Investors who own CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shares are probably not a happy bunch right now. The ASX 200 healthcare giant has been stuck in the mud for a long time now – share price-wise, that is.
Today, CSL shares are trading at $276.52 at the time of writing, up 0.56% for the day thus far.
At this share price, CSL has gone backwards by 8.55% over the last 12 months and remains down 4.1% in 2024 to date.
It also means that CSL shares haven't gone anywhere for almost four years now. Yep, if you bought CSL back in May of 2020, you would have paid a similar price to what's being offered today.
The past four years are a very different story from what investors enjoyed over the four years before that. Between 2016 and 2020, CSL shot the lights out, shooting up from just over $100 a share to over $300.
Check all that out for yourself below:
Of course, there have been dividend payments to keep investors company during the past four-year drought. But CSL has never been a solid dividend payer, and today offers a dividend yield of 1.18%. Since May of 2020, CSL investors might have even done better keeping their money in a term deposit, rather than in CSL shares.
But all that is about to change, at least if one ASX expert is to be believed.
ASX experts rate CSL shares as a buy
As reported by The Bull, Damien Nguyen, analyst at ASX broker Morgans, has just given CSL a buy rating. Nguyen also gave the healthcare stock a 12-month share price target of $315.40. If realised, that would see investors enjoy a return of just over 14% over the coming year. Now that would be better than a term deposit.
Here's what Nguyen had to say on CSL shares:
The blood products group's first half results in fiscal year 2024 were broadly in line with expectations. Total revenue of $US8.053 billion was up 12 per cent on the prior corresponding period. Reported net profit after tax of $US1.901 billion from ordinary activities was up 17 per cent.
Unmet demand across all divisions provides confidence that management is likely to achieve double-digit earnings growth over the medium term. Our 12-month price target is $315.40…
A company's share price tends to follow its earnings over time. So "double-digit earnings growth over the medium term" is exactly what shareholders will probably want to hear is allegedly in store for CSL.
But Morgans isn't the only expert expecting good things from CSL shares going forward. Earlier this month, my Fool colleague James looked at the views of another ASX broker in UBS. Its analysts are also expecting "double-digit earnings growth over the coming years". Accordingly, UBS gave CSL a buy rating, alongside a 12-month share price target of $330.
So it appears these two brokers are united in a positive outlook for this ASX 200 healthcare giant. But let's see what happens with CSL shares going forward.
