When markets suffer extreme volatility and experience corrections as they are at the moment, there are many ways to ride out the troubling times.
One of these ways is to buy quality blue-chip ASX shares that pay solid dividends. Or even better, quality ASX dividend shares that have seen their high yields rise to even loftier heights as their share prices fall amidst the market-wide sell-off.
What's more, I believe these quality blue-chip dividend payers are better placed to ride out the difficult times due to their market scale and significant resources available to them.
So, with that said, here are 3 of my top ASX blue-chip picks right now, all of which currently offer great value and yields due to the ASX correction.
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)
Macquarie is a global financial services business with a core focus on international investment banking. It has been a true Australian success story, with a strong track record of profitability over the last few decades.
Over the years, Macquarie has become a more balanced and diversified business rather than one heavily focused on a small core group of operations, which was one of the reasons its share price was hit so hard during the GFC.
I think Macquarie is much better equipped to weather the current market downturn this time around. I also believe that Macquarie is still a good choice for both growth and income. With its share price down nearly 20% over the past couple of weeks, Macquarie shares now offer an attractive dividend yield of 5.02%.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
Telstra is currently making good progress on its T22 strategy which will see it develop into a leaner and more efficient company to compete in the competitive National Broadband Network environment.
During the first half of FY20, Telstra was able to reduce its underlying fixed costs by 12.1% or $422 million. Telstra's leadership position and world-class network in mobile communications positions it well to fully leverage the potential opportunities of 5G. 5G can offer even faster broadband speeds than the NBN, providing Telstra with a real opportunity to also gain new mobile broadband subscribers from dissatisfied National Broadband Networks customers.
Including NBN special dividends, Telstra shares currently offer a fully-franked dividend yield of 4.6%, which grosses up to 6.57%. Additionally, I am attracted to the telecommunications sector right now due to its defensive nature.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
I like Wesfarmers right now because it is a defensive type of share with great market diversification, positioning it well to ride out the current market volatility.
Wesfarmers has operations in general retail segments including home improvement and outdoor living, as well as industrial segments with operations in chemicals and industrial and safety products.
Purchasing Wesfarmers shares gives instant access to a diverse portfolio of high-quality companies, driven by a quality and experienced management team. What's more, Wesfarmers shares currently offer a trailing dividend yield of 4.04%, which grosses up to 5.77% with full franking.
