So are there any retail sector stocks left that haven't already had their resurgence priced in?

TAMIM Asset Management head of Australian equities Ron Shamgar reckons there are still some gems if you look past the usual suspects.

"There's only so many TVs and couches you can buy," he told Switzer TV Investing.

"So we're looking at a few retailers that are not as obvious to most investors."

He added that retailers would benefit from a wave of "revenge spend" in the coming months.

"We're all sick of being stuck at home and being locked down for a few months," he said. 

"People, as soon as they get the chance, they're going to spend, they're going to shop, they're going to go out. They're not going to spend a minute at home… There's going to be a huge boost to the economy."

Younger folks are ready to unleash after lockdown

Shamgar's first pick was youth apparel retailer Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI).

"They, in my opinion, will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of that revenge spending thematic," he said.

"The younger demographic, they're all going to go out to bars and restaurants… Everyone's going to want the latest fashion trends to go out [in]."

Shamgar also likes Universal's store growth potential.

"They have 68 stores currently in Australia, but they're targeting at least 100. And they have a clear path to those stores because they're not [yet] respresnted in all the main shopping centres," he said.

"We think they can get to 100 within 3 years. And the market loves a good store rollout growth story for a retailer."

The company showed positive results for the 2021 financial year, according to Shamgar.

"They reported 36% revenue growth to $210 million. And It's a very profitable business — EBIT was up 86% to $44 million."

The TAMIM team thinks Universal shares are worth $9. On Friday afternoon, they were trading for $7.95, which is more than 44% up for the year thus far.

These ASX shares smell good

Scented candle and diffuser merchant Dusk Group Ltd (ASX: DSK) is another retail chain Shamgar has high hopes for.

On Friday afternoon the stock was going for $3.12, which is a nice 56% lift from last year's initial public offer price of $2.

Shamgar's team reckons it has more to run though, calculating that it's worth $4.

"It's a really nice experience to go into the stores — it smells really nice," he said.

"10% of its current market valuation is in net cash… And it's paying a 10% dividend yield as well, so that's quite impressive."

Like Universal, Dusk has some store expansion potential.

"Longer term we think they're going to expand outside of Australia, into New Zealand and the UK, which is really the key for PE re-rate, because it is trading on a cheap multiple at the moment," said Shamgar.

This ASX share has a subsidiary that's worth double itself

Joyce Corporation Ltd (ASX: JYC) has been around for 135 years. 

These days its big business is a 50% stake in Kitchen Connection, which is a retailer with 25 stores that sells kitchen and wardrobe parts and services. Joyce Corp's other assets include furniture retailer Bedshed, cash and property.

With the coronavirus pandemic triggering a boom in home renovations, the kitchen business has gone gangbusters.

"If Kitchen Connection was a separately listed company, we think it would trade at a $200 million market cap."

Joyce itself is only worth $100 million on a good day. On Friday afternoon, at $3.25 per share, its market capitalisation was $91.6 million.

So the maths is simple.

"With Joyce owning half of Kitchen Connection, it's essentially the current market cap. And then you get the cash, property and the Bedshed business essentially for free."

Shamgar's team reckons Joyce shares are actually worth $4.50.

"And there is the possibility that they will acquire the remaining part of Kitchen Connection over time, which will be a big boost to the share price."

The post 3 obscure ASX shares to boom from 'revenge spending' appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

ASX dividends in mining

Rand Mining Ltd (ASX: RND) is a multi operation gold mining company in Western Australia. The company specialises in gold exploration and development. Nonetheless, it also owns 12.25% of the East Kanowna Joint Venture with other ASX shares Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) and Tribune Resources Ltd (ASX: TBR). During the first quarter FY21, Rand received 4,687 oz of gold as part of this deal.

The company is paying an ASX dividend of 10 cents, which at today's price is a dividend yield of 4.22% for this payment alone. Rand goes ex-dividend on 11 November. Grossed up, including the tax already paid, this ASX dividend would be 13 cents, or a yield of 5.4%.

Investment company

WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM) is an investment company paying a final ASX dividend of 7.8 cents. On today's price that is a yield of 3.43% for this payment only. At the time of writing, the company has a trailing 12 month dividend yield of 6.86%. WAM is currently involved in two takeovers on the ASX. The first involves the Concentrated Leaders Fund Ltd (ASX: CLF) of which WAM now holds 24.63%. The second is the Contango Income Generator Ltd (ASX: CIE), of which WAM now owns 41.31%. These two issues are still playing out.

WAM Capital goes ex-dividend on 27 November. Grossed up, this ASX dividend would be worth 10.1 cents, or 4.47%.

ASX manufacturing

Joyce Corporation Ltd (ASX: JYC) recently increased its dividend from 2.7 cents to 5 cents per share, increased on 30 October. This has been attributed to the success of cash management initiatives. The company increased its annual revenues by 4% and partner sales by 10.1%. This has led to an increase in earnings per share (EPS) of 35%. In fact, the company closed the year out with 52.6% more cash.

The house furnishings company owns brands like Bedshed and Kitchen Connection. Through FY20, the company has focused on increasing efficiency. Specifically through portfolio rationalisation, process improvement, and systems improvement.

Joyce is paying a dividend of 5 cents per share, which is a yield on this payment alone of 3.23%. Grossed up, this ASX dividend would be worth 4.19%. 

Editor's note: an earlier version of this article listed an outdated figure for WAM Capital's shareholding in Contango Income Generator. This was updated for accuracy on 3 November 2020.

The post 3 100% franked ASX dividend shares going ex-dividend in November appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

These seven stocks are all flying under the radar of mainstream analysts, yet their relative valuation ratios mostly suggest they are cheap.

Fiducian and OTOC reported yesterday, and their results were outstanding.

Fiducian, the wealth management business, yesterday reported a 22% increase in underlying net profit to $7 million for the 2016 financial year (FY16), and a 25% increase in its dividend to 12.5 cents. The company also has $9.7m of cash in its bank account and trades on an undemanding P/E ratio of 13x.

OTOC offers surveying, planning and design services to many sectors including government. The company also reported yesterday and delivered a 246% increase in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to $16.2 million as revenues went close to doubling compared to FY15.

Dicker Data and Tamawood we have both covered in more detail previously, but the former still trades on a prospective P/E of ~11.6x and Tamawood recently reported double-digit growth in earnings per share.

Joyce and FSA group I covered in more detail last month, but both still look attractive at current prices.

ICSGLobal is a software business primarily supplying billing software in the UK for healthcare professionals. At its half year result earlier this year, ICSGLobal saw profit increase 30%, and upped its interim dividend by 33% and still trades on a prospective P/E ratio of around 14.6x.

Foolish takeaway

Focusing on the smaller end of the market can see investors thrash the overall market return, as smaller companies have the ability to generate enormous growth the big end of town simply can't.

The post 7 small cap bargains I'd buy right now with $7,000 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

It's difficult for the members of the ASX Top 20 Index to double, triple or quadruple revenues in a short period of time – but smaller companies can do that – if you find the right ones that is.

Here are three that investors might want to consider adding to a solid portfolio…

FSA Group Ltd (ASX: FSA)

FSA Group provides debt solutions and lending services to consumers – mainly to help consolidate debt and sort out their finances – and has a market cap of around $130 million. It's the largest provider of debt agreements in Australia, originating 48% of all agreements in Australia in 2015. Back in May, the company announced that it had sold its factoring business for around $10 million in after-tax cash. Add to that the company's cheap price – at $1.05, the company is trading on a trailing P/E ratio of 9.7x and paying a dividend yield of more than 6% – fully franked.

Joyce Corporation Ltd (ASX: JYC)

A retailer of bedding through the Bedshed franchise chain (~30 stores), Joyce Corp has a market cap of around $36 million, but had substantial cash ($13.7m) and property (~$5m) on its balance sheet. The company also owns 51% of KWB Group (Kitchen Connection and Wallspan) – a retailer and installer of custom kitchens and wardrobes – and recently announced the acquisition of 51% of Lloyds Online auctions for $6 million. Lloyds is expected to add $10 million in revenues to Joyce Corp and boost total sales across the network to more than $170 million in the 2017 financial year. (Note: Not all of that is attributable to Joyce Corp).

The company also pays a solid and growing fully franked dividend, and at the current share price of $1.32, looks reasonably cheap.

Cyclopharm Limited (ASX: CYC)

It's not often that you find a biotech stock that generates growing revenues, is profitable, debt free and also pays out dividends but Cyclopharm is one. The company's primary product is Technegas – a lung imaging technology widely used around the world to diagnose the presence of blood clots. Cyclopharm also expects to have another product coming onto the market next year – Ultralute – a product that extends the useful life of nuclear isotopes by up to 50%.

Cyclopharm has a market cap of just $72 million, but generated $4.8m in net profit in the 2015 financial year and paid a 1 cent fully franked dividend.

But the biggest catalyst could be ahead with Technegas commencing phase III trials in the US in 2012. The US has the potential to become the company's biggest global market for Technegas.

The post 3 cheap diversified micro-cap stocks for your portfolio appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But that doesn't mean all stocks listed on the Australian Stock Exchange have gone nowhere. In fact, 10 companies have seen their share prices soar by more than 50%, and 4 of these have more than doubled.

Cynata Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: CYP) has leapt 228% since early February to $1.18. The stem cell research company achieved a major breakthrough, achieving commercial-scale manufacture of stem cell products. As you can well imagine, that has major implications if Cynata can go on and commercialise its technology.

AtCor Medical Holdings Limited (ASX: ACG) is up 120% to 21 cents. AtCor received Category 1 approval for its SphygmoCor blood pressure system in the US. Colleague Brendon Lau covered the news in more detail here.

Cyclopharm Limited (ASX: CYC) jumped 116.9% to 64 cents, after reporting record sales of $12 million and an record net profit of $4m – although that included a $2.65 million legal settlement. Cyclopharm is a nuclear medicine company, with products including Technegas for lung imaging. Has the company turned the corner like CEO James McBrayer thinks it has?

Cokal Ltd (ASX: CKA) has seen its shares soar 128.6% to 10 cents, despite the company being a coal explorer. In late February, Cokal received construction and operational approval for its Bumi Barito Mineral (BBM) Project port facilities in Indonesia. BBM is expected to produce a premium coking coal over a period of more than 15 years.

TNG Limited (ASX: TNG) has gained 77.8% to trade around 17 cents currently. TNG is focused on developing its flagship Mount Peak Vanadium-Titanium-Iron project near Alice Springs, which the company says can deliver revenues of $13.6 billion. Yesterday TNG signed an offtake agreement with Korean metals group WOOJIN IND. Co. for up to 60% of forecast production.

Aeris Environmental Ltd (ASX: AEI) shares have climbed 50.7% to trade around 51 cents currently. Aeris is an expert in the removal of bacteria and mould that naturally builds up in air-conditioning, cold storage and bulk water systems and then protects the asset from further recontamination. Aeris recently reported strong growth in purchase orders and potential pipeline of large scale projects.

1-Page Limited (ASX: 1PG) has jumped 66.7% to $1.65 after the company signed a number of major deals, including giant US retailer Amazon for its 1-Page sourcing and referral engine. 1-Page offers companies a new way to hire prospective employees.

Joyce Corporation Ltd (ASX: JYC) has gained 50.8% to trade at 95 cents. The company owns a chain of bedding stores under the BedShed brand. Joyce recently sold a property for $25 million, and the board is considering a suitable return to shareholders of the settlement proceeds, expected to be a franked special dividend of 5 cents per share each year for the next three years. Joyce is forecast to pay 10.5 cents in total this year.

Anatarra Lifesciences Ltd (ASX: ANR) is up 57.6% to 52 cents. Anatarra develops non-antibiotic solutions for gastrointestinal diseases in animals and humans, and recently reported a successful trial on a pig farm of its Detach product. Anatarra is now focused on registering Detach in Europe and the USA, and hopes to launch Detach in 2016 in Australia.

Last but not least is Digital CC Ltd (ASX: DCC) which is up 66.7% to 14 cents. The company is a digital payments company – the first bitcoin focused company listed on a major exchange. Bitcoin is a digital currency that is usually in the news for the wrong reasons, and there's no guarantee that Bitcoin will be successful.

The post 10 stocks up by more than 50% in the past month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Westpac – Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index dropped by 5.7% in December, to 91.1, following two months of gains in October and November. Westpac chief economist Bill Evans labelled the result, 'disturbing', noting that it's at its lowest level since August 2011 – and not far off levels last experienced during the Global Financial Crisis – as you can see in the chart below.

"Respondents are clearly concerned about the outlook for the economy and job security", he said, adding, "There is ongoing disillusionment about the May budget, six months after it was announced."

Source: Westpac/Melbourne Institute

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) was the hardest hit, losing 4.7% to end at $3.43, but the retailer was closely followed by bedding store owner Joyce Corporation Ltd (ASX: JYC), which lost 4.6% to 52.5 cents, Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) down 3.8% to $10.27, Specialty Fashion Group Ltd (ASX: SFH) also down 3.8% and Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) down 2.9% at $7.31.

Perhaps surprisingly, consumer electronics retailers JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) and Dick Smith Holdings Ltd (ASX: DSH) posted solid gains of 0.9% and 1% respectively.

The fall in consumer confidence numbers is a big blow, coming just before Christmas, and right in the middle of most retailers' peak shopping periods for the year.

A few weeks ago, the National Retail Association (NRA) forecast sales to Christmas Eve to be around 5% higher than last year's whopping $40.7 billion. Chief executive Trevor Evans said it appeared to be back to business as usual, after several sluggish years of growth.

But now those projections look highly optimistic given the consumer confidence data. Most retailers could be in for another sad and sorry Christmas shopping period.

The post Retailers hammered as consumer confidence sinks: Is there worse to come? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.