There is much macroeconomic and geopolitical manoeuvring that's distracting investors of ASX shares.

But one mustn't forget the current reporting season has been revealing crucial information about the businesses themselves.

Lucky for us, experts like Morgans analyst Andrew Tang have been keeping tabs on all the company reports.

In his regular "call to action" blog post, he picked out five ASX shares this week that are the best buys on the back of their February updates:

'Industry leading' with growth runway intact

Investment platform provider Hub24 Ltd (ASX: HUB) reported "above expectations", with underlying earnings and net profit both up.

"Hub24 looks to be delivering 'cleaner' financials," Tang wrote on the Morgans blog.

"The product offering is industry leading — along with Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) — and the runway to secure more clients looks intact."

Average funds under management and platform revenue also grew significantly.

The only bone to pick with Hub24 shares is that they have already risen 16.8% over the past year and a phenomenal 326% since the COVID-19 market crash.

They're still an add for Tang's team though.

"Whilst upside to our valuation is reasonably low, the potential for larger 'transitions' wins is a realistic catalyst within CY23."

Industry halves but this player is standing strong

Monash IVF Group Ltd (ASX: MVF) is going from strength to strength, according to Tang.

"Despite industry volumes declining in the half, Monash IVF continues to gain market share in its key markets through both organic growth and through acquisitions."

The February report was solid, with net profit after tax (NPAT) of $12.6 million coming in marginally higher than guidance.

"A strong increase in new patient registrations for the 2Q gives us confidence in the pipeline for 2H23," said Tang.

"Management has upgraded underlying NPAT guidance to 15% growth to A$25.5m for FY23 (up from guidance provided at its AGM of 10%+ growth)."

The Monash share price is flat from a year ago.

Potential clouds coming, but this one's still a buy

Tang called online jobs classifieds Seek Ltd (ASX: SEK)'s update "broadly a positive result".

However, forward guidance was biased towards the lower end of expectations with a slowing economy dampening job ad growth in Australia and New Zealand.

Morgans has subsequently downgraded its earning forecast, but the stock remains a buy.

"We adjust our FY23F to FY25F EPS by -5% to +1% factoring in the revised guidance, lower topline estimates across our forecast period on additional conservatism and improved EBITDA margins in SEEK Asia."

The Seek share price is down 9.75% over the past 12 months.

'Potential short-term catalyst' coming for these dealers

Car dealership network Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Ltd (ASX: PWR) enjoyed a surge in vehicle sales at the height of the pandemic.

Despite that fervour subsiding over the past year, its share price has managed to rise 4.4%.

Tang is buying the stock after a result that was "broadly in-line".

"Peter Warren is trading on ~11x our assumed more 'normalised' conditions (FY24/25)," he said.

"Industry consolidation will continue — we expect PWR to be a participant which adds to structural earnings capacity."

He added that the onboarding of Toyota Motor Corp (TYO: 7203) to its network would be "a potential short-term catalyst".

Excellent result and new CEO

Supermarket giant Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) hogged the limelight in the financial media earlier this week with excellent results and the transition to a new chief executive.

According to Tang, Coles is expecting consumer habits to change in 2023.

"Management said supermarkets volume growth returned to modestly positive from mid-January and is expecting more customers to be value conscious as cost-of-living pressures increase."

The company's booming supermarkets arm is somewhat cancelled out by reduced earnings in its liquor division.

Coles is also selling off its petrol station network to Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA), which will impact short-term earnings.

The Coles share price is up 5.4% over the past 12 months while paying out a 3.5% dividend yield.

Tang's team is maintaining its add rating.

The post Wake up! Buy 5 ASX shares that are reporting season gems: Morgans appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had a difficult run so far this year, tumbling 11% against a backdrop of rising interest rates and soaring inflation.

There are two key ways investors can make money from the share market: capital growth (i.e., share price rises), and dividends.

So, with capital growth taking a back seat amidst the volatility, ASX dividend shares are well and truly in the spotlight.

We know Aussies love their dividends, especially when they are fully franked.

With this in mind, I've rounded up the five highest-yielding ASX retail shares right now with a market capitalisation above $250 million.

Let's check them out.

Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Ltd (ASX: PWR)

To kick things off, ASX car dealership group Peter Warren is currently sitting in fifth place.

After hitting the ASX boards last year, Peter Warren declared maiden dividends in FY22.

The group declared total dividends of 22 cents across the financial year, fully franked, with the final dividend of 13 cents set to be paid on 7 October.

Based on these dividends, Peter Warren shares are flashing a trailing dividend yield of 7.7%. Including franking credits, this yield jacks up to 11%.

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)

Just edging out Peter Warren for fourth place is the nation's largest entertainment retailer, JB Hi-Fi.

JB Hi-Fi grew its net profit after tax (NPAT) by 8% in FY22, which helped the ASX 200 retail share hike its annual dividends by 10% to $3.16, fully franked.

As a result, JB Hi-Fi shares are currently printing a trailing dividend yield of 7.7%. Throwing in franking credits dials up this yield to 11.1%.

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)

JB Hi-Fi's biggest rival Harvey Norman has pipped it at the post, starting off our podium finishers.

Harvey Norman delivered a marginal dip in profits in FY22. However, this didn't stop the ASX 200 retail share from raising its annual dividends by 7% to 37.5 cents, fully franked.

At current levels, this puts Harvey Norman shares on a chunky trailing dividend yield of 8.9%, which grosses up to 12.7%.

Harvey Norman is the only ASX retailer on this list that is yet to trade ex-dividend. Its fully franked final dividend of 17.5 cents will be on offer until 13 October, before shares turn ex-dividend the following day.

This final dividend alone equates to a dividend yield of 4.1%.

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

Taking out the silver medal is homewares and furnishings retailer, Adairs.

In FY22, the company struggled to match its record results from the prior year. Cycling strong comparisons, NPAT slid by 30% to $45 million.

While Adairs kept its final dividend steady, it slashed total FY22 dividends by 22% to 18 cents, fully franked.

Nonetheless, Adairs shares are spinning up an eye-catching trailing dividend yield of 9.9%, which is boosted to 14.1% with the addition of franking credits.

Best & Less Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: BST)

Topping this list as the highest-yielding ASX retail share right now is value apparel business Best & Less.

It was a tale of two halves for Best & Less in FY22, battling COVID-19 restrictions and reduced foot traffic in the first half.

Overall, the company's sales backtracked by 6% to $622 million, while NPAT dropped by 13% to $41 million.

In its first year as a listed company, Best & Less declared annual dividends of 23 cents, fully franked.

This means that Best & Less shares are currently trading on a meaty trailing dividend yield of 10.3%. Including franking credits, this yield cranks up to an even meatier 14.8%.

A word of caution

It's important to note these are trailing dividend yields. As such, they reflect what's happened in the past. 

And as we're often reminded, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. 

This can be especially true in industries such as retail, which are often overly susceptible to the peaks and troughs of the economic cycle.

ASX shares can cut their dividend payments with little to no warning.

So, heed caution on taking trailing dividend yields at face value. It's also important to assess the sustainability of these yields into the future.

The post 5 ASX retail shares spruiking the highest dividend yields right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that have managed to avoid the selloff and push higher today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:

Leo Lithium Ltd (ASX: LLL)

The Leo Lithium share price is up over 8% to 73.2 cents. This is despite there being no news out of the lithium explorer. Today's gain means that Leo Lithium's shares are now up a massive 35% since this time last month.

Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR)

The Myer share price is up 7.5% to 64.5 cents. Once again, this is despite there being no news out of the department store operator. Myer's shares are also on a very positive run and are now up by 23% since this time last month. Investors appear optimistic that the company will release a strong full year result in the coming days.

Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: NEU)

The Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd share price is up a further 4.5% to $6.79. Investors have been buying this biotech company's shares this week after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review the New Drug Application (NDA) of trofinetide for the treatment of Rett syndrome. In response, this morning Bell Potter retained its speculative buy rating with an improved price target of $8.60.

Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Ltd (ASX: PWR)

The Peter Warren share price is up almost 15% to $2.89. This follows news that SMA Motors has picked up ~15.7 million shares from Quadrant Private Equity for $50 million on Tuesday. SMA Motors paid an average of approximately $3.19 per share for the stake. This represents a massive 25.6% premium to where the Peter Warren Automotive share price was trading at yesterday's close. SMA Motors is the name behind Sutton Motors, which is one of Sydney's largest dealer groups.

The post Why Leo Lithium, Myer, Neuren, and Peter Warren shares are rising today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is deep in the red today after a hot US inflation report sent Wall Street into a tailspin overnight.

At the time of writing, the All Ords index has slipped 2.6% to 7,065 points. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is mirroring this fall, also sliding 2.6% to 6,825 points.

But amongst the sea of red, some ASX All Ords shares are shining brightly. Let's take a look.

Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Ltd (ASX: PWR)

The Peter Warren share price is racing higher today after the car dealership company revealed it has a new major shareholder.

At the time of writing, Peter Warren shares have zoomed 13.9% higher to $2.87.

According to an initial substantial holder notice, SMA Motors splashed $50 million yesterday to pick up a 9% stake in PWR.

In a separate notice, the seller is revealed to be Quadrant Private Equity, offloading 15.7 million PWR shares off-market to SMA at an average price of roughly $3.19 per share. 

This represents a sizeable 26% premium to PWR's closing price yesterday of $2.52.

As my Fool colleague James reported this morning, SMA Motors is the name behind Suttons Motors, one of Sydney's largest car dealership groups.

Clover Corporation Limited (ASX: CLV)

Food technology business Clover is also defying the market sell-off today, surging 11.1% at the time of writing to $1.10.

The ASX All Ords share handed in its FY22 results this morning, reporting double-digit sales and profit growth.

Clover delivered net revenue of $70.7 million, up 17% from the prior year and at the top end of guidance.

In the second half of the year, sales rebounded across all of Clover's regions as key infant formula manufacturer order volumes lifted and international borders opened.

However, Clover hasn't been spared from rising inflation. It experienced pressure on milk proteins, freight costs, and other ingredients throughout the year, which impacted margins.

On the bottom line, the company reported a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $7.1 million, growing 19% from FY21.

Clover also doubled its final dividend to 1 cent per share, fully franked. This puts Clover shares on a trailing dividend yield of 1.4%.

Avita Medical Inc (ASX: AVH) 

Last but not least, regenerative medicine company Avita is staging a comeback today. 

The Avita share price was crunched when the company released its FY22 results in mid-August.

But its fortunes have turned today as Avita shares are currently printing a 3.9% gain to sit at $2.

The ASX All Ords share hasn't come out with any news today. But yesterday, it announced positive topline trial results.

These results relate to a pivotal, randomised, controlled trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of Avita's Recell System for the repigmentation of stable vitiligo lesions.

Results showed that 56% of Recell treatments led to repigmentation of more than 50% of the treated area. The control group managed only 12% using the typical first-line treatment for vitiligo.

Meanwhile, 36% of Recell treatments resulted in repigmentation of at least 80% of the treated area compared to 0% for the control treatment.

The post 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares defying today's rout to surge higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In morning trade, the car dealership company's shares are up 12% to $2.82.

This compares very favourably to the All Ordinaries index, which is down a disappointing 2.7% this morning.

Why is the Peter Warren Automotive share price defying the selloff?

Investors have been bidding the Peter Warren Automotive share price higher today after the company revealed that it has a new major shareholder.

According to an initial substantial holder notice, SMA Motors picked up ~15.7 million Peter Warren Automotive shares from Quadrant Private Equity for $50 million on Tuesday.

SMA Motors paid an average of approximately $3.19 per share for the stake, which represents a sizeable 25.6% premium to where the Peter Warren Automotive share price was trading at yesterday's close.

Someone was clearly very keen to get a slice of Peter Warren Automotive!

What is SMA Motors?

SMA Motors is the name behind Sutton Motors, which is one of Sydney's largest dealer groups. It operates 24 franchised motor vehicle dealership sites, covering 27 different franchises.

Why it bought the 15.7 million stake from Quadrant Private Equity remains unclear. But investors may be hoping that this leads to a full takeover approach in the near future. Time will tell if that is the case.

Following today's gain, the Peter Warren Automotive share price is trading largely flat year to date.

The post In a sea of red, guess which ASX All Ords share is booming 12% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In the wake of ASX reporting season, we've seen droves of companies in the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) turn ex-dividend in recent weeks.

When a company's shares turn ex-dividend, they no longer trade with the recent dividend payment attached to it.

The highest-profile ASX All Ords share turning ex-dividend tomorrow is Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS). You'll find everything you need to know about the latest Woodside dividend in our recent coverage here.

But there are some other ASX All Ords shares with notable dividend yields that are also going ex-dividend tomorrow. Let's check them out.

Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT)

ASX financials share Perpetual recently announced a fully franked final dividend of 97 cents, which will be paid on 30 September. A dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) is also available.

Perpetual delivered 20% revenue growth in FY22, benefitting from both organic and acquisitive growth. Underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) grew by a similar amount, helping Perpetual to lift its full-year dividends by 16% over the prior year.

This puts Perpetual shares on a sizeable trailing dividend yield of 7.9%, which grosses up to 11.3%, including franking credits.

In other news, after months of negotiations, the company looks set to acquire rival fund manager Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL). Pendal's board is unanimously supporting Perpetual's $2.5 billion takeover bid.

Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX: SIQ)

Today will be the final day for investors to bag Smartgroup's fully franked interim dividend of 17 cents. The company has pencilled in the payment date for 23 September.

This interim dividend is 3% lower than the interim dividend declared in 2021.

In the first half of FY22, Smartgroup's revenue climbed by 4%, while adjusted NPAT swung the other way, dropping by 4%.

Smartgroup shares are currently flashing a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 11.1%. However, the company's final dividend earlier in the year included a special dividend of 30 cents.

But even excluding this special dividend, Smartgroup shares are still sporting a notable trailing dividend yield of 6.1%. With the benefit of franking credits, this grosses up to 8.7%.

Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Ltd (ASX: PWR)

Peter Warren shares will be trading tomorrow without a fully franked final dividend of 13 cents, which will be paid on 7 October.

The ASX car dealership group delivered 6% revenue growth and 37% underlying NPAT growth in FY22. This growth was primarily driven by the acquisition of Penfold Motor Group, which was completed in December 2021.

After listing last year, Peter Warren declared maiden dividends in FY22, with the total coming in at 22 cents. This represents a dividend payout ratio of 67% of NPAT.

Peter Warren shares are currently trading on a trailing dividend yield of 8.1% or 11.6% grossed up. 

Resimac Group Ltd (ASX: RMC)

Shares in mortgage business Resimac will be trading tomorrow without a fully franked final dividend of 4 cents. The company has set the payment date for 23 September.

The mortgage lending business posted double-digit growth in home loan assets under management in FY22. But NPAT growth couldn't follow suit, dropping 5% on the prior year.

Nonetheless, the ASX All Ords share lifted its full-year dividends by 25% after bumping up its dividend payout ratio from 24% of NPAT in FY21 to 32% in FY22. 

Resimac shares are printing a trailing dividend yield of 6.7%. Throwing in franking credits, this yield cranks up to 9.6%. 

Monash IVF Group Ltd (ASX: MVF)

Finally, Monash IVF is another ASX All Ords share turning ex-dividend tomorrow. Shares will be trading without a fully franked final dividend of 2.2 cents, which will be paid on 7 October.

Monash IVF delivered 5% revenue growth in FY22, driven by price increases in the domestic assisted reproductive services (ARS) segment. 

Despite underlying NPAT slightly retreating in FY22, the company still raised its total dividends by 5% to 4.4 cents.

This puts Monash IVF shares on a trailing dividend yield of 4.4%, which grosses up to 6.3%.

The post 5 ASX All Ords shares trading ex-dividend on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

We're almost at the end of reporting season, so it's time to think about which ASX shares might have the best prospects after the flurry of numbers.

Morgans analyst Andrew Tang cast his eyes over the company results and has nominated six ASX stocks as his "best calls to action":

• Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
• Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC)
• Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI)
• Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Ltd (ASX: PWR)
• Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX: JIN)
• Monash IVF Group Ltd (ASX: MVF)

A core holding for long-term investors

Tang liked ASX share Wesfarmers' second-half "bounce back".

"We continue to view Wesfarmers as a core portfolio holding for long-term investors," he said on the Morgans blog.

"Kmart Group earnings recovered strongly in 2H22 after being heavily impacted by lockdowns in 1H22."

In fact, the latest dividend exceeded all expectations.

"FY22 dividend per share of 180 cents was above our 164.8 cents per share forecast and Bloomberg consensus (169.5cps)," said Tang.

"Group return-on-equity rose 330 basis points to 29.4%."

The takeover story isn't done yet

Notwithstanding the KKR consortium's takeover proposal falling over last week, the team at Morgans now rates Ramsay Health as a buy.

"Despite lingering volatility and FY24 a 'normal' trading year, it takes a back seat to KKR's now revised offer, which we believe is likely to get up in some form," said Tang.

"We have adjusted our FY23-24 earnings, rolled forward our valuation multiples, and maintained a takeout premium."

Meanwhile Peter Warren's enjoying an industry-wide sweet spot.

"Demand/supply imbalance continues to drive strong margin outcomes for the sector," said Tang.

"Industry consolidation will continue — we expect Peter Warren to be a participant (primary growth driver), or even a potential target in time."

The stock price remains cheap, the Morgans team reckons.

"Peter Warren is trading on ~7x FY23 PE and ~10x our assumed 'more normalised' conditions (FY24/25)."

Growth-a-thon for these two ASX shares

Lotteries resellers Jumbo Interactive reported a year of "solid growth", according to Tang.

"The business continued to diversify its earnings base, with SaaS now making up nearly half of group EBITDA," he said.

"We expect Jumbo Interactive to continue to achieve steady growth in the years ahead through a combination of organic contract wins, M&A and diversification."

Tang has a positive outlook on clothing retailer Universal Store.

"We believe Universal will deliver double-digit growth in sales and earnings in FY23 as an expanded store network plays into the resilience of demand for fashion apparel from a young customer cohort experiencing high levels of employment, higher wages and more and more opportunities to go out and socialise."

As such, the Universal share price is just too cheap to resist at the moment.

"The FY24F P/E is 10x, which we believe is far too low for a business with the quality and growth potential of Universal."

The post 6 ASX shares Morgans would buy right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

It turned out to be a dream end to the trading week for the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) on Friday. At the market close, the All Ords index had gained a healthy 0.7% to finish at 7,345.8 points.

But it was an even better session for some All Ords shares, largely thanks to the ongoing avalanche of earnings reports.

So let's check out three All Ords shares that saw major share price action on the back of FY22 earnings.

Three All Ords shares with big price moves on Friday

Cobram Estate Olives Ltd (ASX: CBO)

Cobram Estate shares had a very pleasing day of trading this Friday. The All Ords olive oil producer rocketed 8.93% to close at $1.525 a share. This morning, Cobram announced $140 million in group sales for FY22, which puts the company at a 49% market share of extra virgin olive oil in Australian supermarkets.

However, total revenue fell 44.3% from FY21 to $165.5 million. Earnings before tax (EBT) also fell by 49.5% to $2.5 million. On the bottom line, Cobram reported a net loss after tax of $0.7 million, down from the $35.2 million profit reported for FY21.

Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Ltd (ASX: PWR)

Next up is automotive dealership company Peter Warren. Peter Warren shares initially bounced as high as $2.67 this morning — a 5.1% gain — but finished the day up 0.79% at $2.56. This follows the company dropping its FY22 earnings this morning, too. 

For FY22, Peter Warren reported revenue growth of 5.6% to $1.71 billion. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 20.4% to $130.1 million, while profits before tax also rose by 6.8% to $80.8 million.

Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC)

Superloop shares also saw some major price action today. But unlike the other ASX All Ords shares here, this one disappointed investors. Superloop shares closed the day down a nasty 5.63% at 75.5 cents each.

Clearly, the market didn't like what the company had to say this morning about FY22.

Superloop reported revenue growth of 137% for FY22 to $262.5 million. Underlying EBITDA was also up significantly, rising 37% to $25.4 million.

However, the company's gross margin fell from 27.6% in FY21 to 23.5% in FY22. Superloop's net loss after tax widened to $52.6 million for the financial year, up 82.5% from FY21's loss of $32 million.

The post 3 ASX All Ords shares that saw major price action on FY22 results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.