The three ASX shares I'm going to mention in this article are rated as 'buys' by several brokers.
It's quite hard to find businesses that are both good businesses and trading at a good price. Even then, one person might say Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and another says that Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) is a better choice.
Investment site MarketIndex regularly collates the ratings of brokers together to assess what the broker community collectively think are opportunities. Of course, this still isn't a guarantee of success – they could all be herding together.
With that in mind, here are three ASX shares that brokers like:
Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT)
The buy now, pay later business is rated as a buy by at least six analysts, it's going through a very volatile period with strong underlying sales growth on one hand and on the other hand AUSTRAC is taking a closer look at its compliance with regulations.
There's no doubt that Afterpay is an exciting growth share to watch, but I'm particularly concerned about competition offering a cheaper service over time. Retailers are paying a high margin for returning customers. Facebook's proposed Libra cryptocurrency could also throw a spanner in the works.
Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA)
This integrated energy company is rated as a buy by at least seven analysts. The attraction is that the oil price has been falling in recent months, the best time to buy a cyclical share is closer to the bottom of the cycle rather than the top, so now could prove to be a better time to buy.
Viva recently signed a new agreement with Coles Group Limited (ASX: COL) that could see the service station's sales volumes increase over the coming year, which would be a major positive.
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)
The large coal business is rated as a buy by at least 14 analysts. Perhaps it isn't a good thing that so many people think it's a buy at the same time?
Coal prices have been falling in recent times, sending the Whitehaven share price down by 33% over the past year.
The best time to buy resource shares is when their commodity price is down in the dumps, which could mean now is a good time to buy. But, it's hard to be brave when things look rough, and you may be trying to catch a falling dagger.
Foolish takeaway
It's hard for me to pick a winner out of the three, as I don't like any of the industries that these businesses operate in. If I was forced to choose one it would probably be Afterpay due to the short-term share price weakness and the global growth plans.
