It's difficult to find well-balanced stocks. By 'well-balanced' I mean shares that offer a mix of strong growth prospects, great income potential, and yet trade at a highly appealing price.
However, with investor sentiment not being quite as optimistic as it was a few months ago, there are a number of blue-chips that offer a mix of those three fabulous ingredients.
Here are three prime examples that could make all the difference to your portfolio returns in future.
Woodside Petroleum Limited
While Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) is apparently in the market for acquisitions that could include Apache's $29 billion stake in the Wheatstone LNG project in Western Australia, it seems to be making excellent progress even if M&A activity is not forthcoming.
Indeed, its current LNG projects look set to provide a boost to the company's bottom line, with it forecast to rise at an annualised rate of 9.8% over the next two years. Furthermore, with shares in Woodside trading on a P/E ratio of just 12, it means that the company seems to offer growth at a very reasonable price, since it has a PEG ratio of just 1.22.
In addition, a fully franked yield of 6.1% is also highly appealing and means that, as well as excellent value and strong growth prospects, Woodside could turn out to be a top income play, too.
CSL Limited
At first glance, it may seem as though pharmaceutical play, CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), lacks income prospects and an attractive share price. After all, its shares trade on a P/E ratio of 25.1 and yield just 1.7% (unfranked). However, CSL has huge potential and seems to be using its strong cash flow very prudently, with the acquisition of Novartis' influenza vaccine unit and continual share buyback schemes helping to improve the company's future prospects and reward shareholders, respectively.
Indeed, CSL's future seems to be very bright. It is expected to grow its bottom line at an annualised rate of 15.8% over the next two years, which equates to a PEG ratio of 1.58 and makes its P/E ratio seem far more appealing.
And, although it yields just 1.7% at the present time, with dividends per share set to rise by 15.5% per annum over the next two years, CSL could become a more appealing income play over the medium to long term. Combined with its stunning growth prospects and attractive PEG ratio, CSL seems to firmly tick the income, value and growth boxes for longer term investors.
National Australia Bank Ltd.
While a fat, fully franked yield of 6.3% is hugely appealing, there's much more to investing in National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) than just strong income prospects.
Of course, it's not the most stable of stocks at the present time due to the bank being in the process of making major changes, including divesting assets and changing its board members. However, its aim is to become leaner, more efficient and, ultimately, more profitable over the medium to long term.
Meanwhile, over the next two years, NAB is expected to grow its bottom line at an annualised rate of 16.6%, which is very appealing growth rate. And, with shares in the company currently trading on a P/E ratio of 14.5, it equates to a PEG ratio of just 0.87, which indicates that growth is on offer at a very reasonable price to go alongside the top notch headline yield.
