Confidence and capital are in short supply right now. Investors are worried about rising interest rates, volatility, and a looming recession. Which is why the S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 7.5% over the past 12 months. There could be more room to drop, which makes investing right now a little tricky.
However, savvy investors can find attractive opportunities regardless of the market’s condition. With that in mind, here are the top three stocks you can confidently add to your portfolio if you have excess cash, say $1,500, to deploy.
All-weather Stock #1
Canada’s largest telecom company BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE) benefits from three major tailwinds in the Canadian economy. One, the population is likely to steadily grow for the foreseeable future. Canada received over 1 million new residents last year, and the federal government is targeting a ramped up number for the next few years. Some of these are potential new customers for BCE.
Meanwhile, the demand for data and wireless access is expected to expand. We now consume more videos, images, and text than ever before. Soon, we could be streaming games or virtual reality environments to all our devices at home.
Third, Canada’s telecom market is likely to be as concentrated as ever. Federal regulators seem uninterested in breaking up the oligopoly so it’s likely BCE will be the biggest player in the market for decades.
This is why BCE is a forever stock that should be on your watch list.
All-weather Stock #2
Utility bills are as unavoidable as taxes. Couple that with a natural monopoly and you have a recipe for robust cash flows. Fortis (TSX:FTS) is the perfect anchor for any investor’s portfolio.
Fortis stock is trading at $59.67 right now. That’s up 7.8% since January and 42% over the past five years. The stock also offers a reliable 3.8% dividend yield. That dividend has been bumped up every year for 50 years.
Put another way, Fortis has a track record of escalating shareholder rewards that stretches back half a century. Not a lot of stocks can beat that. This is why any investor can confidently add this blue chip utility stock to their portfolio.
All-weather Stock #3
Discount retail has been a solid bet for the past decade. Now, it’s more relevant than ever as consumers face a cost-of-living crisis. Dollarama (TSX:DOL) is a top pick in this sector. The stock is up 2,341% since 2009. That’s a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.6% over 14 years.
By comparison, the rest of the stock market has delivered a CAGR of just 7.2% over that same period.
It seems likely Dollarama will sustain this outperformance. The company’s revenue and net profit were up 17% and 27%, respectively, over the past year. In the year ahead, the company hopes to add 70 new locations to its portfolio and diversify its product mix. These should propel sales further.
Add this stock to your watch list.
