It's often the biggest companies in the business world that provide the most reliable returns and can provide the most safety in a crash.
The five stocks I'm going to mention below are some of Australia's largest companies and could provide some of the most reliable returns in the medium term:
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) is Australia's next largest bank after the big four. It earns a large portion of income overseas, around 60%, which is the main reason why I think it could grow over the coming years. If the USA's economy grows well, this could turn into good growth for Macquarie.
It's currently trading at 14.5x FY17's estimated earnings with a partially franked dividend yield of 4.91%.
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) is a property portal website owner with market leading websites in Australia and around the world. It has been growing at a pleasing rate over the last few years and continues to grow earnings even while the property market is cooling. The opportunity to grow the value of its stake in the US property website, Move Inc, could be big over the coming years.
REA Group is trading at 28.5x FY17's estimated earnings with a fully franked dividend yield of 1.54%.
Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) is Australia's largest operator of private hospitals. It's been one of the best stocks on the ASX over the last decade and I think it has plenty of growth left with Australia's aging population and the increasing cost to the public health system.
The recent decline in Healthscope Ltd's (ASX: HSO) share price has also created an opportunity with Ramsay shares. Ramsay is trading at 25.2x FY17's estimated earnings with a fully franked dividend yield of 1.78%.
Seek Limited (ASX: SEK) is Australia's dominant jobs portal with market leading websites in many other countries too. Seek could grow substantially more if its overseas websites, such as its China website, deliver on the potential of the huge populations they are servicing.
Seek is trading at 23.9x FY17's estimated earnings with a fully franked dividend yield of 2.7%.
Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) is one of Australia's largest insurance groups with brands like AAMI, Bingle and Terri Scheer. The insurance industry is starting to increase premiums which should fall straight onto Suncorp's bottom line as long as there aren't any major natural hazards such as the storms that have hit Brisbane and Sydney in recent years.
Suncorp is trading at 14.3x FY17's estimated earnings with a fully franked dividend yield of 7.24%.
Foolish takeaway
I'm always on the lookout to add quality stocks at good prices to my portfolio. At the moment REA Group and Ramsay Health Care are both looking good value and one, if not both, will soon be a part of my portfolio.
For more blue chips to boost your returns, you should check out these three growing stocks.
