Share prices plunging: 3 ASX shares I may buy

ASX share prices are plunging across the board. I think there are lots of opportunities to buy, including these 3 ASX shares.

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The ASX has fallen over 5% with investors fleeing the share market for safety into…something else.

I'm not sure where else you'd want to put your money with gold prices so high and interest rates so low. Perhaps capital protection is worth the very low return for the short-term.

Compared to where share prices are likely to be in 2025, I think today's shares prices (and in the coming weeks) will look very attractive.

I'm very likely to buy some more shares this week, here are some of the most likely candidates:

a woman

WAM Microcap Limited (ASX: WMI

The small cap focused listed investment company (LIC) has seen its share price fall by 7.4% today and 20% since 21 February 2020.

Small caps are usually sold off more heavily than large caps when it comes to market declines, so it's no surprise that WAM Microcap's share price is suffering.

However, the investment team have shown excellent investment skills at delivering gross returns of more than 20% per annum since inception to 31 January 2020.

Over the long-term I think WAM Microcap could be one of the best-performing LICs, so opportunities like this could be an attractive time to buy shares.

It currently offers an annualised grossed-up dividend yield of 6.8%.

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU

The electronic PCB software business has been one of the best performers over the past decade and I think it's going to be one of the better performers over the next decade too, particularly from this lower share price.

I think Altium is one of the best growth shares to buy compared to many of the other tech options. It's very profitable, its profit margins are growing, it's coming out with better services every year, it has great management, excellent cashflow and a good balance sheet.

There are many highly-priced tech shares that just aren't making any profit at the moment. I think these loss-making businesses are a lot more precarious than Altium, which continues to grow its cash balance each year.

It's now trading at 39x FY21's estimated earnings after today's selloff.

Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF

The ethical fund manager saw a huge rise due to the bushfires and now it's experiencing a dramatic selloff.

It's down 10.7% today and down 34% since 19 February 2020. It's still not 'cheap', but it was growing funds under management (FUM) at a fast pace so it's the type of business that should be higher-priced than a typical listed fund manager.

Once the coronavirus situation has passed I think Australian Ethical's FUM will go back to an attractive compounding growth rate, making today's price look good.

It currently has a grossed-up dividend yield of 2.3%.

Foolish takeaway

You may notice that I already own these three shares because I thought they were quality businesses even before today's selloff. They're even more attractively priced now. At the current prices I'd probably go for WAM Microcap due to its diversified portfolio and cash position, but Altium is looking better and better every day too.

Tristan Harrison owns shares of Altium, Australian Ethical Investment Ltd., and WAM MICRO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. 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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