Even though 2015 has got off to a rather disappointing start, with the ASX being down 1% year-to-date, there are a number of blue-chips that have superb investment prospects.
In fact, there is a potent mix of strong growth, excellent income prospects, and decent valuations on offer within the ASX.
So, with that in mind, here are three shares that are well placed to deliver strong returns for their shareholders.
Ramsay Health Care Limited
Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) has been in the headlines recently regarding its support for the opening up of the lucrative pharmacy industry here in Australia. It is argued that current rules do not promote competition and have held back private hospital operators, such as Ramsay, from operating retail pharmacies in their own hospitals.
Whether the industry is opened up or not, Ramsay seems to be a company with excellent future prospects. Not only does it have an enviable position as the biggest private hospital operator in Australia, it is also expanding rapidly in Europe and in China, which should provide it with plenty of growth potential over the medium to long term.
Although it does trade on a sky-high valuation (it has a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 32.5, for instance), its long-term growth potential combined with a stable business model make it a stock that seems to be worth owning.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
The last few years have been very kind to investors in Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ). That's because the bank has delivered total annualised returns of 14.3% over the last five years, which is a hugely impressive rate of growth.
Of course, this has meant that its valuation has moved higher, as evidenced by its price to book (P/B) ratio of 1.81, which is considerably higher than that of the ASX (1.24) and the winder banking sector (1.29).
However, ANZ seems to be worth the premium, since it has a very sound 'super regional' strategy which appears to be putting it on a sound financial footing in terms of future growth potential in Asian markets. Certainly, there is some way to go in regard to this plan, but ANZ is on target to reach its goal of 30% of revenue being derived from Asia by 2017 and it would be of little surprise for its shares to move higher over the medium term.
Suncorp Group Ltd
Since August, shares in Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) have come off their five-year highs of $15.26 in line with falls in the wider market. They now trade at around $14 and appear to be well worth buying, since they offer excellent yield potential at a time when dividends are set to become even more in vogue among Aussie investors.
Clearly, a decision by the RBA to reduce rates has not yet been taken, but with savings rates being so low even before a further cut, investor sentiment is likely to favour high yield stocks over the medium term.
So, with a fully franked yield of 6%, Suncorp appears to be ripe to make higher highs than it did last year. A beta of just 0.83 should also provide relative stability during a highly uncertain and potentially volatile period for the ASX. For this advantage, investors may be willing to bid up Suncorp's share price and it could be worth buying at the present time.
