If you are building a retirement portfolio, you may be on the lookout for some potential additions.
But what sort of ASX 200 shares should you buy for this type of portfolio?
Firstly, it would be advisable to stay away from high risk speculative stocks. Although it is possible to make big money from them, more often than not things will not turn out as you hoped and leave you nursing losses. This is the last thing you want at this stage in your investment journey.
Instead, investors may want to focus on buying ASX 200 shares that have defensive qualities, attractive dividend yields, and strong business models.
With that in mind, let's take a look at three ASX 200 shares that tick these boxes and have recently been named as buys by analysts. They are as follows:
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APA Group (ASX: APA)
APA Group could be a great ASX 200 share to buy for a retirement portfolio. It is an energy infrastructure company boasting defensive earnings, a long track record of growth, and a very generous dividend yield.
In respect to the latter, Macquarie is forecasting dividends of 57 cents per share in FY 2025 and 57.5 cents per share in FY 2026. Based on the current APA Group share price of $6.68, this equates to 8.5% and 8.6% dividend yields, respectively.
Macquarie has an outperform rating and $8.13 price target on its shares.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
Another ASX 200 share that possesses the qualities you would want for a retirement portfolio holding is Telstra.
Given that many of us (myself included) can't go without phone or internet access, demand for Telstra's services remains strong whatever is happening in the economy.
In addition, its shares are being tipped to offe some good dividend yields in the near term. For example, Goldman Sachs is forecasting fully franked dividends of 19 cents per share in FY 2025 and then 20 cents per share in FY 2026. Based on the current Telstra share price of $3.84, this equates to yields of 4.9% and 5.2%, respectively.
Goldman has a buy rating and $4.35 price target on Telstra's shares.
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)
Finally, Woolworths could be a third ASX 200 share for investors to consider buying for a retirement portfolio.
Like the others, it has defensive qualities that make it an attractive option for retirees. It is also forecast to provide investors with a decent yield and material capital gains by analysts at Goldman Sachs.
In respect to the former, the broker is forecast fully franked dividend yields of approximately 3.3% this year and next.
As for the latter, Goldman has a buy rating and price target of $36.20 on its shares. This compares very favourably to its latest share price of $29.33.
