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The Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price lost more than 20% in value in March. This compares to S&P/ASX Materials (INDEXASX: XMJ) index which is down 8.50% in the last month and flat ASX 200. 

At the time of writing, the Fortescue share price is currently trading at $19.35, up 1%. Let’s take a closer look at what might have caused Fortescue to slide this month. 

Why is the Fortescue share price falling? 

The Fortescue share price went ex-dividend on 1 March. This means that investors who own or purchased Fortescue shares before 1 March will be eligible to receive its next interim dividend payment of $1.470. Based on its closing price before 1 March of $24.10, this would represent a yield of approximately 6.1%. 

A company’s shares typically fall on the ex-dividend date to reflect the dividend being paid. As such, the Fortescue share price fell 6% from $24.11 to $22.68 on March 1. 

Emission cuts in China to threaten iron ore markets 

Analysts are becoming increasingly cautious about the short-medium term performance of iron ore. More recently, the South China Morning Post reported that factories in the city of Tangshan were ordered to “limit or halt production on days when a heavy pollution alert was in place to reduce the overall emissions of air pollutants such as sulfuric dioxide or nitrogen oxide by 50 per cent”. The clampdown in Tangshan is seen as China’s move to tighten environmental regulations over the next few years. 

Analysts at Morgan Stanley believe the emission cuts in Tangshan could mark the beginning of major iron ore headwinds. 

On 18 March, the broker believes there could be significantly lower prices in the second half. This would come as China’s steel production softens on the back of stimulus easing. The People’s Bank of China has already begun to reduce COVID-19 related stimulus with moderating money market liquidity and bond issuance. 

Mixed broker reports 

Morgan Stanley’s maintained a bearish view of iron ore markets on 18 March. This comes with an underweight rating and a $17.45 target price. 

Conversely, Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) rated Fortescue shares as outperform with a $25.50 target price on 22 March. The broker expects that the proceeds from its new US$1.5 billion senior unsecured note issue will be used to replay a US$750 million facility due in 2022. It believes the balance will help Fortescue fund Capex for its Iron Bridge project. In addition, maintaining an 80% dividend payout ratio. 

More reading

• How to counter the ASX 200’s Achilles heel
• Time to be bullish or bearish on the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price?
• An important lesson from today’s Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price
• ASX 200 climbs, Crown soars, Mineral Resources drops
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

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

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The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is slipping today following a failed first round of legal proceedings. The effort to delay the commencement of an ex-executive’s employment at Virgin now looks less likely to succeed.

Although the decision was made by the New South Wales Supreme Court last Friday, publications surrounding the news have begun to arise over the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, the Qantas share price is trading 2.06% lower at $5.22. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.19%.

Jurisdiction falls to Singapore, hitting Qantas share price

As we reported earlier in the month, Qantas decided to take former Jetstar Japan (Qantas subsidiary) executive, Nick Rohrlach, to court.

Qantas reasoned that Mr Rohrlach had access to trade secrets pertaining to its loyalty program following acceptance of his previous position with Qantas.

However, Rohrlach went on to accept the position of chief executive of Virgin’s Velocity program. Hence, Qantas fought for the ex-employee’s start date to be moved from May to September.  

The NSW Supreme Court rejected Qantas’ bid for the case to be heard in Australia, rather than Singapore, where Rohrlach signed a contract with Qantas back in 2015. Qantas argued that a hearing in Singapore would need to be conducted remotely and that the causes of action have no connection to Singapore.

All of these reasons were laid to rest by the court, which stated, “Proceedings have to be conducted remotely… is a matter of mere inconvenience. Remotely conducted proceedings have been the order of the day for more than a year now.” And, “That the causes of action may have no connection with that jurisdiction has little to say as to the appropriateness of enforcing an express submission to jurisdiction.”

It is clear Qantas wanted to avoid the hearing moving to the Singapore jurisdiction, as Mr Rohrlach had applied for anti-suit protection there last month to prevent the extended wait.

Qantas’ next move?

Reportedly, Qantas will appeal the decision with the argument being:

All the parties are in New South Wales, and Mr Rohrlach’s new role is in Sydney, so it doesn’t make much sense to go to Singapore to resolve this. Independent of geography, our argument is simple. Virgin is trying to shortcut the time Mr Rohrlach is required under his contract to wait before accepting a role with a direct competitor.

Qantas was also ordered to reimburse the defendant’s legal costs following the dismissal of the plaintiff’s motion.

The Aussie airline’s market capitalisation is now $10.1 billion, accounting for the move in the Qantas share price today.

More reading

• Why BrainChip, Crown, Qantas, & Quickstep shares are tumbling lower
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• End of oil price rally fires warning shot for the ASX COVID recovery trade
• Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price slips on employee payment news
• Revealed: 4 least profitable industries in Australia

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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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Scott Phillips joined Ricardo Goncalves on SBS News to provide his thoughts on the mooted takeover of Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) by Blackstone, a private equity company.

Below, he chats with Ricardo about the takeover, the price being offered, what it might mean for James Packer’s business interests, and what a private equity owner might want with the company.

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More reading

• Why BrainChip, Crown, Qantas, & Quickstep shares are tumbling lower
• Is the Crown (ASX:CWN) takeover offer good value for shareholders?
• ASX 200 climbs, Crown soars, Mineral Resources drops
• Why AnteoTech, Crown, Dotz Nano, & Galan Lithium are zooming higher
• ASX 200 up 0.35%: Crowns surges, ANZ & CBA settle class actions

Motley Fool contributor Scott Phillips has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Crown Resorts 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 Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) share price has been a positive performer on Tuesday.

In morning trade the lithium-focused mineral exploration company’s shares were up as much as 6% to 34.5 cents.

The Lake Resources share price has since dropped back a touch but is still currently up over 2% to 33.2 cents.

Why is the Lake Resources share price rising today?

Investors have been buying Lake Resources shares following the release of an announcement relating to its exploration activities.

According to the release, the company is accelerating the expansion of its Argentinian lithium projects in response to strong market demand.

Management advised that ~50,000 litres of lithium brine samples are to be sent from Lake’s Cauchari Project for testing by groups specialising in direct lithium extraction and the conversion of concentrates to lithium hydroxide.

The company will then undertake a scoping study aiming to expand its future production. After which, Lake Resources is planning to commence pre-feasibility study work at Cauchari later in 2021.

Demand overwhelming supply

Lake Resources’ Managing Director, Steve Promnitz, notes that demand for high purity, sustainably produced product is expected to increase materially and overwhelm current supply.

He said: “The scale of market demand for a high purity, sustainably produced product is set to overwhelm current supply, as evidenced by the moves by automakers such as Volkswagen and others. Lake continues to engage with a range of market participants, including large companies seeking to test Cauchari and other brines using their own extraction processes, including converting concentrates into lithium hydroxides and other products.”

“With a growing supply deficit projected from 2024, Lake sees the need for even greater lithium production and therefore will advance development plans on our other brine projects based on the same production method. Significantly, should we reach our target, Lake would become a globally significant producer with relevant scale and high-quality products, at exactly the right time for the accelerating EV and battery storage revolution,” Mr Promnitz concluded.

The Lake Resources share price is up over 300% in 2021.

More reading

• Victoria to tax electric vehicles? What this could mean for ASX lithium shares
• These are the top performing ASX lithium stocks in 2021 so far
• Why Lake Resources, PainChek, Z Energy, & Zip shares are rising today
• Why the Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price is shooting 10% higher today
• Subreddit ASX Bets is gambling these 4 ASX shares will follow in GameStop’s footsteps

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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COVID-19 certainly accelerated the global demand for digital data storage as people turned to working, shopping, and socialising from home.

However, the exponential growth trend in global data usage was in place long before the pandemic. That trend looks to continue for years to come. This could offer some healthy tailwinds to S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) data centre shares.

Data demand growth forecast is “daunting”

Lee Seok-hee is the CEO of South Korean tech share giant SK Hynix Inc (KRX: 000660), which has a market cap of approximately AU$108 billion.

As Bloomberg reports, Lee:

[E]xpects exponential growth in data and bandwidth consumption spurred by new technologies like 5G networking, artificial intelligence and self-driving cars. So-called hyperscale data centers are set to double in number by 2025 to 1,060… providing the infrastructure and distribution systems for everything from social media and online gaming to smart agriculture and connected factories.

According to Lee, “The total amount of both structured and unstructured data is expected to increase exponentially. If you look at the capacity requirement of DRAM and NAND Flash for each data centre, the numbers are daunting.”

One leading ASX 200 data centre share

There are a number of quality ASX shares involved in data storage and chip manufacturing.

ASX 200 listed Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT), with a market cap of $5.0 billion, counts among the biggest and best-known data centre shares in Australia.

As demand for data storage continues to rocket, NEXTDC should continue to see growth in the demand for its services. The company also has plans to potentially expand its operations into Singapore and Japan.

UBS, for one, believes NEXTDC has a bright future, with a buy rating and a $15.40 price target on its shares. That’s almost 42% above the current price of $10.87 per share.

Share price snapshot

Up 1.4% in intraday trading today, NEXTDC shares remain down 12.5% in 2021.

Over the past 12 months, the NEXTDC share price is up 56%. That compares to a 49% gain on the ASX 200.

More reading

• 5 of the best ASX shares to buy next week
• 3 stellar ASX tech shares to buy for the long term
• 2 outstanding ASX shares to buy and hold
• 10 of the best ASX shares to buy in March
• 3 fantastic ASX growth shares to buy in March

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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is a magnificent share market. As my Fool colleague Brooke Cooper discussed this morning, there are many things to love about our flagship market index. We have a plethora of impressive, world-class businesses. We have strong transparency and insider trading laws. And the ASX 200 has, over time, delivered strong, inflation-smashing returns that would make any other asset class blush.

But nothing is perfect in its world. And the ASX 200 is no different. So what exactly is the ASX 200’s Achilles heel?

Well, see if you can guess after the top 10 ASX 200 companies by market capitalisation are listed here. The weightings are according to iShares in the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ).

ASX 200 Share	ASX 200 Weighting
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)	7.89%
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)	6.94%
CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL)	6.06%
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)	4.72%
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)	4.49%
Australia and New Zeland Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ)	4.21%
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)	3.01%
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)	2.66%
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)	2.58%
Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)	2.12%

So these 10 ASX shares make up around 44.7% of the entire index. See any patterns? Let me help out. CBA, Westpac, NAB, and ANZ, as well as Macquarie, are all ASX banks. These banks together make up approximately 24% of the ASX 200. Throw in the large miners in BHP and Rio Tinto and we get to 33%.

Sure, we have a healthcare company in CSL, as well as retail giants in Woolworths and Wesfarmers. But it’s still not what you would call ‘balanced’.

The ASX 200’s Achilles heel

You might notice one glaring omission in this list: ASX tech companies. Sure we have many quality tech companies on the ASX. There’s Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO). But none of these companies, even together, have a massive, or even significant, presence in the ASX 200. Even Afterpay is only worth 1.33% of the index.

Yet tech is going to be a big part of the future of the ASX 200 if the growth of this sector over just the past year is any kind of indication. This could be called the ASX 200’s Achilles heel.

So how do we combat this Achilles heel? One way could be by turning to overseas sharemarkets. Take the United States. The US has two of the most popular indexes int the world in the S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) and the NASDAQ-100 (INDEXNASDAQ: NDX). Both of these indexes are dominated by tech companies like Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB). Both can be accessed via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the ASX such as the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV).

Another option one could consider is the BetaShares Asian Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA). This ETF holds a portfolio of Asian tech shares like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Adding a tech-based ETF to your ASX share portfolio could well plug the ASX 200’s Achilles heel. We can all love our index. But recognising its flaws could help strengthen your ASX portfolio. Something to keep in mind!

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.4%: Bank shares lower, Xero shares upgraded
• ASX 200 crash anniversary: The most important lesson we’ve learned
• ASX 200 crash anniversary: 5 of the best performing shares of the last 12 months
• Top brokers name 3 ASX dividend shares to buy today
• Where to invest your BHP (ASX:BHP) dividends

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Facebook, National Australia Bank Limited, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Altium and recommends the following options: short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple, long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon, short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon, and long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF and Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO, Altium, Wesfarmers Limited, Woolworths Limited, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and iShares Trust – iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. 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 AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price is surging today. The positive price movement comes after the energy supplier announced it was proceeding with plans for increased green energy capacity at one of its plants.

At the time of writing, shares in the company are selling for $10.50 each – up 5.42%. In comparison the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.43%.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s boosting the AGL share price.

AGL’s announcement

Investors are loving the AGL share price today. In a media release, AGL confirmed it had submitted a planning application to the Victorian Government for a 200MW, 4-hour duration battery to be constructed at its Loy Yang Power Station in the La Trobe Valley.

Today’s announcement comes just after the company announced a deal to power the Portland aluminium smelter plant.

AGL’s chief operating officer, Markus Brokhof, says batteries will be crucial to Australia’s energy grid in the near-term.

“This project will play a critical role in transforming the reliability of renewables in Victoria, providing essential firming capacity and storage,” Mr Brokhof said.

“The [La Trobe Valley] will continue to play an important role in providing reliable and affordable energy – this project is part of both the AGL and regions’ transition and path to a lower emissions future.”

In addition to the proposed battery in the La Trobe Valley, AGL is also developing the following:

• A 250MW battery at its Torrens Island power station in South Australia.
• A 150MW battery at its Liddell power station in New South Wales.
• A 50MW battery in Broken Hill, NSW.

Loy Yang’s green conversion

AGL’s Loy Yang Power Station, like most in the La Trobe Valley, is fuelled by high-emitting brown coal. The energy supplier has promised to transition to “full decarbonisation” of its company by 2050, in line with expectations of a greener Australian economy.

As part of that transition, AGL will close all of its coal-burning plants. AGL, in conjunction with state and federal governments, is looking at ways of converting old coal facilities to zero-emission sources of power.

At Loy Yang, for example, AGL will be converting the plant to hydrogen-based. The plans for the 250MW battery are a part of these plans.

AGL and its partners will convert brown coal from the site into hydrogen.

AGL share price snapshot

Over the last 12 months, the AGL share price has fallen by 32.04%. It is one of a few ASX shares to still be struggling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the current AGL share price is down 13.36% just from the beginning of this year.

At its current valuation, AGL has a market capitalisation of around $6.2 billion.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.4%: Bank shares lower, Xero shares upgraded
• Which ASX 200 shares haven’t recovered from the COVID-19 crash?
• ASX 200 dips, Sydney Airport falls, AGL rises
• ASX 200 down 0.3%: Afterpay & Zip lower, AGL signs Portland Smelter deal
• Why AGL, Clover, QBE, & Volpara shares are pushing higher today

Motley Fool contributor Marc Sidarous 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.

The post Why the AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) share price is charging 5% higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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After a slow start, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another decent gain. In early afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.45% to 6,782.5 points.

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

Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD)

The Kathmandu share price is up over 8% to $1.23 following the release of its half year results. For the six months ended 31 January, Kathmandu reported a 12.9% increase in sales to NZ$410 million and a 19% jump in operating earnings to NZ$48 million. A key driver of this growth was its Rip Curl business. Due to the timing of its acquisition, it was only operating for three months of the prior corresponding half, compared to a full six months in the current period.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

The Pushpay share price has stormed 4.5% higher to $1.73. Investors have been buying the donation and community engagement platform provider’s shares after the Huljich family finally completed the sell down of its holding in the company. Buying its sizeable stake was global investment firm, Sixth Street. It will have a 17.8% interest in Pushpay once the deal completes next week. Sixth Street has previously invested in growth companies including Airbnb, AirTrunk, AvidXchange, Gainsight, Kyriba, MDLIVE, Paycor, PaySimple, Spotify, and SumUp.

Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG)

The Sigma share price is up 3% to 68.8 cents. This follows the release of its full year results this morning. For the 12 months ended 31 January, the pharmacy chain operator posted a 4.8% increase in revenue to $3.4 billion and a 133.6% jump in underlying net profit after tax to $29.1 million. Looking ahead, management is aiming for double digit earnings growth in FY 2021 and FY 2022.

Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL)

The Vulcan share price has risen 3% to $6.52. This morning the clean lithium company announced plans to establish a full lithium traceability and CO2 measurement across its supply chain. Vulcan will work with Traceability-as-a-Service company Circulor to achieve this, which it believes is a world-first for the lithium sector.

More reading

• Why the Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price is charging 9% higher
• Sigma (ASX:SIG) share price up 7% after doubling full year profits
• Kathmandu (ASX:KMD) share price on watch as dividends resume
• Here’s why the Pushpay (ASX:PPH) share price could surge higher today
• 3 of the best ASX shares to buy this month

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 PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. 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 Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price tumbled in mid-morning trade following a number of company updates. At the time of writing, the coal miner’s share price has recovered slightly, trading at $1.77, up 0.57%.

Let’s take a look at what the company announced to the ASX market this morning.

Suspended operations

Firstly, Whitehaven announced that the company is currently facing disruptions to its operations.

According to its release, Whitehaven Coal advised that the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) has suspended ship loading at the Port of Newcastle.

A number of faults were identified after conducting a structural assessment of its ship loader SL1. A maintenance team has been deployed and will perform repair works to the damaged SL1. It is expected that there will be an outage of around two weeks.

As a result, NCIG will not have any ship-loading capability until the repairs to SL1 are complete. Its other ship loader, SL2, remains offline and won’t be available until later in the year. SL2 had previously suffered storm damage in November 2020.

Furthermore, Whitehaven Coal noted that current weather-related port restrictions are hampering vessel movements at the Port of Newcastle. It is estimated that there are about 40 ships queued at Newcastle, awaiting entry to the port.

New South Wales floods update

While heavy rains fall down across New South Wales, authorities are predicting flooding in the Namoi River – Gunnedah Basin. Whitehaven Coal stated that it does not expect flooding to occur at any of its sites. However, it did state that local roads submerged with water could hinder workforce movements and product haulage.

In addition, the Australian Rail Track Corporation said that its Hunter Valley operations are set to resume later this week. This comes as localised flooding is expected to subside in the coming days.

Whitehaven FY21 revised guidance

Due to the current climate, Whitehaven Coal revised its guidance for FY21. It explained that Maules Creek is achieving a strong production rate. However, its Narrabri site is functioning slower than anticipated.

The mixed performance, coupled with the recent flooding and port infrastructure impacts has led the company to update its outlook.

Run-of-mine (ROM) coal production has been forecasted to be in the range of 21.4 million tonnes to 22 million tonnes. This compares against the previous guidance which projected ROM coal production of 21 million tonnes to 22.5 million tonnes.

Managed coal sales are envisaged to slightly decrease to 18.5 million tonnes and 19 million tonnes. Originally, the company assumed this metric would be in the range of 19 million tonnes to 20 million tonnes.

About the Whitehaven Coal share price

The Whitehaven Coal share price has increased modestly, up 5% for the past 12 months. In the last 30 days, however, the company’s shares have gained more than 15%.

On valuation grounds, Whitehaven Coal has a market capitalisation of around $1.8 billion, with more than 1 billion shares outstanding.

More reading

• Why is the Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) share price up 12% this month?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX finishes higher, despite tech selloff
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week

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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The Rent.com.au Ltd (ASX: RNT) share price has had a volatile year so far on the ASX but is still up 380% year to date.

Having finished January trading at 4 cents, the company’s shares reached 31 cents by 15 February – a massive 675% increase in the short time frame. Since then, however, the company’s shares have dropped back to 24 cents at the time of writing, an almost 23% drop in little more than a month.

Let’s take a look at what’s been moving the company’s share price.

Fintech and millionaires

Two significant happenings have been announced by Rent.com.au in recent months.

The first sparked intense interest amongst investors, as Australian technology entrepreneur Bevan Slattery invested $2.75 million into the company via a placement in early February. The placement included Rent.com.au issuing Mr Slattery with 55 million new fully paid ordinary shares, each costing the millionaire 5 cents.

Many investors believe a knowledgeable business identity investing heavily into a business is a sign of their faith in the company’s future success. This seems to be the case for Rent.com.au. The week after news of Mr Slattery’s investment hit headlines, the company’s share price rose by 76.92%.

The second happening was announced only yesterday, as Rent.com.au unveiled its new FinTech product RentPay’s agreement with SkyCredit Pty Ltd. The company said the agreement has given it the opportunity to add additional features to RentPay. Although, doing so has set its launch date back by 4 to 6 weeks.

RentPay is an app that allows renters easy management of their rental payments. It can be configured to automatically direct debit a tenant’s rent and can be shown to prospective landlords as proof of a good payment history.

Yesterday’s announcement was followed by a 13.8% drop in the Rent.com.au share price.

Rent.com.au share price snapshot

Today, the Rent.com.au share price is failing to recover from yesterday’s falls and has dropped lower still.

However, over the last 12 months, the company’s shares are up a whopping 700%.

Rent.com.au has a market capitalisation of around $99 million, with approximately 397 million shares outstanding.

More reading

• 3 ASX shares benefitting from a booming property market

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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