Looking for a top S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) share that's been resiliently growing earnings and profits and is tipped to continue doing so?
Then you may wish to run your slide rule over ASX 200 biotech stock CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL).
The CSL share price is up 0.6% in afternoon trade today, currently at $310.26 a share. While that's down a touch since the stock hit a new record closing high of $312.15 on 23 July, it still sees CSL shares up 18.1% over the past 12 months. Or more than twice the 7.5% gains posted by the ASX 200.
Atop the potential for share price gains, CSL also pays two annual dividends. Over the past 12 months the company has paid out a total of $3.81 in dividends. At current prices, that sees CSL shares trading on a partly franked trailing dividend yield of 1.2%.
And according to Tim Sullivan, director at Integro Private Wealth, this ASX 200 share should be able to keep on outperforming "long into the future".
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A core ASX 200 share to hold long-term
"CSL has been a consistent compounder for long-term shareholders," Sullivan said (quoted by The Australian Financial Review).
According to Sullivan:
With its resilient earnings stream and structural organic growth, combined with the optionality in its R&D pipeline the business should be able to continue to grow its earnings long into the future.
At the right price it should form a core part of an investor's portfolio.
What's been driving the CSL share price higher?
It's been quite some time since the ASX 200 share released any price-sensitive announcements.
In fact, that was all the way back on 13 February, when management released CSL's half-year results.
Investor interest was clearly piqued by the 11% year on year increase in six-month revenue (in constant currency), which came in at US$8.05 billion.
Net profit after tax (NPAT) leapt 20% from the prior corresponding half-year to US$1.94 billion.
Meanwhile, cash flow from operations was up 9% to $1.07 billion.
As for the balance sheet, the ASX 200 share ended the half year with net assets of $19.16 billion.
CSL is scheduled to release its full FY 2024 results tomorrow, 13 August.
The company's full-year guidance is for underlying profit after tax and amortisation to be between $2.9 billion and $3.0 billion (at constant currency). If CSL delivers within this range, that would see FY 2024 profits growing anywhere from 13% to 17% year over year.
