If you want to construct a balanced portfolio, having a few blue chip ASX shares in there would be a smart move.
But with so many to choose from, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. To narrow things down for you, I have highlighted two ASX blue chip shares that come highly rated:
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)
The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is BHP. The Big Australian is one of the world's largest miners and owns a diverse portfolio of world class and low cost operations.
While BHP has exposure to a wide range of commodities, the key commodity right now is iron ore. Incredibly, the spot iron ore price is currently trading above US$190 per tonne and is threatening to break through the US$200 level in the near future. It is thanks largely to this that the company is being tipped to deliver a bumper profit result in FY 2021.
As a result, it will come as no surprise to learn that a number of brokers are bullish on BHP. One of those is Macquarie, which has an outperform rating and $57.00 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest BHP share price of $48.38.
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
Another blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is CSL. It is one of the world's leading biotechnology companies, manufacturing and developing a portfolio of leading therapies and vaccines. This includes flu vaccines, immunoglobulins, and countless other plasma-based products.
Given its reliance on plasma for many of its products, the company has built a wide-reaching plasma collection network. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has hit its collections hard due to social distancing initiatives and stimulus payments. The latter has stopped some people from donating for an extra source of income. This has weighed heavily on sentiment and has left the CSL share price trading well below its highs.
The good news is that analysts at Citi believe the worst could be behind the company now. Last week the broker put a buy rating and $310 price target on its shares. It believes that collection volumes will improve now that ~40% of the US population have received their first vaccination.
The CSL share price is currently trading notably lower than this target price at $268.37.
