A blue-chip stock is issued by a substantial, established, and financially-sound company with a very strong reputation. These equities might not boast the growth potential of their riskier alternatives, but investors can trust these stocks for the long term. Today, I want to zero in on three of my favourite blue-chip stocks on the TSX to snatch up in the first half of July 2023.
Why Royal Bank is the ultimate blue-chip stock to own right now
Royal Bank (TSX:RY) is the largest financial institution in Canada and the largest stock on the TSX by market capitalization. Shares of this top bank stock have jumped 2.3% month over month as of early afternoon trading on July 7. The stock is still down 1.5% so far in 2023.
Investors can expect to see Royal Bank’s third-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings in late August. In the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the bank reported adjusted net income of $3.8 billion — down 13% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) dropped 11% year over year to $2.65. Royal Bank saw a spike in its provisions set aside for bad loans, which predictably weighed on earnings. However, the bank did post volume growth and an increase in net interest income in this interest rate-tightening environment.
Shares of this blue-chip stock currently possess a favourable price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12. Meanwhile, Royal Bank offers a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share. That represents a solid 4.2% yield.
Don’t sleep on this energy infrastructure giant in July 2023
Enbridge (TSX:ENB) is the largest energy infrastructure company in North America. This energy stock has dropped 4.3% month over month at the time of this writing. Its shares have plunged 9.1% in the year-to-date period.
This company released its first-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings on May 5. Enbridge reported adjusted earnings of $1.7 billion, or $0.85 per common share, which was mostly flat in the year-over-year period. EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. In the first quarter of fiscal 2023, Enbridge reported adjusted EBITDA of $4.5 billion — up from $4.1 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2022. Moreover, it reaffirmed its EBITDA and distributable cash flow (DCF) guidance for the full year.
Enbridge stock is trading in favourable value territory compared to its industry peers at the time of this writing. Shares of this blue-chip stock currently offer a quarterly dividend of $0.887 per share, which represents a fantastic 7.3% yield.
One more blue-chip stock in the telecom space that is worth your attention today
BCE (TSX:BCE) is the third and final blue-chip stock I’d look to snatch up after the first week of July. This Montreal-based communications company provides wireless, wireline, internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. Shares of BCE have dropped marginally in the year-to-date period as of early afternoon trading on July 7.
In the first quarter of 2023, BCE reported consolidated revenue growth of 3.5% to $6.05 billion. Meanwhile, adjusted net earnings dropped 4.8% to $772 million, while adjusted EBITDA slipped 1.8% to $2.53 billion. This blue-chip stock last had a solid P/E ratio of 21. Meanwhile, BCE offers a quarterly distribution of $0.968 per share, representing a tasty 6.4% yield.
