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In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of US markets and is pushing higher. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.45% to 6,820.8 points.

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

Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY)

The Galaxy share price is up 6% to $2.40. On Thursday the lithium producer announced the achievement of battery grade lithium carbonate at its wholly owned brine project in Argentina, Sal de Vida. The company revealed that test results demonstrate that battery grade lithium carbonate can be achieved through a simple, bolt-on process. Positively, this can be seamlessly incorporated into the Stage 1 project development.

HUB24 Ltd (ASX: HUB)

The HUB24 share price has rebounded 4.5% to $21.74. This follows a 14% decline in the wealth management platform provider’s shares on Thursday after a rival announced changes in its deposit arrangement. Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe this is a buying opportunity and put a buy rating and $24.58 price target on HUB24’s shares this morning.

Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: PAR)

The Paradigm share price is up almost 7% to $2.56. Investors have been buying the biopharmaceutical company’s shares after it announced the submission of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is for the planned pivotal study and extension study with PPS (Zilosul) for the treatment of patients with Knee Osteoarthritis (OA).

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

The Telstra share price has risen 3% to $3.43. This morning the telco giant announced that it would be delisting its New Zealand listed shares in June. Telstra explained that it was making the change partly to streamline its shareholder services and notes that New Zealand investors now have easy access to the ASX. It believes the move is in the best interests of shareholders and the company.

More reading

• Why the Paradigm (ASX:PAR) share price is charging 6% higher today
• Why the Centuria Industrial (ASX:CIP) share price is gaining today
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price on watch following NZ update
• Is it time to buy HUB24 (ASX:HUB) and Netwealth (ASX:NWL) shares?
• Don’t ever buy defensive shares: fundie

James Mickleboro owns shares of Galaxy Resources Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Hub24 Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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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The Cyprium Metals Ltd (ASX: CYM) share price is down 5.66% today, despite good news from the company regarding favourable assay results. The drop has come at a bad time for the mineral mining company, as it endures the final day of trading in a particularly volatile week.

At the time of writing, the Cyprium share price is down nearly 17% over the course of this week and is currently trading at 25 cents.

Let’s take a closer look at the company’s news.

Assay results

The Cyprium share price is on the slide again today despite the company releasing its most recent assay results. The miner reported it has found extensive, shallow copper and gold mineralisation at its Nanadie Well Copper-Gold Project.

So far, the company has results for 38 out of 66 holes from its drilling program at Nanadie Well.

The drilling program found near-surface oxide and supergene mineralisation with potential mineralisation over a strike of 750 metres.

The drilling program began in January 2021, with the company stating the first lot of results are encouraging.

The Nanadie Well Copper-Gold Project is located in Western Australia, about 650kms from Perth. The company acquired 100% of the Project in July 2020. 

Management commentary

Commenting on the company’s assay results, Cyprium executive director Barry Cahill said: 

As anticipated, the results are continuing to show an extensive shallow and broad oxide copper-gold mineralisation.

We are really excited and encouraged from what we are seeing in these assay results from the supergene horizon at Nanadie Well. It gives us increasing confidence in the potential of the sulphide mineralisation. We are looking forward to the results of the assays of the diamond drill core and results of the downhole geophysics in that part of the mineralised zone.

We anticipate continued positive news flow over the coming weeks as the results for the remaining RC drill holes are received.

Cyprium share price snapshot

The Cyprium share price had a rough trot in 2020, but it has since bounced back. Currently, the company’s share price is up by more than 170% over the last 12 months. It is also up by almost 9% year to date.

Cyprium has a market capitalisation of around $26.12 million, with approximately 98 million shares outstanding.

More reading

• ASX shares making the biggest moves today

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 Atrum Coal Ltd (ASX: ATU) share price is having a terrible day’s trade after the company ended a trading halt with bad news this morning.

The coal mining company announced that the Alberta Government has reinstated a coal policy that affects the ASX-listed company’s flagship Elan Hard Coking Coal Project. Atrum also announced a number of changes to its board.

At the time of writing, the Atrum Coal share price is down a whopping 85%, trading at 6.1 cents.

Let’s dig deeper into the company’s announcement.

Reinstated coal policy

The Alberta Government has reinstated a coal policy that it removed in 2020. As result, Atrum has paused all significant site-based activities at its Elan Project, including any planned future drilling.

Atrum Coal said the government had restricted surface mining in Category 2 lands. This means coal exploration at the Elan Project is banned until a new coal policy is created.

The company noted that any environmental studies needed to continue prior work and activities already approved under its 2020 Coal Exploration Permit would not stop.

It is beginning cost reduction measures, as it now predicts much lower levels of site activities in 2021.

Atrum Coal said that there had been exemptions in the past that allowed open-pit mining on Category 2 lands. The company is seeking advice on what conditions open-pit mining might be possible.

Commentary from management

Atrum CEO Andrew Caruso commented on the government decision, saying:

We fully accept the Alberta Government’s reinstatement decision. We also welcome a consultation process that is rigorous, inclusive and transparent.

(Atrum Coal believes) such a process is precisely how all key stakeholders including First Nations, ranchers, local communities, industry and other land users can work towards a balanced, modern policy that makes Alberta a world leader in sustainable resource development.

Mr Caruso went on to emphasise that Elan mined hard coking coal (also known as metallurgical coal).

Unlike thermal coal, for which there are many alternative energy sources, there is no viable substitute for hard coking coal in the production of high strength and hardness carbon steel via the blast furnace route.

Steel is essential to modern life and socio-economic development, including in the construction of many of the renewable energy technologies and infrastructure that form the basis of the world’s transition towards a carbon-neutral setting.

Changes to Atrum Coal’s board

This morning’s announcement also included mention of upcoming resignations from the company’s board.

Both non-executive chair Chuck Blixt has resigned and will be replaced by non-executive director Glen Koropchuk.

Non-executive director George Edwards has also resigned, and Jeff Gerard and Anita Perry have been appointed as independent non-executive directors.  

More disruption to the board is set to come, as another non-executive director, Charles Fear, has announced that he will not stand for re-election in 2021. 

Atrum Coal share price snapshot

The company’s share price opened this morning trading at a healthy 25 cents and took a turn for the worse after Atrum Coal ended its trading halt mid-morning.

Today’s losses have plunged Atrum Coal’s down again after a poor year so far on the ASX. Currently, its share price is down 77% year to date. It’s also 65% over the last 12 months.

Atrum Coal has a market capitalisation of around $145 million, with approximately 581 million shares outstanding.

More reading

• Cyprium (ASX:CYM) share price slumps 6% despite positive news
• How much is the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) dividend worth today?
• Here’s why the Australian Strategic Materials (ASX:ASM) share price is rising today
• 3 attractive ASX shares currently in a dip
• Why the CIMIC (ASX:CIM) share price is lifting this morning

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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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Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) has been an S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) favourite for investors over the last year or so. At the time of writing, the Fortescue share price is trading at $20.06.

Buoyed by rising iron ore prices, Fortescue shares have risen by more than 90% over the past 12 months. And that’s after falling 22% since early January.

But it gets even better for long-term investors. Over the past 5 years, Fortescue shares are up a staggering 683%. Not bad for a blue-chip iron miner.

But even after the massive run up of the past year, Fortescue today offers a trailing dividend yield of 12.31%. And that comes fully franked to boot. If you include the value of these franking credits, this dividend grosses-up to an almost-inconceivable 17.59%.

So let’s, er, dig a little deeper here.

An ASX dividend giant

Fortescue’s last two dividend payments were a $1.47 per share interim dividend that was paid on Wednesday, and a $1 per share final dividend that was paid out on 2 October 2020. For some context, the two dividends before that were an interim dividend of 76 cents per share, and a final dividend of 24 cents per share.

So there has been a massive ramp up over the past 2 years. This large gap can be easily explained by looking at Fortescue’s policy when it comes to dividends.

Fortescue has what’s called a ‘payout ratio’ dividend policy. Its official position, which the company reiterated in its latest earnings report, is to payout 50% to 80% of full-year net profits after tax (NPAT), targeting the top end of the range. For the first half of the 2021 financial year (1H21), Fortescue’s NPAT came in at US$4.08 billion, which was a massive increase on 1H20’s figure of US$2.45 billion.

The dividend of $1.47 per share represented 80% of that NPAT figure for 1H21. So right at the top of the range. It was also the highest dividend Fortescue has ever paid its shareholders.

Will the Fortescue dividend survive?

So, some takeaways here. Firstly, as an iron ore miner, Fortescue is completely at the mercy of the iron ore price. The monstrous dividend of $1.47 a share was possible because of historically high iron ore prices over the past year. As this dividend was at the upper range of Fortescue’s payout ratio, it will need to bring in at least a very similar level of profits in the future to maintain a dividend near this level.

But this might not be a challenge for the company, at least in the short term. In its earnings report, Fortescue told us that its average realised price per dry metric tonne was US$114. Today, the iron ore price is US$155.60 a tonne, which is actually on the lower end of its recent range. It was over US$172 a tonne as recently as 8 March.

In all likelihood, the current heights of the Fortescue dividend won’t last forever, given how volatile the price of iron ore has historically been. But on the other hand, the dividend looks pretty safe in the short- to medium-term, judging by the metrics we have discussed. This is certainly an interesting ASX dividend share to keep an eye on!

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX: ASM) share price is gaining today, up 2.2% in late morning trade.

Below, we take a look at the ASX resource shares capital raising announcement.

What did the company report?

The Australian Strategic Materials share price is moving higher after the company reported it had received firm commitments to raise $65 million via the placement of 13.5 million shares.

The company will issue the new shares for $4.80 per share. That’s 5.7% below the current share price of $5.09 per share. The placement is scheduled to settle on 1 April.

The company also said it plans to raise an additional $41 million by undertaking a “1 for 14 pro-rata non-underwritten, non-renounceable entitlement offer to eligible shareholders”. The company expects the entitlement offer, also at $4.80 per share, to open on 7 April and close on 16 April.

Australian Strategic Materials intends to use the new funds for the final stage of engineering and construction of its proposed Korean Metals Plant and additional engineering work at its New South Wales Dubbo Project.

Words from management

Commenting on the capital raising, ASM managing director David Woodall said:

The funds raised significantly bolster our balance sheet, placing the company in a strong position as we progress key workstreams which include development of the proposed Korean Metals Plant and advancing key FEED workstreams on the Dubbo Project in New South Wales.

Importantly, we continue to advance our strategy for sustainable growth, with a primary focus on developing ASM into a globally relevant, independent and integrated metals producer by 2022.

Australian Strategic Materials share price snapshot

Australian Strategic Materials is a relative newcomer to the ASX, having first listed on 30 July 2020.

Since then, the ASX resource share has provided shareholders with a good run, with shares up 265% over the past 12 months. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 37% over that same time.

Year-to-date, the Australian Strategic Materials share price is down 23%.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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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An ASX share fund has revealed 3 stocks that it holds and loves, which are currently in a price dip.

Aberdeen Standard told clients in a monthly update that Australian stocks are now “in something of a sweet spot”.

“The central bank remains committed to a dovish stance, with interest rates expected to remain low until 2024 at least. Meanwhile, commodity prices could rise further as the global growth outlook improves amid the wider rollout of Covid-19 vaccines,” the memo read.

“In addition, rosier macro conditions and more upbeat company updates strengthen hopes of a rebound in corporate earnings.”

In light of this, it picked out 3 shares in its portfolio that have an optimistic future:

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH)

The New Zealand healthcare player has had a rough few weeks. From $32.94 on 27 January, its shares tumbled to as low as $25.46 this month. They’re currently trading at $29.90 early Friday afternoon, so is still in a dip.

Aberdeen noted Fisher & Paykel stocks descended because demand for its respiratory hardware was boosted by COVID-19 last year.

“With the global vaccine rollout underway, we expect hospitalisation rates to moderate and resultant hardware sales to reverse from current elevated levels.”

But the investment house deemed this to be a temporary dip in earnings.

“We continue to view Fisher and Paykel Healthcare as an attractive holding exposed to longer-term structural growth drivers,” the memo read.

“We remain upbeat on the longer-term opportunity to increase higher-margin consumables sales. This will be driven by both a larger number of devices now in circulation, as well as changes.”

Mercury NZ Ltd (ASX: MCY)

Another Kiwi business listed on the ASX, the electricity company’s stocks are currently in a price dip, having lost almost 19% since 8 January.

But Aberdeen’s Ex-20 Australian Fund went as far as selling down its Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) shares to get a piece of the action.

“We re-invested these proceeds into Mercury New Zealand, a 100% renewable electricity generator, with the recent share-price pullback offering an attractive entry point.”

The 100% green energy business model, according to Aberdeen, is what makes the company compelling.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Shares for the conglomerate have come down to $52.48 since they hit a 52-week high of $56.40 back in early February.

And that’s caught the eye of Aberdeen’s Australian Equities Fund. 

It all has to do with Australia’s escalating real estate prices.

“Our investment in Wesfarmers reflects our view that the domestic housing recovery will continue to underpin robust earnings at household hardware chain Bunnings over the medium term,” Aberdeen told clients.

“Furthermore, we think it will benefit from its recent investment in lithium processing.”

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Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and Wesfarmers 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 Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) share price is up this morning after the company announced it had signed a new performance bond facility.

Shares in the ASX 200 construction, mining, and services company opened higher this morning and are currently trading up 1.32% at $18.00.

Let’s take a closer look at the news driving the CIMIC share price.

The importance of the bond facility

In today’s release, Cimic advised that its new $1.4 billion bond facility was a 3-year syndicated performance bond.

A performance bond is issued to one party in a contract as security against another party’s ability to perform. It offers an alternative to upfront guarantees for contract security and performance pledges. As it doesn’t always tie assets or cash as collateral, it can be a useful, flexible financing tool.  

As a large corporation operating in the mining and construction fields, CIMIC is a prime candidate for such bond facilities. The company is an engineering-led construction, mining, services and public-private partnerships corporation, which works across the lifecycle of assets, infrastructure and resources projects.

Commentary from management

CIMIC Group CEO Juan Santamaria said:

The facility reflects CIMIC’s strong financial position and supports our ability to meet the significant number of projects coming through the pipeline.

Access to bonding is an advantage for the group, ensuring we can provide our clients the required surety for our contractual obligations.

Cimic share price snapshot

The CIMIC share price has had a poor start to 2021, down 27.51% year to date. It has also fallen by 25.23% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $5.3 billion, with approximately 311 million shares outstanding. 

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: PAR) share price is charging higher on Friday.

In early afternoon trade the biopharmaceutical company’s shares are up a sizeable 6% to $2.55.

Why is the Paradigm share price charging higher today?

Investors have been fighting to get hold of Paradigm’s shares on Friday after the release of an announcement this morning.

According to the release, Paradigm has submitted its Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is for the planned pivotal study and extension study with PPS (Zilosul) for the treatment of patients with Knee Osteoarthritis (OA). The company believes the submission of its IND application marks a significant milestone.

Management revealed that in preparation for the IND submission and commencement of the pivotal clinical program, Paradigm conducted meetings with key regulatory bodies. This was to ensure the clinical trial design would be acceptable on a global platform and meet all obligations required for registration upon successful trial results.

One of these was a pre-IND meeting in February last year with the FDA. At this meeting the two parties discussed the clinical trial protocol. Paradigm also received feedback from a Type-C meeting in December 2020, where the written response to questions posed by Paradigm was received from the FDA on the proposed clinical trial design.

In Europe, regulatory engagement with the EMA was also achieved via a virtual Scientific Advice meeting in September 2020.

Management commentary

Paradigm’s Chairman and CEO, Paul Rennie, commented: “It has been incredibly pleasing watching all modules of the IND submission come together and I am very thankful for the highly experienced and skilled Paradigm team for achieving this significant milestone on time for all of our stakeholders.”

“We believe that a harmonised clinical trial program that satisfies the requirements for registration with multiple global regulatory agencies will save Paradigm time and money as we approach registration and commercialisation of Zilosul.”

Mr Rennie also believes that the IND will give the company’s profile a boost and bring it into the radar of investors and potential partners.

“We anticipate the IND opening will provide further exposure to global investors and partners with the company already receiving an increase in global interest in our Phase 3 clinical program during our attendance this week at the 2021 BIO-Europe Spring Partnering conference where the company has participated in several partnering meetings.”

“We look forward to providing further detail on the final study design and timing once the IND has been opened following the 30-day review period with the FDA.”

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 Oneview Healthcare PLC (ASX: ONE) share price is rocketing in late morning trade following its ISO 27001 certification award.

At the time of writing, the healthcare technology solutions company’s shares are swapping hands for 35.5 cents, up 14.7%. It’s worth noting that at market open, its shares reached an intraday high of 41 cents.

Founded in 2007, Oneview is an Irish software company that provides interactive healthcare technologies for patients, families and caregivers. The business operates in the United States, Australia, and the Middle East.

What’s driving the Oneview share price higher?

The Oneview share price is on the move as investors seem pleased with the company’s latest update.

According to its release, Oneview advised that it has surpassed a key milestone for the transition to Cloud Enterprise. The company was granted ISO 27001 certification, which is the international standard on best practices to manage information security. In laymen’s terms, it proves to clients that their data is safely managed at all times.

Certification Europe, a globally accredited certification body, conducted a thorough independent audit of Oneview’s systems, facilities and processes. It found that the company’s Information Security Management System (ISMS) protected the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of customer data.

Management commentary

Oneview information security head Richard Eibrand commented:

Information security is especially critical in healthcare and we are very proud of our 13-year unblemished track record protecting the data of our world-class customers.

Cyber security is a top priority for healthcare CIOs and having ISO 27001 certification provides industry-recognised assurance of our good custodianship of highly sensitive healthcare data.

Oneview CEO James Fitter added:

Our journey to ISO certification began in May 2019 as we were developing a complex cloud hosted care management solution for the aged care industry. Our strategic decision to move our hospital solution to the Cloud in 2020 saw us accelerate this initiative in recent months.

The Oneview share price has jumped more than 800% in the past 12 months, with most of these gains coming year-to-date. It’s worth noting that the company’s shares reached a 52-week high of 48.5 cents on Monday.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) shares are falling today after the company received firm commitments to raise A$18 million. At the time of writing, the Creso share price has slumped 6.52% to 21.5 cents.

The funds raised will be deployed to undertake psychedelic clinical trials upon the completion of the company’s Halucenex acquisition. Halucenex is a life sciences company focused on researching novel psychedelic compounds and developing and licensing products for the emerging global psychedelic medicines market. 

Creso share price falls on capital raise 

The Creso share price is on the slide today after the company advised it has secured firm commitments from institutional, professional and sophisticated investors to raise up to A$18 million. The funds will be raised via the issue of approximately 94.7 million new shares at an issue price of 19 cents per share. 

The company notes that the placement was heavily oversubscribed and strongly supported by a range of local and international groups including leading Australian businessman John Langley Hancock, S3 Consortium Holdings Pty Ltd and independent global fund manager L1 Global Master Opportunities Fund, among others. 

Funds to advance clinical trials and nutraceutical offerings 

Creso Pharma has recently focused its attention on its “transformational” psychedelics acquisition, Halucenex. Its phase II and phase III clinical trials will explore the efficacy of psychedelic molecules on a range of mental health conditions, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and open up another potentially lucrative vertical. 

The company will also deploy funds to expand its current nutraceutical offerings via its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Mernova Medicinal Inc. On 19 March, Mernova received three purchase orders valued at C$177,122.40 (A$183,019.551). These included the company’s first purchase order for its pre-roll joint range, sold under the Ritual Sticks brand. 

Non-executive chair Adam Blumenthal was pleased with the strong interest in the placement and believes it will position Creso to explore greater opportunities in the near-term. He said:

The Placement was very well bid and leaves Creso Pharma well funded to progress a number of near term revenue generating initiatives. Key short-term focus will include finalising the acquisition of Halucenex and undertaking clinical trials. Importantly, the acquisition provides the Company with access to another lucrative vertical and potential revenue stream. We will also be ramping up our nutraceutical division and preparing for the anticipated legalisation of cannabis in the US through our Canadian operations.

The Creso share price has increased by more than 250% over the past 12 months.

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Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun 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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