Buy, hold, sell: CSL, DroneShield, and Northern Star shares

Let's see how analysts rate these popular shares.

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Key points
  • CSL is considered a buy by Red Leaf Securities, citing its oversold status, a significant buyback, and restructuring efforts expected to boost cash flow and leverage demand for its plasma therapies.
  • DroneShield is recommended as a sell due to governance issues and recent director stock sales, which have undermined investor confidence, causing significant share price decline and future pressure.
  • Northern Star Resources is rated as a hold because, while it has strong fundamentals and cash flow, its upside is limited by the capital-intensive nature of its growth projects and gold price volatility.

There are a lot of options for Aussie investors to choose from on the local share market.

But which ones could be buys today? Let's see what analysts are saying about these popular options, courtesy of The Bull. Here's what you need to know:

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CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL)

The team at Red Leaf Securities thinks that this biotech giant has been oversold and have named it as an ASX share to buy this week.

It highlights CSL's buyback, transformational restructuring, and demand tailwinds as reasons to be positive. Red Leaf said:

This biotechnology company is massively oversold, in our view. CSL offers a rare chance to buy a global plasma therapy powerhouse at a discount. Its $1.5 billion US investment strengthens the core Behring business and secures long term immunoglobulin supply. Its planned transformational restructuring is expected to unlock between $500 million and $550 million over three years, turbocharging cash flow. Share buy-backs, a rising dividend and secular demand tailwinds for chronic therapies point to significant upside if management can successfully execute its strategy.

DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)

Red Leaf Securities isn't in a hurry to recommend this counter drone technology company's shares despite its significant share price weakness. This morning, it has named DroneShield as an ASX share to sell.

Its analysts are expecting DroneShield shares to remain under pressure in the near term amid governance and confidence concerns among investors. They explain:

The company provides artificial intelligence based platforms for protection against advanced threats, such as drones and autonomous systems. The stock plunged after disclosures to the ASX revealed DRO directors had been selling their holdings. The company announced that November contracts were inadvertently marked as new ones rather than revised contracts due to an administrative error. In our view, such an error raises governance and confidence concerns among investors. The shares have fallen from $6.60 on October 9 to trade at $1.997 on November 27. We believe the shares will remain under pressure.

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)

Finally, this gold miner has been named as a hold by Red Leaf Securities. While it acknowledges its quality, it believes that Northern Star's upside is being limited by key risks. Red Leaf explains:

This gold miner has solid fundamentals, strong cash flows and a growing project pipeline, but upside is tempered by key risks. Major growth projects, including KCGM (Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines) mill expansion and the Hemi development are capital intensive with execution uncertainty. Costs are under pressure, and earnings remain exposed to volatile gold prices, which increases uncertainty. Until a clearer picture emerges in relation to project delivery and commodity stability, a hold position is prudent.

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in CSL. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL and DroneShield. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. 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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