The market volatility just doesn't want to go away, and these days it seems we are taking one step forward and two steps back. One positive, though, is that it has presented investors with a number of blue-chip shares that could be classed as bargains now.
First on the list is Computershare Limited (ASX: CPU) which has declined by almost 13% in the last 6 months. Computershare provides investor, business, and plan services, as well as technology services worldwide.
As it reports in U.S. dollars it has struggled with the strong greenback when translating revenue from overseas operations. This caused the slightest earnings decline imaginable in its latest full year results when it produced earnings per share of 63.6 cents, compared with 63.7 cents the year before.
While the U.S. dollar isn't about to get weaker any time soon, market commentators expect there to be at least two interest rate rises this year in the United States, which should start to benefit the company as it earns interest from customer balances.
According to CommSec, analysts expect earnings to grow by over 11% per annum for the next two years. Trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13.7 could mean a reasonable amount of share price growth ahead for shareholders.
The second blue-chip bargain is Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). It seems like every other day we read about Telstra investing in another up-and-coming technology company. Telstra is so much more than the company that provided you with your landline phone. It is now an exciting company that wants to be a force in global technology.
Having dropped over 13% in the last 6 months, I believe the shares now offer fantastic growth potential as well as a market-beating dividend that yields a fully-franked 5.6% at present. Analysts expect it to grow its earnings from the 34.5 cents it earned in 2015, all the way up to 45.6 cents in 2018. This makes it a great long-term investment in my eyes.
The third and final share is Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ). Late last year Deutsche Bank earmarked Queensland as being the up-and-coming growth engine of Australia thanks to a migration boom. The Bank of Queensland predictably has strong appeal and the presence in its home state should be able to capture a good portion of this boom.
Further to this, there is a chance the Bank of Queensland may at some stage this year get fast-tracked to IRB accreditation. This would allow it to compete with the Big Four banks across business and residential lending, potentially opening up substantial revenue streams that were out of reach previously.
The shares have dropped by around 10% from their November highs, providing bargain hunters with the opportunity to snap them up while the dividend is yielding a fully-franked 5.8%.
Foolish takeaway
The volatile markets can be very frustrating at times, but they do have a habit of gifting investors with bargains now and then, and these three blue-chip shares could just be them.
