Investing can certainly be risky — especially in this environment. And we’ve all heard horror stories of investors losing tonnes of capital investing in the stock market. But investing doesn’t have to be risky. It’s entirely possible to buy high-quality and safe Canadian stocks that you can have confidence owning for years.
Investing is risky is when investors buy stocks they haven’t fully researched and therefore don’t understand. It can also be risky if you try to speculate on high-growth stocks.
However, if you do thorough research and find companies in industries that will be around for decades and have high-quality operations with strong financials, these are the best stocks to buy.
If you’re looking for safe Canadian stocks to buy, here are two of the best to consider today.
A top Canadian telecom stock
One of the top Canadian stocks you can buy and hold for years is the massive telecom stock BCE (TSX:BCE)(NYSE:BCE). Telecommunications is an industry that’s highly defensive, and in the last couple of years, it’s proven to be essential.
Roughly 50% of BCE’s business comes from its cable or wireline division. This includes services such as home internet, phone and television services.
In addition to wireline, 40% of BCE’s business comes from its wireless division. This is anything to do with mobile devices, such as cell phones or other wireless devices.
Having the ability to be connected is something that only continues to be more important. And with 5G technology being launched, and the potential for Canadians to use more connected devices, BCE has a massive runway for organic growth over the coming years.
Plus, on top of those two divisions, BCE, of course, has a massive media division, including sports, news, other specialty channels, and an extremely popular streaming service. In addition, the media division also helps BCE to achieve synergies and cross-market its products.
Naturally, because it has such high-quality operations, it’s extremely safe, and therefore one of the best Canadian stocks you can buy. And that resiliency is evidenced in BCE’s incredible financials.
During the pandemic, a major unprecedented black swan event, BCE’s worst impact came in the first full quarter when it saw its revenue fall by just 9%.
And even when BCE’s revenue temporarily falls, the stock is still a major cash cow. Much of BCE’s assets that it owns, such as telecom towers and cable lines, are long-life assets. BCE can install these, and they will earn the company revenue for years, requiring little maintenance.
This allows the company to continue earning billions in cash flow, which is why it’s one of the safest dividend stocks you can buy. In fact, its dividend isn’t just safe. It’s consistently being increased every year, earning BCE Canadian Dividend Aristocrat status.
So, with the stock offering investors a yield of 5.4% and trading at a fair valuation, if you’re looking for a high-quality Canadian stock to buy, BCE is one of the best.
One of the lowest-volatility Canadian stock that’s extremely safe
Another one of the top Canadian stocks to buy that’s highly safe and could even be considered lower risk than BCE is the utility stock Emera (TSX:EMA).
Utility stocks are highly safe investments because, much like the services of telecommunications, they’re essential. Whether it’s electricity or gas, households and commercial customers need utilities.
And with the industry being heavily regulated, and with Emera well diversified across six countries in North America, it’s an incredibly low-risk stock.
Emera isn’t just a safe Canadian stock to buy due to the fact it’s a low-volatility investment or one with resilient operations either. Because the industry is regulated, much of the growth these stocks can achieve is predictable ahead of time, making it incredibly safe, as investors generally know what to expect from the company.
So, while Emera offers an attractive yield of roughly 4.4%, we also know its highly likely to increase that dividend between 4% and 5% until at least 2025.
Therefore, if you’re looking for some of the top Canadian stocks to buy now, Emera is as safe as they come.
