As the dust settles on reporting season, the analyst team at Macquarie has been publishing their thoughts on stocks to buy, hold, and avoid.
We've picked three of these that stand out from the pack as providing potential large returns for shareholders.
So let's see what they are.
Image source: Getty Images
AUB Group Ltd (ASX: AUB)
This is an ASX 200 company that operates retail and wholesale insurance brokers and underwriting agencies globally.
The company's shares are currently trading at $23.45, not far off their 12-month lows of $22.72 and a long way from the highs of $40.28 reached over the past year.
AUB last month reported a 14% increase in net profit and raised its FY26 profit guidance to $220 to $230 million, representing 9.9% to 14.9% growth over FY25.
The Macquarie team said the result beat consensus forecasts across all segments except New Zealand, with the other segments outperforming.
They added that the company "offers attractive growth at a valuation discount'', and they have a price target of $35.81 on AUB shares, while also forecasting a 4% dividend yield.
Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX: CWY)
This ASX 200 waste management company reported first-half results ahead of expectations, Macquarie said, while also tightening its full-year earnings expectations from $470 to $500 million to $480 to $500 million.
The Macquarie team said they think that "earnings momentum should inflect", with Cleanaway Management commenting on a favourable backdrop from project work and favourable price dynamics.
The Macquarie team added:
Margin improvement in Solid Waste is a key indicator of the better operating efficiencies resulting from improvement interventions. Health Services was a key disappointment, which is expected to see a 2H improvement. Contract Resources is bedding down well. Cost-out is progressing.
Macquarie has a price target of $3.40 on Cleanaway shares, compared with a price of $2.54 currently, and is forecasting a full-year dividend yield of 2.8%.
Capstone Copper Corp (ASX: CSC)
Capstone Copper's recently-released EBITDA of US$308 million was in line with consensus estimates, Macquarie said, but the net profit of US$79 million was 28% lower than expected due to higher tax expenses.
Macquarie said they saw value in the company because its shares were trading at an implied copper price that was well below the spot price.
After running the ruler over Capstone's first-half results, Macquarie downgraded its price target on Capstone shares by only 1% to $15.40, which compares to $13.20 currently.
Macquarie said the current valuation was "not demanding''.
