The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gained another 2.2% in September, with the following three ASX 200 stocks among those doing much of the heavy lifting. Let's hope one or more of these September winners were in your bag!
Among the month's best performers, these shares helped lift the benchmark index to new all-time highs on the final trading day of the month.
Which high-flying companies am I talking about?
Read on!
Three ASX 200 stocks helping lead the September charge
First up, let's take a look at ASX 200 stock Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME).
Shares in the health imaging company closed out August trading at $150.70. At yesterday's closing bell, on 30 September, shares were swapping hands for $178.25 apiece.
That saw this top ASX 200 stock gain 18.3% over the month just past. Pro Medicus shares are now up 113% since this time last year. The stock also trades on a slender, 0.2% fully franked dividend yield.
There was no new price-sensitive news from Pro Medicus over the month. But investors sent the stock to new all-time highs, which could be driven by enthusiasm over the potential growth benefits from rapidly evolving AI technology.
Moving on to my next September heavy hitter, we have South32 Limited (ASX: S32).
Shares in the diversified Aussie miner closed August trading for $3.14 and finished September at $3.77 a share. That put the South32 share price up 20.1% over the month. South32 shares are now up 5% over 12 months and trade on a 1.4% fully franked trailing dividend yield.
South32 also hasn't released any price-sensitive announcements since its full-year results at the end of August. But, the ASX 200 miner was clearly a beneficiary of fast-rising commodity prices in the latter half of September. Much of that boost followed on new stimulus measures announced by China.
Which brings us to the overall best-performing ASX 200 stock for September, Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN).
On 30 August, shares in the lithium miner and diversified resources producer closed the day trading for $40.15. When the closing bell sounded on 30 September, shares were changing hands for $52.04 apiece, up a whopping 29.6% over the month.
With lithium prices remaining depressed, Mineral Resources opted not to pay a final dividend this year, for the first time in more than 10 years. Based solely on the interim dividend then, the mining stock trades on a fully franked trailing yield of 0.4%.
Despite the September surge, the Mineral Resources share price remains down 24% over 12 months.
As for last month, the ASX 200 stock also benefited from China's new stimulus measures, as investors sold off bank stocks in favour of the big Aussie miners.
The Mineral Resources share price also got a big lift on 11 September.
That's when the miner reported that the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board had approved the sale of the 49% stake of the Onslow iron haul road to investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners. The miner expects total proceeds of up to $1.3 billion for the sale.
