three ASX dividend shares could be a potential solution:

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks currently has a grossed-up dividend yield of 4.1%.

The diversified property business hasn’t cut its dividend in over four decades, making it a very reliable income option.

Brickworks is taking the approach of steadily increasing the dividend each year at a decent single digit pace. It was one of the few S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares to increase its dividend during the COVID-affected 2020 year.

It’s thanks to its quality assets of the 50% ownership of an industrial property trust and the substantial holding of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) shares that have continued to fund a higher and higher dividend for Brickworks. These two assets continue to grow in value as they invest in new projects or investments.

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

Accent currently has a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.9%.

The ASX dividend share sells an impressive array of shoe brands in different store networks and online.

It has adapted very well to the COVID-19 era with a large jump in online sales. In the first six months of FY21, Accent saw digital sales rises by 110% to $108.1 million – this represented 22.3% of sales. The growth of profit margins helped increase the dividend by just over 52%.

The business aims to open 90 new stores in FY21, which will be a sizeable boost to organic growth. Accent also unveiled another acquisition called Glue Store for $13 million which will grow its presence in the youth shoe and apparel market further. This should add another $90 million of annual sales, including $16.6 million of online sales.

Accent also announced that Brett Blundy would re-join the Accent board.

Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)

Nick Scali currently has a grossed-up dividend yield of 8.1%.

The furniture retail ASX dividend share is currently rated as a buy by the broker Citi, which has a price target of $12.05 on the business.

Nick Scali is one of the ASX shares that have benefited from the high level of consumer spending over the last 12 months.

The half-year result included a lot of profit growth, with both strong sales and even stronger margin improvement. HY21 sales went up 24.4% to $171.1 million. However, the earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margin increased 1,270 basis points – this helped underlying earnings per share (EPS) rise by 99.5% to $0.50.

Nick Scali’s interim dividend was increased by 60% and its order book was the largest it had ever been at the end of January 2021, which suggests more profit growth in the second half of the year.

More reading

• Meet the real ASX winners from record high Chinese steel prices
• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week
• These were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week
• Why retailers are stepping up as top performing ASX shares this week
• ASX 200 finishes flat, Kogan drops, Accent jumps

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company 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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