The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is home to a large number of blue chip shares. So many, it can no doubt be hard to decide which ones to include in your portfolio.
In order to narrow things down, I have picked out two blue chip ASX 200 shares that are highly rated at the moment. They are as follows:
Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)
The first blue chip to look at is Breville. It is the leading appliance manufacturer behind the Sage, Kambrook, Baratza, and eponymous Breville brands.
Its products have been resonating with consumers for decades and show no signs of stopping. This is being driven by its continuous and growing investment in research and development (R&D), which has been underpinning innovative new products for years.
In addition to this, the company has been growing its footprint globally, increasing its addressable market and driving strong sales and profit growth. For example, during the first half, Breville reported a 28.8% increase in revenue to $711 million and a 29.2% increase in net profit after tax to $64.2 million.
UBS appears confident that this strong form will continue thanks to further geographic expansion, new product launches, and potential acquisitions. The broker currently has a buy rating and $35.70 price target on its shares.
SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK)
Another blue chip ASX 200 share to consider is SEEK. It is the leading job listings company in the ANZ region and has a number of growing businesses around the globe.
After a tough time during the pandemic, SEEK has bounced back strongly in FY 2021 and looks set to deliver a robust full year result in August.
Pleasingly, looking ahead, the company appears well-placed to benefit greatly from Australia's economic recovery. Particularly given its domination of the local jobs market. At the end of December, SEEK ANZ had 16 million candidate profiles, 35 million monthly visits, and 160,000 active hirers. This led to SEEK having almost a third of all placements in the region, which is five times greater than its nearest competitor.
Macquarie is a fan of the company. Earlier today the broker upgraded its shares to an outperform rating with a $40.00 price target. It is expecting its ad yields to increase materially as discounts are removed. Macquarie also sees SEEK as a big winner from Australia's lowering unemployment levels. It is forecasting unemployment to reduce to 4% by 2023.
