Tag: Motley Fool

Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR) shares are dipping lower today, despite the company winning a new contract.

During early afternoon trade, the global engineering company’s shares are down 0.5% at $12.74. The Worley share price did reach positive territory earlier on, recording an intraday high of $12.98.

What did Worley announce?

The Worley share price has been see-sawing today after investors appear mixed on the company’s latest release.

In its announcement, Worley advised that it has been awarded a contract from Schering-Plough Animal Health Limited, also known as MSD Animal Health.

MSD Animal Health is a division within the 125-year-old global pharmaceutical company, MSD. The former which provides veterinary services and digital solutions such as identification and monitoring technologies.

Terms of the deal

Under the contract, Worley will deliver procurement and construction services to upgrade the animal vaccine plant in Upper Hutt, New Zealand.

The project is expected to be completed over a 4-year period, in which Worley’s New Zealand team will take charge.

No further details were provided by Worley in terms of revenue generation and any related provisions.

Words from the CEO

Worley CEO Chris Ashton, welcomed the partnership, saying:

As a global professional services company headquartered in Australia, we are excited to be involved in this project with MSD Animal Health in New Zealand. It is a natural extension to the diverse professional and field services we offer to complex chemical and processing industries around the world.

How has the Worley share price performed?

Since its March lows last year, the Worley share price has gradually gained traction to come within sights of its pre-COVID highs.

While this time last year, its shares were hovering around the $16 mark, Worley has been making gains. From November, the company’s shares have risen more than 30%, reflecting positive investor sentiment.

If the Worley share price can climb another 20%, its shares will be where they started in the beginning of 2020.

Based on the current share price, Worley commands a market capitalisation of $6.6 billion.

More reading

• Why the Worley (ASX:WOR) share price is edging higher
• ASX 200 drops 1.1%

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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Just over 2 weeks into the new year and we’ve already got ourselves some fresh IPOs, one of the first being the Singular Health IPO. The company opened its initial public offering on 4 January in an effort to raise $6 million at a price of 20 cents per share. The placement implies a market capitalisation of nearly $20.5 million, as detailed in the company’s prospectus. 

The offer has since closed early due to significant demand. Setting the stage for another ASX listed medical imaging technology company.

What is the Singular Health IPO bringing to the table?

2D, or not 2D, that is the question

Rather than the traditional 2D medical images that are still popular to this day (CT and MRI), Singular Health’s technology produces viewable 3D objects from its 2D counterparts. This is made possible by the group’s proprietary volumetric rendering platform.

The technology, enabled by the MedVR software, allows immersive viewing through the use of virtual reality. This software is currently a TGA IVD Medical Class 1 Software and is listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.

MedVR has already been commercialised and is generating revenue, albeit $22,609 unaudited for the 2020/2021 financial year to date. The software is currently used by medical practitioners, medical students, hospitals, and universities; both locally and abroad.

Revenue is expected to be generated predominantly through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. For the VR related products, the company will also make one-off revenue through reselling and installing MedVR compatible virtual reality hardware.

The medical imaging landscape

With Singular Health gearing for official quotation to the ASX on 4 February, the microcap will be joining giants at its sides. Most notably, the long time listed healthcare imaging software provider, Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME). As well as, the not so long-listed, small-cap, XV Technology developer, 4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX).

Firstly, the Pro Medicus share price has returned 43.1% in the last 12 months. The $3.3 billion company has built out a suite of cloud-based medical imaging software products. These cover the imaging organisation process, communication between radiographer and radiologist, and viewing of images even on mobile devices.

Pro Medicus has also recently benefitted from a slew of new contracts in recent months. The biggest being announced yesterday, a A$40 million, 7 year contract with Intermountain Healthcare to provide Pro Medicus’ Visage software across more than 200 clinics.

Singular Health’s offering is differentiated from Pro Medicus, given that the Visage software is focused on the handling of medical imaging, whatever form that may take. Whereas, Singular Health wants to produce 3D interactive scans that are distributed through its own software.

Secondly, the 4DMedical share price has returned 43.4% since listing just over 5 months ago. 4DMedical’s secret sauce is its proprietary XV Technology. This is used to convert sequences of X-ray images into ‘four-dimensional’ quantitative data. The company utilises this process to assess lung function by using existing clinic equipment through its cloud-based SaaS offering.

4DMedical successfully obtained TGA approval for its XV lung ventilation analysis software on 30 September 2020, reportedly 6 months ahead of schedule. Although, despite its $409.82 million market capitalisation, 4DMedical reported $1.23 million in sales revenue for FY20.

Foolish takeaway

Timely detection is crucial in most cases where medical imaging is employed. Appropriate imaging distribution, interaction, and presentation is critical. In that case, it is phenomenal that we have innovation in this space right on our doorstep.

With the addition of Singular Health, it appears we have the 2D, 3D, and 4D listed trio in medical imaging. Whether the Singular Health Group’s debut will resonate with the market, or not, is in the hands of the IPO gods.

Longer-term, it will be interesting to see if VR in the health space gains traction.

More reading

• Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price hits record high: Is it too late to invest?
• Why Afterpay, BHP, Objective, & Pro Medicus shares are charging higher
• ASX 200 rises 0.4%
• ASX 200 up 0.3%: Afterpay surges, Pro Medicus rockets on $40m contract, Whitehaven rises
• Why Afterpay, Australian Ethical, Pro Medicus, & Sezzle shares are charging higher

Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has dropped back from its highs but is still on course to record a gain. In afternoon trade the benchmark index is up 0.25% to 6,731.9 points.

Four shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping lower:

Advance Nanotek Ltd (ASX: ANO)

The Advance Nanotek share price is down 6% to $3.90 despite there being no news out of the advanced materials company. However, Advance Nanotek has been struggling in FY 2021 due to lower demand for its products because of COVID-19. This is expected to lead to a sharp drop in profits during the first half.

Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

The PolyNovo share price has sunk a further 6% to $2.59. This medical device company’s shares have come under significant pressure this week after the release of a trading update. While PolyNovo delivered a 31% increase in first half sales, it would have been much stronger had its second quarter performance not fallen short of expectations. Bell Potter was disappointing, it commented: “Polynovo announced a relatively disappointing trading update, with 1H FY21 sales growth of 31% vs the pcp well below our forecasts, consensus and management expectations”.

Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG)

The Resolute share price is down 8% to 70.5 cents after the release of a disappointing production update. Resolute achieved gold production of 89,888 ounces during the three months ended 31 December. This led to its calendar year production coming in at 395,136 ounces, which falls short of its downgraded guidance of 400,000 ounces. In 2021, management expects production to fall to between 350,000 to 375,000 ounces.

Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR)

The Tyro share price crashed 12% lower to $2.32 before going into a trading halt. Investors were selling the payments company’s shares today after it was the subject of a short seller attack. Viceroy Research claims that its payment terminals problem is far greater than the company is admitting. It alleges that Tyro has “bricked” ~50% of its terminals across the country via a software patch.

More reading

• Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR) share price crashes 12% on short seller attack
• ASX 200 up 0.4%: Afterpay hits record high, bank shares rise, Resolute disappoints
• Here’s why the Resolute (ASX:RSG) share price is sinking lower
• Outage issues could weigh on growth for the Tyro (ASX:TYR) share price
• Why BrainChip, Pilbara Minerals, Premier Investments, & Tyro shares are dropping lower

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 Advance NanoTek Limited, POLYNOVO FPO, and Tyro Payments. 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 FBR Ltd (ASX: FBR) share price shot up 10% in early trade today after the robotics company announced a new pilot program agreement.

At the time of writing, the FBR share price has retreated slightly to 5.1 cents, up 6.25%.

What did FBR announce?

In today’s release, FBR advised that it has signed a pilot program contract with Xella Technologie- und Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (Xella).

Based in Germany, Xella specialises in developing, manufacturing and marketing building and insulation materials. The company is known to be one of the world’s leading suppliers of Ytong autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) and Silka calcium silicate blocks (CSU).

Under the agreement, Xella will supply AAC and CSU blocks to FBR in order to build two houses using its Hadrian X bricklaying robot. 

Building blocks

Ytong AACs are a lightweight, precast, foam concrete building material comprising of sand, water and air. Much larger than the traditional bricks, the masonry block is extremely versatile because of its load-bearing capacity.

Silka CSUs on the other hand are known to be environmentally friendly, sound absorbent, low compression, fire-resistant, weatherproof building blocks. The latter are already in use across the world in care homes, student accommodation, hotels, apartments, schools, and other structures.

Once the structures have been completed, both companies will review the work and see if any improvements can be made. This will include any changes to the blocks themselves, the adhesives used, or any potential Hadrian X modifications.

The partnership will be used to lay groundwork for a European pilot building program, in hopes to lead to commercialisation. FBR said both companies will seek to understand the capabilities of each other’s products and COVID-19 logistical constraints.

Management commentary

FBR managing director and CEO Mike Pivac welcomed the partnership, saying:

We are very pleased to be working with another high-quality block supplier with global reach as we continue to commercialise our automated bricklaying technology. Xella are known for their innovative products, and we are looking forward to working with them to progress the global scaling of the Hadrian X.

FBR share price snapshot

The FBR share price has had a rollercoaster run over the past 12 months.

The company’s shares hit a low of 1 cent in March, before reaching a high of 10.5 cents in August. However, the FBR share price has since fallen to level at the same point as this time last year.

More reading

• Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price hits record high: Is it too late to invest?
• Why the PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price is hitting record highs
• Insiders have been buying Appen (ASX:APX) and ASX share
• Resources & Energy Group (ASX:REZ) share price sinks 7%
• The Vulcan (ASX:VUL) share price is hitting new highs today. Here’s why.

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.

The post Why the FBR (ASX:FBR) share price surged 10% higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price was an exceptionally strong performer on Thursday.

The leading health imaging company’s shares jumped 15% to $36.62.

The Pro Medicus share price has continued this positive form and hit a new record high of $39.62 on Friday.

This latest gain means its shares are up 57% over the last six months.

Why did the Pro Medicus share price jump to a record high?

Investors were fighting to get hold of the company’s shares on Thursday after it announced its fifth major new contract win in the space of six months. And as you might have guessed from the share price reaction, this was a big one.

According to the release, Pro Medicus has signed a seven-year contract worth $40 million with Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare. It is the largest health system in the State of Utah and also provides medical services in the states of Idaho and Nevada.

The contract, which is based on a transactional licensing model, will see Pro Medicus’ Visage 7 Viewer and Visage 7 Open Archive products implemented across all of Intermountain’s radiology and subspecialty imaging departments. The implementation will be fully deployed on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), leveraging Visage’s native, cloud-engineered enterprise imaging technology.

Pro Medicus’ CEO, Dr Sam Hupert, commented: “This is a very important deal for us, not only because of its size and scope, it will provide us with a material footprint in Intermountain West, previously an untapped region for us.”

Is it too late to invest?

According to analysts at UBS, the Pro Medicus share price may have topped out for the time being.

While the broker was impressed with its contract win and believes it is one of the highest quality companies on the Australian share market, it isn’t enough for it to change it rating.

UBS has retained its neutral rating and $32.00 price target on its shares. This price target is ~19% lower than where it shares trade today.

Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs currently has a neutral rating and a lower price target of $25.90 on its shares.

More reading

• Why Afterpay, BHP, Objective, & Pro Medicus shares are charging higher
• ASX 200 rises 0.4%
• ASX 200 up 0.3%: Afterpay surges, Pro Medicus rockets on $40m contract, Whitehaven rises
• Why Afterpay, Australian Ethical, Pro Medicus, & Sezzle shares are charging higher
• Why the Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price is racing 7% higher today

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pro Medicus 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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Yesterday, the PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price finally hit a new all-time high closing price, finishing the day at $13.28 per share. This follows months of bouncing between the $10 to $13 level.

At the time of writing, the Pointsbet share price is up another 3.90% to $13.80 per share.

While the company has not made any major announcements since its annual general meeting in November 2020, a number of announcements from competing US sports betting companies and fresh US sports betting turnover data has helped set a bullish tone for the PointsBet share price in the new year. 

Record turnover for New Jersey sports betting 

New Jersey took in a record US$1 billion worth of sports bets in December 2020, the latest in a string of monthly records for US sports betting. 

With the NFL playoffs underway in a lead up to the Super Bowl, January 2021 is expected to set new records for the industry.  

Not only does New Jersey represent the biggest sports betting state in the US, but also the birthplace of PointsBet US. In FY20, PointsBet’s New Jersey FY20 turnover was $307.3 million, which generated a net revenue of $6.8 million. This makes up approximately 30% of the group’s FY20 turnover of $1.15 billion. This result represented an online turnover market share in New Jersey of approximately 6.25% in FY20. 

Competing bookmakers deliver significant growth 

DraftKings and FanDuel are currently the two biggest bookmakers in the US. 

DraftKings saw a 98% year-on-year revenue surge to US$132.8 million in the latest quarter, reported on 13 November 2020. In the quarter, it raised its full-year 2020 revenue range to US$540 million to US$560 million, which translates to 25%–30% annual revenue growth. 

The company also provided a 2021 revenue guidance of US$750 million to US$850 million, which equates to 45% year-over-year growth using the midpoints. 

“The resumption of major sports such as the NBA, MLB and the NHL in the third quarter, as well as the start of the NFL season, generated tremendous customer engagement,” said DraftKings CEO Jason Robins.

Foolish takeaway

The US sports betting market is still in its early days with a number of states still working towards legalisation. Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan are bullish on the sector, estimating the US sports betting and iGaming industry to be a US$12 billion opportunity by 2025.

Looking ahead for the PointsBet share price, the company has announced its intentions to launch its sportsbook and iGaming product in Michigan in the third quarter of FY21 and iGaming product in New Jersey in the second half of FY21.

More reading

• The Pointsbet (ASX:PBH) share price is up 10% this year
• Why PointsBet, Santos, Sayona, & Splitit shares are charging higher today
• Leading broker names the emerging ASX shares to buy in 2021
• Why the BetMakers (ASX:BET) share price is surging 12% higher today

Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings 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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Every so often, I like to take a look to see which shares have experienced meaningful insider buying.

This is because insider buying is often regarded as a bullish indicator, as few people know a company and its intrinsic value better than its own directors.

A number of shares have reported meaningful insider buying this week. Here are a couple which have caught my eye:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

According to a change of director’s interest notice, one of this artificial intelligence services company’s directors has been buying shares. The notice reveals that Ms Vanessa Liu picked up 1,000 shares for $25.00 per share or a total consideration of $25,000 on 24 December 2020 through an on-market trade. These were the first shares that Ms Liu has bought since joining the company in March of last year. The independent non-executive director’s buy price represents a 43% discount to Appen’s 52-week high.

One leading broker that would approve of this purchase is Citi. Last month the broker put a buy rating and $32.60 price target on the company’s shares following its trading update.

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)

Another change of director’s interest notice reveals that one of this enterprise software provider’s directors has been topping up their position. According to the notice, non-executive director Peter Ball bought 3,900 shares through an on-market trade on 13 January. Mr Ball paid a total consideration of $30,179.45, which equates to an average of $7.74 per share. This lifted the director’s holding to a total of 21,900 shares.

With the TechnologyOne share price trading 25% lower than its 52-week high, it appears as though this director feels its shares have fallen into the buy zone. One leading broker that certainly thinks this is the case is Morgans. Its analysts currently have an add rating and $9.99 price target on the company’s shares.

More reading

• What’s next for WAAAX shares in 2021? 
• Objective (ASX:OCL) share price continues its rise in 2021 after doubling last year
• 3 highly rated ASX growth shares to buy now
• 3 stellar ASX shares to buy in January
• 3 mid cap shares hitting 1-month lows on the ASX today

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

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The Resources & Energy Group Ltd (ASX: REZ) share price has dropped more than 7% so far today, after pumping 21.28% higher yesterday on the back of a positive drilling announcement at one of its prospects.

At the time of writing, the Resources & Energy Group share price is sitting at 5.3 cents per share

‘Significant’ gold system confirmed at Gigante Grande

Yesterday morning, the company announced the success of its November 2020 drilling program at its Gigante Grande prospect in Western Australia. Commenting on the results, Resources & Energy Group stated: 

The results confirm that Gigante Grande prospect, on the eastern side of the East Menzies Gold field project, is a significant and large gold mineralised system. REZ will continue exploration with a view to expand the prospect and advance towards resource generation.

Among additional highlights, Resources & Energy Group acknowledged over 70 significant intersections of gold mineralisation to date and commencement of the third drill program at Gigante Grande.

Looking forward, a total of 14 holes are planned for the January 2021 program. The program will focus on a combination of shallow and deep holes between the Moriarty Shear Zone and the Gigante Granodiorite.

The current resource estimate totals are 129,000 ounces of gold and 862,000 ounces of sliver.

The Resources & Energy Group project portfolio

Resources & Energy Group has projects in Western Australia and Queensland. The company’s East Menzies Gold Project is located 137 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie Western Australia. The project covers 90 kilometres squared and consists of three mining leases, 28 prospecting leases, one exploration lease and 14 prospecting lease applications.

Located 250 kilometres north/west of Rockhampton, Queensland is the Mount Mackenzie Gold/Silver Project with an estimated 100,000 ounces of gold at a grade of around 1.3 grams/tonne. The company owns two parcels of land within the mining leases for the site.

The company was formed in 2005 and has operated as a gold exploration and development company since 2015.

Resources & Energy Group share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Resources & Energy Group share price has boomed over 200%.

That said, the company also experienced some massive dives during the period. Like back in November 2020 when they released disappointing drilling results. 

The Resources & Energy share price has been particularly volatile over the past three months, reaching 11 cents at its higher point for the period and slumping to 3 cents at the lowest.

More reading

• The Vulcan (ASX:VUL) share price is hitting new highs today. Here’s why.
• This broker calls ANZ (ASX:ANZ) shares as the preferred bank pick
• Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR) share price crashes 12% on short seller attack
• IOOF (ASX:IFL) execs accused of sexual harassment
• ASX 200 up 0.4%: Afterpay hits record high, bank shares rise, Resolute disappoints

Motley Fool contributor Gretchen Kennedy 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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This morning the Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) share price went bananas, flying up 44%. This set a new all-time high of $7.20 for the company’s share price.

Since then, the Vulcan share price has settled back down and is now trading 35% higher for the day at $6.74.

So why the feeding frenzy on Vulcan shares this morning?

Initial pre-feasibility study, tick

Vulcan shares commenced trading this morning after being in a trading halt since 11 January. The lithium miner requested the  halt to prepare for the announcement of its pre-feasibility study (PFS) for its Zero Carbon Lithium project.

The results are in, and Vulcan likes the looks of them. Vulcan managing director, Dr Francis Wedin, commented:

We are very pleased to reach this major milestone for investors in Vulcan and the Zero Carbon Lithium® Project. The PFS has demonstrated robust economics for both the lithium and energy parts of the project, both independently and combined.

This means that there doesn’t need to be a compromise on the ethical and environmental sourcing of battery raw materials, for Europe’s current rapid transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.

What are the details?

The full PFS is 91 pages long and covers at detail plant design parameters, project economics, market studies, etc. So, if you want to brush up on all the details, I suggest grabbing a tea, or coffee, and getting comfortable. Otherwise, here are some of the main points:

• The first PFS indicates the strong potential to develop the combined direct lithium extraction (DLE) and geothermal project, in the centre of Europe, with net-zero carbon footprint
• Positive post-tax net present value (NPV) of EU$2.25 billion (full project, no phasing); Phase 1 option indicates EU$700 million NPV; and Phase 2 option indicates EU$1.4 billion NPV
• The internal rate of return (IRR) post-tax for the combined project is 21%. Lithium separately is expected to be 26% IRR post-tax.
• Robust project economics assisted by the previously announced favourable feed-in tariff rates as a result of an Act amendment by the German government.
• Probable ore reserve of 1.12 megatonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent at 181 mg/l across Ortenau and Taro licenses.
• Anticipated 74 MW of renewable energy generation.

Interestingly, on slide 19 of the corporate presentation, by Vulcan’s estimation, its brine conversion process will be nearly half the cost of competitor’s LiOH brine processing. For quick reference, on the top end, Vulcan expects the cost to be $3,142 per tonne of LiOH, compared to the existing competitor’s $5,872 per tonne of LiOH.

What’s next for the Vulcan share price?

Based on Vulcan’s project timeline, the company will carry out piloting test work, as well as conducting the definitive feasibility study (DFS), permitting, and undergoing further discussions with European lithium offtakers.

As per Vulcan’s own accounts, the company likely won’t start production until 2024 at the earliest. In between now and then, there will still be a lot of leg work to hit all the necessary milestones.

With today’s latest run, the Vulcan share price is now up more than 4110% in the last 12 months.

The last 2 months has seen the share take off from just under $2.00, to the $6.74 price tag it holds today. The company’s market capitalisation now presides at $393.88 million.

More reading

• It’s electrifying: Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price up 23% today
• 2 ASX shares that ran over 1,500% in 2020
• These 6 ASX companies just started measuring ESG
• The Vulcan (ASX:VUL) share price just hit an all-time high

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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The big four ASX banks have been the driving force behind the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) resurgence to near pre-COVID highs.

Credit Suisse released a series of share price upgrades for big four ASX bank shares on Thursday, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Grp Ltd (ASX: ANZ) emerging as its preferred pick in the banking and financials sector. 

Big four ASX bank upgrades 

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)

The CBA share price target was increased from $74.80 to $82.00 with a neutral rating. Despite the increase in price target, the CBA share price closed at $86.33 on Thursday, or a 5% downside to Credit Suisse’s new price target. 

National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) 

Credit Suisse raised its NAB share price target to $26.00 or a 9% upside to its previous close. The broker takes a positive view on NAB with an outperform rating. 

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) 

The Westpac share price target was also upgraded to $22.50 or a 7% upside to its previous close with an outperform rating. 

ANZ

The ANZ share price has been the best performing bank amongst its peers in FY21, surging 32% in the last six months. Despite the surge, the ANZ share price is still 7% short of where it started 2020. 

Credit Suisse raised its ANZ share price target from $26.20 to $28.00 with an outperform rating. This points to an upside of 14% to ANZ’s closing price on Thursday of $24.60. 

Overall, the broker anticipates a significant dividend recovery in F21 for all banks with potential capital management as soon as FY22. 

Economic recovery taking shape

A number of domestic economic developments have pointed to the recovery establishing reasonable momentum, supported by the recent lifting of lockdown restrictions in Victoria.

In the RBA’s December board meeting, it noted that expectations for GDP growth in the September and December quarters had been upgraded over the preceding month, and employment had also recovered faster than anticipated. 

A rebound in household consumption was also seen as well, following a record contraction in the June quarter. 

More bank-specific data has also pointed to a significant improvement in loan deferrals and signs of life in housing credit growth.  

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.4%: Afterpay hits record high, bank shares rise, Resolute disappoints
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price climbs higher as investors eye dividends
• Here’s why ASX bank shares might juice up their dividends in 2021
• This ASX 200 stock is tipped to lift dividends by 87% this year
• 3 blue chip ASX dividend shares with big yields

Motley Fool contributor Lina Lim 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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