Selfwealth: CBA still the most popular ASX stock

Commonwealth Bank has once again proved to be the most popular ASX-listed stock, but investors also reacted by overwhelmingly buying companies such as Whitehaven Coal, Resmed, Mesoblast and Coles during this reporting season, according to data from share trading platform Selfwealth.

But, at the same time, the reporting season saw a number of high-profile companies struggling, with most sectors such as utilities, consumer and healthcare being in the red in August.

However, the one sector – consumer discretionary – stood out as a notable exception, the firm said.

The firm’s August monthly trading data confirmed that there were no surprises at the top as Selfwealth members overlooked moderation in the lender’s net interest margins in favour of CBA’s large dividend and plans for a $1 billion share buyback.

Robert Marfell, brand and content lead at Selfwealth said that BHP and Neuren Pharmaceuticals swapped positions in second and third but both companies saw a notable decrease in the collective value of their holdings, down 5.7% and 9.4%, respectively.

What is more, one of the ASX’s best performing names in August were shares in conglomerate Wesfarmers which gained 8.5% on the back of a strong set of numbers for fiscal 2023.

“The Kmart, Officeworks, and Bunnings owner delivered 18% revenue growth and a modest profit increase of 4.8% for the period, with its key brands holding up well amid a deterioration in consumer sentiment. Wesfarmers ended the month as the 13th most popular ASX share in the Selfwealth community,” Marfell noted.

Also, August saw a number of beaten-down names attract above-average trading activity, with the first of these being Whitehaven Coal, which ranked fifth for all trades.

“Shares in the coal exporter fell 12% last month amid a weaker-than-expected coal output forecast for fiscal 2024. A significant increase in capital spending requirements also concerned the broader market, but Selfwealth members largely looked past the news, with buyers accounting for around two-thirds of all trades,” Marfell added.

Following this, Resmed, which ranked sixth, made a rare appearance among the most traded stocks on the Selfwealth platform, helped by heightened fear about competition.

While shareholders in Mesoblast were recovering after a disastrous month for the regenerative medicine company, which saw their shares plummet 55.7% last month in light of the US Food and Drug Administration’s decision to reject Mesoblast’s Remstemcel-L cell therapy, designed to treat a type of complication that may occur following a stem cell or bone marrow transplant, buyers bought the dip, with 69% of all trades being buy orders.

At the same time, supermarket giant Coles was the 11th most traded stock in August after its share price touched a 52-week low.

“The company joined a long list of names to fall victim to cost overruns, with the construction of its automated customer fulfilment centres in New South Wales and Victoria behind schedule and also set to run beyond budget. Higher wages and stock loss weighed on the market’s view but over 80% of Selfwealth trades in Coles shares were buy orders,” Marfell said.

Also, August saw a higher level of buying activity in exchange traded funds (ETFs) compared with the month prior.

“Back in July, the buy-to-sell volume for the most traded ETF on the Selfwealth platform, the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF, was 79.7%. That figure increased by almost 5 percentage points last month,” the firm said.

All of the ETFs featuring among the most actively traded names last month were carried over from July, there was a notable performer courtesy of the BetaShares Diversified All Growth ETF, which yielded the largest monthly increase in value compared with the month prior, with the collective value of all holdings rising 4.6%, far outpacing an underlying gain of 0.4%.