One group of shares that is particularly popular with retail investors are blue chips.
A blue chip share is a large and well-established company that has operated for many years and is more often than not a leader in their industry.
The Australian share market is home to a large number of them and investors no doubt have a hard time deciding which ones to buy.
To help you on your way, I have picked out three blue chip shares which I think are in the buy zone right now. They are as follows:
Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)
One top blue chip share to consider buying is Cochlear. It is a leading developer, manufacturer, and distributor of cochlear implantable devices for the hearing impaired. In August the company posted a full year net profit after tax of $276.7 million, which was a 13% increase on FY 2018's result. Thanks to the ageing population tailwind, I believe there will be more of the same from Cochlear over the next decade. According to the WHO, there will be an estimated 1.5 billion people over the age of 65 by 2050, which is almost triple the number in 2010. I expect this to lead to growing demand and underpin strong earnings growth for a long time to come.
Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)
Another blue chip to consider is Coles. I think it could be great long term option for investors in search of both growth and income. This is due to its solid growth potential thanks to the return of rational competition and its refreshed strategy. In respect to the latter, the Smarter Selling pillar of its refreshed strategy aims to deliver $1 billion in cumulative savings by FY 2023 through initiatives including the use of technology to automate manual tasks and simplifying above-store roles to remove duplication. I feel this bodes well for Coles' dividend, given how management aims to pay out 80% to 90% of earnings to shareholders.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)
A final blue chip to consider is Treasury Wine Estates. It is one of the biggest wine companies in the world and has been growing at a solid rate over the last few years thanks to strong demand for its portfolio of wines across the globe and its premiumisation strategy. In FY 2019 it posted a 17% increase in net sales revenue to $2,831.6 million and 25% increase in EBITS to $662.7 million. Looking ahead, management continues to target EBITS growth of approximately 15% to 20% for FY 2020.
