If you want to build a balanced portfolio, having a few blue chip ASX 200 shares could be a smart move.
But with so many to choose from on the Australian share market, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy ahead of others.
To narrow things down for you, I have picked out two ASX blue chip shares that analysts currently rate as buys:
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Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is Goodman Group.
It is a leading integrated commercial and industrial property company with operations across the world. Among its portfolio are warehouses, data centres, large scale logistics facilities, and business and office parks.
Goodman currently has $73 billion of total assets under management and over 1,700 customers globally. The latter includes the likes of Amazon, Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), DHL, Showpo, and Walmart.
Demand for Goodman's properties has been strong and has underpinned sky high occupancy rates and double-digit earnings growth over the last decade. This demand is being driven by the success of Goodman's strategy of developing modern, high quality properties in key gateway cities around the world. Management highlights that this has shortened the distance between businesses and consumers and put its customers ahead of the market.
Goldman Sachs is a big fan of Goodman and continues to forecast strong earnings growth (compound annual growth rate of ~14% between FY 2022 and FY 2024). It currently has a buy rating and $25.40 price target on the company's shares.
Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL)
Another ASX 200 blue chip share to consider is Sonic.
It is one of the world's leading healthcare providers with operations across Australasia, Europe, and North America. Sonic currently employs more than 1,500 pathologists and radiologists, and more than 10,000 medical scientists, radiographers, sonographers, technicians, and nurses.
Thanks to this strong network, and particularly its pathology business, Sonic has been a very strong performer during the last couple of years. This is at a time when many other healthcare companies have struggled. Sonic's strong growth has been driven by its exposure to COVID testing and the resilient performance of its non-COVID testing businesses.
And while COVID testing is winding down now and its earnings are likely to have peaked for the time being, the team at Credit Suisse still see plenty of value in it shares. It recently retained its outperform rating with an improved price target of $38.50.
