Looking for blue chip ASX share ideas? Why not pack your watchlist full with National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB), Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) and APA Group (ASX: APA) shares?
10 blue chip ASX share ideas
- National Australia Bank – NAB is Australia's fourth largest bank, with a market capitalisation of $87 billion. NAB makes money from retail banking and mortgages, but it also controls around 21.9% of business lending. It is forecast to pay a dividend of 6% fully franked in the year ahead.
- Woolworths: Woolies appears to be on the mend, reviving its brand and share price after a few years of gouging customers. Having sold Masters and Home Timber and Hardware, the company can now focus on its core supermarkets franchise.
- Macquarie: Macquarie is Australia's largest investment bank. While we often talk about the 'big four' banks, Macquarie is arguably more impressive. It has diverse operations across continents and has chalked up strong share price returns and dividends.
- QBE Insurance: QBE is the leading insurance brand. In the fallout of the GFC, QBE Insurance's mission of building its empire was put firmly on the backburner and it is now pursuing a leaner, more efficient growth model. With the US economy growing and interest rates on the rise, things finally appear to be falling QBE's way.
- APA Group: APA Group is a pipeline and energy infrastructure owner. As consumers, we don't hear its name very often but APA is a near $10 billion company providing a critical service to perhaps millions of Australians every day.
- Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC): Vocus is a small company relative to others on this list, but the $2.7 billion business might be considered a blue chip by Australian standards. It's known for its telecommunications brands, such as Dodo, Eftel, NextGen, Amcom, Primus and more.
- Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS): Telstra is Vocus' larger rival, with the lion's share of most major telco markets in Australia. In my opinion, the jewel in Telstra's crown is its mobiles business, which is a clear market leader. But it also has a big share of broadband and pay tv, as well as overseas interests.
- Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC): Ramsay is a leading international private hospital operator with more than 220 hospitals in total. Shares in the $12.6 billion Ramsay Health Care have fallen 8% in 2017, but the company has an enviable track record of growth and dividends.
- Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM): Newcrest is Australia's largest pure gold producer, worth around $17 billion. In recent times, Newcrest has benefited from favourable movements in the Australian dollar and rising gold prices. However, that hasn't always been the case. Nonetheless, Newcrest has a large resource base and low-cost operations.
- ResMed Inc. (CHESS) (ASX: RMD): The $13.3 billion ResMed is one of Australia's leading biotechnology businesses. Listed on both the ASX and New York Stock Exchange, ResMed creates machines for monitoring and treating people with respiratory conditions such as sleep apnea.
Foolish Takeaway
This is a diverse bunch of popular Australian shares. Not all of them would make for great investments at today's prices but they are certainly worthy of further research.
