The S&P/ASX 50 index may not be as well-known as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), but it is arguably just as important.
This exclusive index is home to 50 of the largest companies on the Australian share market. These include household names and companies that are regarded as true blue chip shares.
While not all shares on the index are necessarily in the buy zone, two that come highly rated are listed below:
Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
Goodman Group is one of the world's leading integrated commercial and industrial property companies. It owns, develops, and manages industrial real estate globally. This includes warehouses, large scale logistics facilities, and business and office parks across a total of 17 countries.
The company has been growing at a solid rate over the last decade thanks to its high quality portfolio. Management has curated its portfolio to give it exposure to industries benefiting from structural tailwinds such as online, logistics, food, consumer goods, and the digital economy.
Morgan Stanley is a fan of the company and was pleased with its recent first quarter update. It believes the company's focus on strong locations is paying off. The broker has an overweight rating and $20.90 price target on its shares.
Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)
Xero is actually the newest addition to the ASX 50 index, having only joined it on Monday following the quarterly rebalance. It is a leading cloud-based business and accounting software provider with a focus on small to medium sized businesses.
Thanks to its highly successful evolution into a full service small business solution over the last few years, Xero has been growing its customer numbers and recurring revenues at a rapid rate. This has underpinned very strong returns for shareholders.
Pleasingly, due to the quality of its offering, the ongoing shift to cloud-based solutions, its global market opportunity, and burgeoning app ecosystem, Xero has been tipped for more of the same in the future.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs are very positive on its prospects. They recently put a buy rating and $157.00 price target on the company's shares.
