There’s no shortage of great stocks to buy on the market right now. Some of those stocks, let’s call them the smartest stocks to buy, can be purchased even if just $1,000 is available.
Here’s a look at some of the smartest stocks to buy given that $1,000. Not only do they offer growth and income-earning opportunities, but they also represent options that have some defensive appeal.
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Option #1: TD Bank
The first of those smartest stocks to buy right now is TD Bank (TSX:TD). TD is the second largest of Canada’s big bank stocks, which are almost always viewed as some of the smartest stocks to buy.
TD offers investors a path to satisfy both growth and income-seeking investors alike. Specifically, TD offers a juicy quarterly dividend that pays out an impressive 4.09%. TD also provides annual upticks to that dividend, making it a superb buy-and-forget candidate.
As of the time of writing, TD is trading up over 30% year to date and up over 60% in the trailing five-year period. Despite that stellar performance, TD has underperformed its peers over the past two years, particularly as TD has overcome the fallout from its regulatory issues in the U.S.
Those issues stemmed from the bank’s insufficient controls to deal with money laundering in the U.S. market. That resulted in an asset cap and fine imposed on TD.
Given a $1,000 budget to invest, I would purchase three shares of TD to start. This creates a small position that will start generating fractions of a share in reinvested dividends with each passing quarter.
TD is handily one of the smartest stocks to buy on the market, and this approach makes sure that even with a $1,000 portfolio, there’s a small position in the bank stock.
Option #2: Enbridge
Another one of the smartest stocks to buy given $1,000 is Enbridge (TSX:ENB). Enbridge is an energy-infrastructure behemoth, best known for its pipeline business.
In fact, Enbridge’s pipeline operation is the largest and most complex system on the planet. This makes Enbridge one of the most well-known oil stocks on the market, and for good reason.
That pipeline network hauls massive amounts of both crude and natural gas each day — so much so that the pipeline business is considered one of the largest defensive moats on the continent.
To put that into context, Enbridge hauls nearly one-third of all North American-produced crude. Turning to natural gas, that number is an astonishing one-fifth of the natural gas needs of the entire U.S.
This handily makes Enbridge one of the most defensive players on the market, but that’s not all. The company also boasts a growing renewable energy and natural gas utility operation.
Both provide a recurring, stable revenue stream that fuels a multi-billion-dollar backlog of projects and a juicy quarterly dividend.
As of the time of writing, that dividend works out to an impressive 5.68% yield. Prospective investors should also note that Enbridge has a storied history of providing annual increases to that dividend that goes back three decades without fail.
This fact alone makes Enbridge one of the smartest stocks to buy right now and hold for decades.
With the remaining balance of our initial $1,000, investors can purchase 10 shares of Enbridge. Like TD, this minimal investment (at least to start) can provide sufficient income to begin generating additional shares through reinvestments.
Final thoughts on the smartest stocks to buy right now
No stock is without risk, but both TD and Enbridge boast significant defensive appeal to offset much of that risk. Adding to that, both offer a juicy, growing quarterly dividend, making them prime candidates for any buy-and-forget portfolio.
Here’s how that initial $1,000 investment pans out.
| Company | Recent Price | No. of Shares | Dividend | Total Payout | Frequency |
| TD Bank | $103.30 | 3 | $4.20 | $12.60 | Quarterly |
| Enbridge | $66.60 | 10 | $3.77 | $37.70 | Quarterly |
You can’t retire on that $50 income stream, but it can provide a slow and steady stream of dividends to reinvest. Those reinvested dividends could then, given another (or a series of) $1,000 investment(s), fuel a growing, if not powerful, long-term portfolio.
Buy them, hold them, and watch them (and your future income) grow.
