It was another busy week for Australia's top brokers. This has led to the release of a number of broker notes.
Three broker buy ratings that you might want to know more about are summarised below. Here's why brokers think these ASX shares are in the buy zone:
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Iress Ltd (ASX: IRE)
According to a note out of Wilsons, its analysts have upgraded this financial technology company's shares to an overweight rating with an $11.00 price target. Although the company didn't upgrade its guidance as Wilsons had been expecting, it was still happy with the update. The broker believes that it demonstrates that Iress' momentum is clear and improving, supported by equity market conditions and regulatory tailwinds. In light of this, Wilson's sees a lot of value on offer with its shares and has upgraded them. The Iress share price ended the week at $9.34.
James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX)
A note out of Bell Potter reveals that its analysts have initiated coverage on this building materials company's shares with a buy rating and $64.00 price target. Bell Potter points out that James Hardie is the world's largest producer of fibre cement. It notes that it had built and maintained market leadership through significant R&D investment, aggressive plant expansions (which ensures low unit costs), and powerful marketing. The latter underpins James Hardie's widespread brand recognition, cementing its market position. In light of this, Bell Potter believes that James Hardie is one of the most defensive and high-quality companies leveraged to US housing. The James Hardie share price was fetching $50.84 at Friday's close.
Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)
Analysts at Morgan Stanley have initiated coverage on this health imaging technology company's shares with an overweight rating and $300.00 price target. Morgan Stanley believes that Pro Medicus has similar qualities to logistics software developer WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC). It notes that the company's solutions, like those at WiseTech, are very scalable and have relatively low penetration of global markets and very small customer churn rates. The broker expects this to support above-industry growth over the next five years. It is forecasting customer volume growth of roughly 7% per annum, whereas it expects the industry to grow at 2.3% per annum. As a result, Morgan Stanley appears to believe that Pro Medicus is destined to continue its strong profit growth and deserves to trade at a premium to peers. The Pro Medicus share price ended the week at $248.65.
