Although investing is certainly not easy and requires Canadians to spend significant time researching the top stocks to buy, it doesn’t have to be difficult either.
And while there are tonnes of possible mistakes you can make, most are caused by investors being undisciplined. That’s why it’s essential that you invest for the long haul when you buy stocks.
One of the most common and easiest mistakes to avoid is not investing for the long haul. Getting caught up in the excitement of high-risk stocks, seeing a significant short-term rally, or selling off your investments too early due to short-term underperformance can impact the potential your portfolio has to grow over the long haul.
That’s why it’s paramount that when you’re building a portfolio, you focus on finding the top Canadian stocks on the market and then buy them to hold for years.
This way, if something unforeseen happens soon after you buy them, you don’t have to panic sell and lose a significant portion of your investment. Instead, you can have confidence that these stocks will turn things around and eventually achieve the long-term growth you believed they could.
So, with that in mind, if you’re looking for top Canadian stocks to buy for your portfolio today, here are three top picks, each trading at less than $20 a share.
A top Canadian dividend stock to buy now
If you’re an investor more focused on finding dividend stocks and boosting the passive income your portfolio generates, Pizza Pizza Royalty (TSX: PZA) is one of the top Canadian stocks to buy now.
The stock is made for dividend investors, with Pizza Pizza returning essentially all the income it makes each month back to investors.
And because the stock earns a royalty payment from all the sales done at Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 locations across the country, much of Pizza Pizza’s revenue is highly robust.
Aggregate sales across the country don’t fluctuate that much from month to month or quarter to quarter. And Pizza Pizza has proven what a reliable stock it can be by weathering the pandemic much better than all its restaurant stock peers.
Plus, since the pandemic, Pizza Pizza has increased its dividend on eight separate occasions. And today the stock offers a yield of roughly 6.5%.
So if you’re looking for top Canadian dividend stocks to buy now and hold long term, Pizza Pizza is certainly one of the best.
A high-potential long-term growth stock
Another top Canadian stock to buy while it’s trading cheaply is Neighbourly Pharmacy (TSX: NBLY), a high-potential, long-term growth stock.
What’s most intriguing about Neighbourly is its growth by acquisition strategy. Neighbourly has been focused on acquiring small, individual or family-owned pharmacies and rebranding them as its own.
This allows Neighbourly to rapidly expand its store count, take advantage of synergies that create cost savings, and improve its customer loyalty by having all its pharmacies under the same banners.
In recent quarters, though, after the significant interest rate increases, Neighbourly’s cost of capital has increased considerably, putting much of its growth on hold.
Once interest rates begin to decline, though, and Neighbourly can continue to make several acquisitions a year, it has a tonne of long-term growth potential.
Not to mention, pharmacies are highly recession-resistant businesses due to the essential goods they provide, making Neighbourly one of the top Canadian stocks to buy now.
An ultra-cheap healthcare tech stock
Finally, another ultra-cheap Canadian stock with plenty of growth potential is WELL Health Technologies (TSX: WELL).
Over the last few years, WELL has grown rapidly thanks to both organic growth and several high-quality acquisitions. And the companies that WELL has acquired have had significant organic growth potential themselves, leading to incredible revenue growth for WELL.
And now with the stock focused on increasing its profitability, there’s a tonne of potential for the shares to rally. Not to mention, WELL Health is trading ultra-cheap giving it considerable upside potential.
Not only is WELL trading at essentially the lowest price-to-sales multiple it has had since going public, but its average target price from analysts is $8.25, which is roughly 120% higher than where WELL trades today, making WELL one of the top Canadian stocks to buy now and hold long term.
