The S&P/ASX 50 index contains 50 of the largest listed companies on the Australian share market.
This includes many of the most well-known and highest quality companies in the ANZ region.
Two ASX 50 shares that come highly rated are listed below. Here's what you need to know:
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
CSL is one of the world's leading biotechnology companies. It has been a great place to invest over the last 10 years. Since this time in 2010, the CSL share price has generated an average total return of approximately 25% per annum.
This has been driven by its leading therapies and vaccines, its growing plasma collection network, and its high level of investment in research and development. In respect to the latter, CSL spent US$922 million on its research and development activities in FY 2020 and will invest even more this year. This is ensuring that its product pipeline is filled to the brim with potentially lucrative products.
One broker that is a fan of its research and development activities is UBS. It recently put a buy rating and $346.00 price target on its shares. It notes that product development has been a key driver of growth over the last few years and appears confident that this will be the case in the future.
Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)
Lendlease is a global property and infrastructure company. Although its performance in FY 2020 was disappointing and led to the company reporting a loss of $310 million, its outlook is becoming increasingly positive.
This is due to the divestment of its struggling engineering business and the announcement of a major new strategy. The latter is shifting its earnings mix and business model favourably and looks to have positioned it perfectly for long term growth. This should be supported by some major urbanisation projects such as Thamesmead Waterfront in London and a partnership with Google in the San Francisco Bay Area.
One broker that is a fan of the strategy shift is Goldman Sachs. It recently put a buy rating and $16.74 price target on the company's shares. The broker notes that its shares are trading at a discount to peers and expects this to narrow if it executes its new strategy successfully.
