Many of Australia's top brokers have been busy adjusting their financial models and recommendations again. This has led to the release of a number of broker notes this week.
Three ASX shares that brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here's why their analysts are feeling bullish on them right now:
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)
According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have retained their buy rating on this mining giant's shares with a trimmed price target of $46.80. This follows the release of a "strong" quarterly update from the Big Australian this week. Goldman highlights that BHP reported production beats in copper and iron ore during the three months. In light of this, it remains very positive on the investment opportunity here. Goldman once again highlights that BHP is trading at ~5.9x forward EBITDA. The broker notes that this is a reasonable discount to its 25-year average EV/EBITDA multiple of 6.5x to 7x. Especially when it feels that BHP deserves to trade at a premium due to its superior margins and operating performance. The BHP share price is trading at $40.03 on Wednesday.
CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL)
A note out of Ord Minnett reveals that its analysts have retained their buy rating and $318.00 price target on this biotechnology company's shares. Ord Minnett believes that a strong result is coming from CSL next month. In fact, it suspects that the company will deliver an underlying profit comfortably ahead of consensus estimates thanks to the key CSL Behring business. It then expects this form to carry through to the second half and is forecasting double-digit earnings growth for FY 2025. The CSL share price is fetching $271.61 at the time of writing.
Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)
Analysts at Bell Potter have retained their speculative buy rating and $1.40 price target on this lithium miner's shares. This follows the release of the company's second quarter update earlier this week. According to the note, Liontown's quarterly spodumene concentrate production of 89kt at 5.2% Li2O and revenue of $90 million was well ahead of expectations. Bell Potter was forecasting production of 62kt and revenue of $63 million for the period. As a result, the broker remains as positive as ever on Liontown and sees significant value in its shares at current levels. Particularly given how the 100% owned Kathleen Valley lithium project remains highly strategic and is in a tier-one mining jurisdiction. The Liontown share price is trading at 69 cents today.
