Tag: Motley Fool

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the shortened week on a positive note. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.5% to 6,676.7 points.

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

AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ)

The AVZ Minerals share price has jumped over 17% to 11.5 cents. This follows the announcement of an offtake agreement by the lithium miner this morning. AVZ has signed a strategic, long-term offtake partnership with GFL International, a subsidiary of China’s largest lithium compounds producer, Ganfeng Lithium. GFL has signed on to take 30% of its Manono Project’s initial saleable yearly tonnage.

BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN)

The BrainChip share price has rocketed 29% higher to 42 cents. Investors have been buying the artificial intelligence company’s shares after the release of two announcements. The first revealed that NASA has placed an order for its Akida Early Access Evaluation Kit. Whereas the second announcement reveals that it signed an intellectual property license agreement with Renesas Electronics America.

BSA Limited (ASX: BSA)

The BSA share price is up 3% to 34 cents. The catalyst for this was news that the technical services company has entered an agreement to provide Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) with field operations services in partnership with Kordia Solutions. The agreement has an initial term of three years and is projected to generate around $25 million in revenue in the first year of the contract.

Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP)

The Credit Corp share price has surged 19% higher to $29.63. This follows the release of an announcement which reveals that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the Australian Purchased Debt Ledger (PDL) book of Collection House Group Limited (ASX: CLH). Credit Corp has agreed to pay a total consideration of approximately $160 million plus the provision of a short-term loan of $15 million, which is expected to be fully repaid within 9 months.

More reading

• BrainChip (ASX:BRN) share price on watch following major announcements
• Why the BSA (ASX:BSA) share price is on watch today
• Why Brainchip Holdings (ASX:BRN) shares are in a trading halt
• Why the BSA (ASX:BSA) share price has surged 7% higher today
• Why the BrainChip (ASX:BRN) share price is charging higher

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

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Investing in 2020 was unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

If we could sum up the year in just 10 quotes to get a sense of what an absolute rollercoaster it was, I think these would do the job well:

1.“What would it be like if your biggest holding lost half of its value in just a couple of days?”

– David Gardner, Motley Fool co-founder, 15 January 2020

This is the question asked by Motley Fool co-founder, co-chairman and Chief Rule Breaker David Gardner in January in an episode of the Motley Fool Rule Breaker podcast. The episode simulated that very scenario – a significant market crash. David Gardner and guest host Chris Hill discussed a number of big US listed companies as if they had suffered significant share price falls.

The timing seemed prophetic, however Gardner was careful to note at the start of the episode that “by no means are we predicting or thinking that the market is going to drop any time soon”.

2. “Hell is coming”

– Bill Ackman, Pershing Square Capital Management CEO, 18 March 2020

As the COVID-19 virus spread rapidly, share markets started plummeting. By March, even seasoned investors like Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management were fearing the worst. Ackman spoke live to CNBC in an emotional interview and issued a stark warning that “a depression era period” could be on its way. As he spoke on 18 March, the big S&P 500 index was plunging as much as -7%. Pershing Square went on to make more than US$2.5 billion in bets against markets.

3. “Australia is closing its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents”

– Prime Minister Scott Morrison, 19 March 2020

To slow the spread of coronavirus and to save lives, the doors to the boarder were slammed shut in March. Airlines were shuttered. Airports turned to ghost towns. The closure of borders around the world will be a defining event of 2020. We may never see it again in our lives.

4. “Tesla stock price is too high imo”

– Elon Musk, Telsa CEO, 2 May 2020

Tesla stock price is too high imo

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

As share markets started to roar back to life, the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) share price went sky-ward. At the time of CEO Elon Musk’s tweet the Tesla share price sat at around US$140. Since then the Tesla share price has rocketed by more than 350%, to US$640 per share.

5. “When something like the current pandemic happens, it’s hard to factor that in. That’s why you never want to use borrowed money, at least in my view, into investments”

– Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway CEO, 2 May 2020

At the same time as Musk’s tweet, iconic investor Warren Buffett offered some sage investing advice during Berkshire Hathaway’s virtual shareholder’s meeting.

 6. “The fundamental outlook may be positive on balance, but with listed security prices where they are, the odds aren’t in investors favor”

– Howard Marks, Oaktree Capital CEO, 18 June 2020

In his June memo ‘The Anatomy of a Rally‘, Oaktree Capital’s Howard Marks reiterated the thoughts of many of us as share markets bounced back. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had gained around +32% from its March 23 low. Since then share markets have continued to rise merrily, proving Marks’ long held maximum that ‘You cannot predict. You can prepare’.

7. “Today is a great day for science and humanity”  

– Dr. Albert Bourla – Pfizer Chairman and CEO, 9 November 2020

The world cheered as Pfizer and BioNTech announced a vaccine candidate had proved more than 90% effective against the scourge of COVID-19. People can do incredible things when time and resources are brought to a focus.

8. “If you look at what’s transpiring in the current pandemic, similar to what we saw in the 2008 financial crisis, there’s this distinct shift away from credit to debit”

– Nick Molnar, Afterpay co-founder, 7 December 2020

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has had one of the most incredible runs of the year as shoppers moved online. After falling as low as $8 per share in March the Afterpay share price rose over 1,100% to $114 per share in December.

9. “You can’t live a successful life without doing some difficult things that go wrong. That’s just the nature of the game”

– Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, 14 December 2020

If you made some investing mistakes in 2020 don’t beat yourself up, it was a testing year. As Charlie Munger noted in this webcast interview with California Institute of Technology getting things wrong and learning from it is part of investing.

10. “We are playing the only game that counts; the long-game”

– David Gardner, 15 Jan 2020

To come full circle on 2020 I want to finish with another quote from David Gardner from his January podcast. In so many ways 2020 was a complete shocker. But more than anything it showed why it is so important to keep a long-term view of investing. Markets regularly rise and fall without warning. Having the fortitude to ride out the drops and letting returns compound over many years will likely see you come out a winner.

More reading

• Iron ore prices poised to hit US$180 next month: Westpac
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• ASX 200 ends 0.7% higher
• 2 dirt cheap ASX shares to buy in 2021
• What a 20x return on Afterpay (ASX:APT) shares taught me

Regan Pearson 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 Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The CIMIC Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) share price is edging higher on Thursday following the release of a positive announcement.

At the time of writing, the engineering company’s shares are up 0.25% to $25.15.

What did CIMIC announce?

This morning CIMIC provided an update on the sale of 50% of its Thiess business to funds advised by Elliott Advisors.

Elliott is one of the oldest fund managers of its kind under continuous operation and manages more than US$40 billion in assets. This includes equity positions in private and listed companies in Australia and globally.

Thiess delivers open cut and underground mining in Australia, Asia, Africa and the Americas. It provides services to 25 projects across a range of commodities and has a diverse fleet of plant and equipment of more than 2,200 assets, a team of around 14,000 employees, and generates annual revenues in excess of A$4.1 billion.

According to the release, the company has signed all relevant material documentation including financing agreements, for the sale of the world’s largest mining services provider. This encompasses the satisfaction of a number of conditions precedent, including the required regulatory approvals.

Management advised that the transaction completion, including receipt of cash proceeds, is expected to occur prior to the end of 2020.

How much will CIMIC receive for Theiss?

The company confirmed that the price it has agreed for 50% of the equity interest in Thiess implies an enterprise valuation of approximately A$4.3 billion (based on 100% of Thiess).

The transaction is expected to generate a pre-tax gain for CIMIC of around A$2.2 billion, and a post-tax gain of around A$1.4 billion. This remains subject to certain adjustments

CIMIC’s Executive Chairman, Marcelino Fernández Verdes, previously commented: “The sale agreement reflects Thiess’ ongoing strategic importance as a core activity for CIMIC. It capitalises on the robust outlook for the mining sector and, together with Elliott, we will pursue market opportunities in line with Thiess’ growth and diversification strategy.”

More reading

• The Cimic (ASX:CIM) share price is down 2% lower today. Here’s why
• Cimic (ASX:CIM) share price falls despite positive update
• Why the Cimic Group (ASX:CIM) share price is on watch today
• Cimic (ASX:CIM) share price flat despite another contract win
• ASX 200 goes up on Friday

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 Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price is climbing today after a positive update from the energy giant on its gas processing agreements (GPA).

At the time of writing, the Woodside share price is trading up 2.31% to $23.16.

What’s pushing the Woodside share price higher?

In today’s release, Woodside advised that members of the North West Shelf (NWS) project have begun to implement their gas processing agreements.

Including Woodside, the NWS project participants are BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), BP Developments Australia, Chevron Australia, Japan Australia LNG (MIMI), and Shell Australia.

The agreement will see gas processed from Woodside subsidiary, Woodside Burrup, along with Mitsui & Co Ltd and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) subsidiaries.

Woodside described the GPA execution as a major achievement in transforming the Karratha Gas Plant into a third-party gas tolling facility which can now run at capacity.

Under tolling, a customer (natural gas supplier) pays a toll to run gas through a liquefaction plant owned by another company. The owner of that facility merely provides the asset and its services, to collect a fee.

Woodside Burrup is expected to process around 3 million tonnes of LNG, and roughly 24.7 petajoules (unit for energy) of domestic gas at Karratha from 2022 to 2025. To put that into perspective, one petajoule is 1015 joules (1 million billion) or 278 gigawatt hours. That’s enough energy to power 19,000 homes for a year, or in Woodside’s case, almost half a million homes for a year.

In addition, Mitsui and Beach will provide gas processing services from its onshore Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2. It is estimated that about 7.5 million tonnes of LNG will run through the plant between the second half of 2023 to the end of 2028.

To further cement the strength of the GPA, the parties in the NSW project have financially committed to building infrastructure to receive the gas. The development will start from the Pluto-Karratha Gas Plant interconnector to the Burrup extension pipeline. Construction is projected to begin early in the new year.

Management commentary

Commenting on the progress, Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said:

The processing of third-party gas resources will unlock further value for the NWS Project. It will provide new revenue and LNG exports from the NWS Project, add to Western Australia’s domestic gas supplies from Pluto and help underpin Australia’s economic recovery.

More reading

• Iron ore prices poised to hit US$180 next month: Westpac
• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price on watch after Samarco update
• Are we heading for a new ASX resources ‘supercycle’?
• Why is everyone talking about the iron ore price?
• Why the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price is edging higher today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns shares of Woodside Petroleum Ltd. 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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ASX small-cap Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:HPG) hasn’t exactly lit up the market since listing on the ASX back at the beginning of November.

After floating for a price of $2.45, its shares have trended consistently downwards, and a despite a recent bump are still trading at just $2.40. But despite that lacklustre performance, hipages has at least one new fan in major broker Goldman Sachs.

What does hipages do?

hipages operates an online marketplace that connects consumers with residential tradespeople (‘tradies’) for home improvement and maintenance jobs. The hipages platform allows users to provide descriptions and upload photos of the work they would like completed, and multiple tradies can then offer quotes for the job. Customers can then connect with the highest-rated tradie at their desired price point.

The company makes money by charging tradies monthly subscription fees for registering on its platform. It offers a number of pricing tiers to tradies: the more they are willing to pay per month, the more potential jobs they can accept through the platform.

hipages plans to expand its product offering over the next few years to also provide invoicing and payment services through its platform. This will further streamline the way in which its registered tradies and customers can interact and do business.

What does Goldman like about hipages?

Goldman believes hipages can leverage its market leading position to drive further growth over the next year. It initiated coverage of the company in early December and slapped a 12-month price target of $2.90 on the company’s shares. Even after a recent jump in the company’s shares – which was probably triggered by Goldman’s buy recommendation – that still represents more than a 20% upside on the current share price.

Goldman believes there is a big market opportunity for hipages to tap into. According to its report on the company, Australians spend around $83 billion on home improvements annually. And there are well over 1 million individual tradies across the country competing for those jobs. This means that there is a huge addressable market for the hipages platform.    

Goldman also believes that the hipages business model is scalable and will soon begin to deliver efficiencies. The company’s brand awareness is increasing rapidly, meaning that sales and marketing costs per job listing are declining. Individual tradies are completing more jobs through the platform and repeat usage rates are up.

This means that hipages will be able to keep its cost base low while top line revenues continue to grow, expanding its margins. From now until 2023, Goldman expects revenue to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12%. However, the broker believes that cost efficiencies will mean that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) will grow at a much higher CAGR of 36% over the same period.

The risks

Goldman identifies a number of key risks that could scupper their growth forecasts for hipages. These include threats from other similar online marketplaces like airtasker, as well as high tradie churn and high subscription prices.

But overall, Goldman remains bullish on the near-term prospects for hipages, and believes the company has a significant market opportunity ahead of it.

More reading

• Why the Hipages (ASX:HPG) share price could be going 36% higher from here

Motley Fool contributor Rhys Brock 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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Buying dividend shares today could be a sound means of obtaining a growing passive income over the long run. In many cases, they offer high yields after having not fully recovered from the 2020 stock market crash. And, with the global economic outlook set to improve, they may deliver rising dividends over the coming years.

Therefore, even if an investor has no savings at age 50, there may be time for them to build a worthwhile passive income between now and when they retire.

Buying dividend shares with high yields

High yields among many of today’s dividend shares do not only mean that they offer a generous passive income in the short run. A high yield also suggests that they may be priced at levels that do not fully factor in their long-term financial prospects.

For example, some consumer goods companies and energy stocks have high yields at the present time compared to their historic averages. This could be because they face difficult short-term outlooks that may dampen their financial prospects.

However, in many cases, such companies have solid financial positions and the right strategies to adapt to changing consumer tastes. This could mean that they can deliver impressive financial performances over the long run that translate into rising share prices.

Buying dividend stocks with growth potential

As well as focusing on dividend stocks with high yields, buying companies with growth potential could be a sound move. Businesses that are likely to benefit from industry-wide trends, such as an increasing shift towards a digital world, may be able to deliver stronger sales and profit growth than their peers.

This may have a positive impact on their valuations over the long run. It may also enable them to pay a rising dividend that increases their popularity among investors in an era of low interest rates.

A rising dividend may also significantly improve an investor’s level of passive income over the long run. Compounding can mean that an above-average dividend growth rate turns a modest yield today into a very attractive level of income in the coming years.

Building a retirement portfolio

Even though dividend stocks could provide strong returns over the coming years, even an investment in a diverse range of shares that matches the market’s return can produce a surprisingly large portfolio.

An investor who is aged 50 with no savings is likely to have at least 15 years left until they retire. In this time, a similar growth rate to the stock market’s historic return of 8% would turn a $750 monthly investment into a portfolio valued at $260,000.

However, through buying high-yielding stocks with dividend growth potential, it is possible to outperform the market. Doing so could provide greater financial freedom in retirement.

More reading

• Why this major broker thinks the hipages (ASX:HPG) share price is a ‘buy’
• Qube (ASX:QUB) share price inches higher after Moorebank update
• Iron ore prices poised to hit US$180 next month: Westpac
• Origin (ASX:ORG) share price on watch today after this announcement
• 3 ASX shares for growth, income, and value investors

Motley Fool contributor Peter Stephens has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Qube Holdings Ltd (ASX: QUB) share price is inching higher at market open, after the company announced an update on the much anticipated sale of its Moorebank Logistics Park (MLP) project.

The Qube share price opened at $3.00, up by 0.33%.

What was the update

In a short release to the market, the logistics company advised that its negotiation with Logos Property Group is progressing constructively with the due diligence process substantially complete.

The company says significant progress was made on agreeing the key commercial issues for the 100% sale of its warehousing assets to Logos, while still retaining interest in the terminals assets.

The company says that Logos continues to “demonstrate a clear appreciation of the high quality and significant strategic value of the MLP.”

Qube says that both companies will continue to finalise the outstanding commercial issues in the near term, but has warned that there is no certainty that a transaction will occur.

What’s the Moorebank Logistics Park

MLB is Australia’s largest freight infrastructure project, and will link Port Botany direct to rail terminals and warehousing. It sits on a 243-hectare site just 35km from Sydney’s central business district.

The sale of this project has been on the cards since August, and a price tag of $2 billion has been mentioned.

This comes as Qube faces problems on its balance sheet, after reporting a 55% fall in annual profit to $87.5 million. Analysts have said that if Qube can’t offload Moorebank, it will be forced to recapitalise.

In September, Logos emerged as a contender to buy the asset, and the companies agreed at the time to enter into an exclusive negotiation period.

About the Qube share price

Qube is Australia’s largest provider of import and export logistics services. The Aussie company operates at more than 125 locations across Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and South East Asia.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted international commerce and logistics routes this year. The Qube share price is lower by 8% lower in 2020, after plummeting by 50% in May.

At today’s share price, Qube commands a market cap of $5.7 billion.

More reading

• Iron ore prices poised to hit US$180 next month: Westpac
• Origin (ASX:ORG) share price on watch today after this announcement
• 3 ASX shares for growth, income, and value investors
• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price on watch after Samarco update
• Robinhood phenomenon lures Gen Z and Millennial investors, but will it continue?

Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto 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 Chinese government’s attempt to cool the iron ore price has not stopped some experts from predicting another surge as early as next month.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) believes the stars are aligned for the steel-making mineral to rally close to 20% in January to circa US$180 a tonne, reported the Australian Financial Review.

That should keep the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price supported in the near-term, even as the iron ore price lost ground for the second day.

Iron ore price weakness is temporary

Iron ore futures fell 1.9% in Singapore to US$161.10 a tonne, while the price on the Dalian exchange tumbled 5.8% to 1,026.50 yuan (US$156.95) a tonne.

The commodity has fallen 11% in just two days in Dalian after Chinese regulators curbed some trading accounts to stop speculators from trading.

However, Westpac’s analysts Justin Smirk thinks demand-supply fundamentals are enough to push the commodity higher.

Diverse tailwinds supporting the commodity

He noted that iron ore inventories at Chinese ports are stuck at cyclical lows. This is despite rising steel production and strong iron ore imports.

Further, the import price of the ore is trading at a significant premium to the locally produced commodity. This signals how strong demand is for imported ore.

“The margins for [Chinese] steel mills have been supported by rising steel prices which is allowing for the ongoing bidding up of input costs,” the AFR quoted him as saying.

“With steel prices continuing to lift further through December, and steel inventories (at both traders and steel mills) rising only modestly, it appears that strong steel sales will continue to be supportive of high iron ore prices at least into the first half of 2021.”

Growing demand, weak supply

In the year to November, Chinese steel production climbed 9%, according to Westpac. Most of the growth comes in more recent months as China emerged from the COVID‐19 disaster.

The increase compares to the 8% growth in steel output for 2019.

In contrast, supply of the ore has not kept up with demand. Major Brazilian ore producer Vale SA downgraded its output guidance for 2020 and 2021 as COVID hampered its operations.

Brazil and Australia are also entering into the “wet season” and further disruptions to shipments are likely.

While most analysts do not think the commodity can hold at recent highs, the iron ore price looks well placed to spike higher in the near-term.

It’s not only the major ASX iron ore miners that stand to benefit. The Deterra Royalties Ltd (ASX: DRR) share price and Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price will also find favour with investors.

More reading

• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price on watch after Samarco update
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• ASX 200 ends 0.7% higher
• Are these the 2 best ASX shares to buy right now?
• 2 ASX dividend shares with fully franked yields over 7% today

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of BHP Billiton Limited, Deterra Royalties Limited, and Rio Tinto Ltd. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

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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Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) has announced that it will invest an additional £36 million (A$65 million) in Octopus Energy to maintain its 20% equity stake.

This follows a partnership between Octopus and Tokyo Gas that will see the launch of Octopus into the Japanese market.

The Origin share price will be on watch when the ASX market opens this morning, after closing at $4.79 on Wednesday.

What’s the deal?

Under the agreements, leading Japanese utility Tokyo Gas will take a 9.7% equity share in Octopus for a consideration of US$200 million.

Octopus and Tokyo Gas will also establish a new retailer, TG Octopus Energy, that will pursue growth in Japan, one of the world’s biggest  energy markets comprising 83 million electricity customers and 25 million gas customers.

Origin says that it’s lifting its investment in Octopus to maintain 20% equity share because the company has seen material value since its initial investment in May this year.

Since May, Octopus has grown UK customer accounts by approximately 300,000 to 1.8 million, and launched in the United States and German markets.

Today’s investment in Octopus is on the same commercial terms as Tokyo Gas, and will be paid in three tranches based on agreed milestones, with 75% expected in FY21 and the remainder in FY22 and FY23.

Commenting on the investment, Origin chief executive officer, Frank Calabria said:

We are lifting our investment in Octopus to maintain our 20 per cent equity share because we see strong potential in our strategic partnership, underpinned by our confidence in Octopus’ operating model, market-leading technology and management team.

We have already reached Origin’s target to have 50,000 customers on the platform by the end of 2020, and we will progressively move more customers to the platform.

Why did Origin invest in Octopus

In May 2020, Origin entered a strategic partnership with UK-based Octopus Energy, taking a 20% equity share for approximately $500 million.

The deal included obtaining a perpetual license to Octopus’  flagship technology platform, Kraken, in Australia.

Origin said that it would deploy the innovative Kraken platform developed by Octopus, which would streamline and automate many interactions between Origin and its electricity customers.

At the time, the company said that the investment would pay for itself relatively quickly, saying the shift to the Kraken platform will deliver immediate savings of $70-$80 million in 2022, growing to as much as $150 million annually within the next five years.

How has the Origin Energy share price performed in 2020

The Origin Energy share price has fallen by more than 50% this year as the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on its export business.

The share price had a 52-week high of $8.82 reached in January, and a low of $3.75 reached in March.

At this price level, Origin commands a market cap of $8.4 billion.

More reading

• Here’s how ASX 200 energy shares have performed in 2020 so far
• ASX company busted allegedly misleading customers
• Why the Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) share price has dipped today
• Which ASX 200 sectors performed the best in November? 
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now

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

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Are you looking for options for your portfolio in January? Well, whether you’re a growth, income, or value investor, one of the shares listed below could be worth considering.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

If you’re a growth investor, then Appen could be worth a look. Through its team of over one million skilled contractors, Appen provides or prepares the training data for artificial intelligence (AI) models. It counts the likes of Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft as customers. While COVID-19 is stifling its growth this year, management expects demand to bounce back strongly in 2021 when the pandemic passes. Analysts at UBS appear confident that this will be the case. They recently retained their buy rating and $44.00 price target on its shares.

People Infrastructure Ltd (ASX: PPE)

Value investors might want to check out People Infrastructure. It is a leading workforce management company that provides innovative solutions to workforce challenges. In FY 2020, the company reported a 49.2% increase in normalised EBITDA to $26.4 million. While the new financial year is going to be harder because of the pandemic, analysts at Morgans remain positive on the company. They expect People Infrastructure to deliver earnings per share of 22 cents in FY 2021. This means its shares are changing hands for just ~16x forward earnings right now. They also offer a decent fully franked ~3.2% dividend yield based on the broker’s forecasts.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

If you’re an income investor, you might want to take a look at Telstra. Thanks to a combination of cost cutting, rational competition, and a positive growth outlook in the mobile business, Telstra has been tipped to return to growth in the not so distant future. Which, after years of dividend cuts, should mean Telstra will soon be in a position to start increasing its payouts once again. For now, though, analysts at UBS are expecting the company to keep paying its 16 cents per share dividend in FY 2021 and FY 2022. The broker has a buy rating and $3.85 price target on its shares.

More reading

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• Why the BSA (ASX:BSA) share price is on watch today
• 2 ASX dividend shares with big yields
• 2 dirt cheap ASX shares to buy in 2021
• Why Bigtincan, Over the Wire, Resolute, & Uniti 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 Appen Ltd and People Infrastructure Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended People Infrastructure 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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