Although both the stock market and economic environment appear to be slowly improving, and central banks in North America are now shifting toward a rate-cutting environment, plenty of high-quality Canadian stocks continue to trade at a bargain, creating a significant opportunity to buy these stocks today and hold for years to come.
Higher interest rates have impacted the value of stocks across numerous industries, especially dividend stocks, which generally lose value as interest rates rise and push yields higher.
Therefore, now is the time to add these stocks to your portfolio while they are still trading at a discount and before they inevitably start to rally and recover in value.
So, if you’ve got cash in your portfolio that you’re looking to put to work, here are two of the best bargain stocks on the TSX that you can not only buy today but that you can also plan to hold forever.
This high-quality real estate stock is one of the best stocks you can buy today
In order to find high-quality stocks that you can buy today and hold forever, it’s essential to look for businesses with reliable and defensive operations and a track record of consistent growth.
That’s why one of the best stocks you can buy today, especially while it still trades at such a bargain, is Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (TSX: CAR.UN), the largest residential real estate investment trust (REIT) in Canada.
Residential REITs are excellent long-term investments due to the fact that the industry is extremely defensive, yet it also has plenty of growth potential.
So, although there are plenty of residential REITs that offer both defensive operations and compelling long-term growth potential, CAPREIT easily has one of the most impressive track records of its peers.
In fact, over the last five years, CAPREIT’s revenue has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1%. Furthermore, its funds from operations have increased at a CAGR of 7.1% over that stretch.
That may not be the most astronomical growth compared to other stocks on the TSX. However, when you consider the reliability of CAPREIT and its impressive diversification across Canada, the consistent growth is certainly impressive and shows why the residential real estate stock is one of the best businesses to buy today and hold for years to come.
Not to mention, CAPREIT currently trades just over 20% off its 52-week high and offers a yield of roughly 3.3% today. That’s a considerable discount for such an impressive business, and the yield is well above its five-year average yield of 2.92%.
In addition, with CAPREIT trading at a forward price-to-funds-from-operations (P/FFO) ratio of just 16.5 times, that’s well below its five-year average P/FFO ratio of 21.2 times.
Therefore, while you can still buy this impressive residential real estate stock at a bargain, it’s easily one of the best stocks to buy today and hold forever.
A top TSX utility stock
Just like many real estate stocks have been trading cheaply as a result of higher interest rates, so have utility stocks like Emera (TSX: EMA). Therefore, if you’re looking for stocks to buy before interest rates continue to decline, there’s no question that Emera is one of the best to consider.
Emera is not only cheap, but lately, it’s also been divesting some of its non-core assets in order to strengthen its financials and position itself for the future.
Utilities are well known to be some of the most reliable businesses you can buy. And while they don’t offer astronomical growth like a tech stock, for example, utilities can often generate consistent growth year to year.
Plus, now, with the significant shift to cleaner energy, a utility stock like Emera that has electricity generation and distribution operations has a significant runway for growth ahead of it.
So, while it trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of just 14.3 times, below its five-year average of 18.2 times, it’s certainly one of the best stocks to buy now and hold forever.
Furthermore, Emera has a 17-year dividend-growth streak, and its current yield of 6.3% is well above its five-year average of 4.9%.
So, if you’re looking for bargain stocks to buy now and hold for years, Emera is certainly one of the best investments on the TSX.
