Updated on October 19th, 2023 by Bob Ciura
Spreadsheet data updated daily
Blue-chip stocks are established, financially strong, and consistently profitable publicly traded companies.
Their strength makes them appealing investments for comparatively safe, reliable dividends and capital appreciation versus less established stocks.
This research report has the following resources to help you invest in blue chip stocks:
Resource #1: The Blue Chip Stocks Spreadsheet List
This list contains important metrics, including: dividend yields, payout ratios, dividend growth rates, 52-week highs and lows, betas, and more. There are currently more than 350 securities in our blue chip stocks list.
We categorize blue chip stocks as companies that are members of 1 or more of the following 3 lists:
- Dividend Achievers (10+ years of rising dividends, in the NASDAQ)
- Dividend Aristocrats (25+ years of rising dividends, in the S&P 500)
- Dividend Kings (50+ years of rising dividends)
Resource #2: The 7 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Now
See the top 7 best blue-chip stock buys now using expected total returns from the Sure Analysis Research Database. We use the following criteria for our rankings:
- Dividend Risk Score of “C” or better
- Rank highest to lowest by expected total returns
Resource #3: Other Blue Chip Stock Research
Find more compelling blue chip stock research from Sure Dividend.
The 7 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Now
The 7 best blue chip stocks as ranked using data from the Sure Analysis Research Database (excluding REITs and MLPs) are analyzed in detail below.
We use the following criteria for our rankings:
- Dividend Risk Score of “C” or better
- Rank by expected total returns
The table of contents below allows for easy navigation.
- Blue-Chip Stock #7: Verizon Communications (VZ)
- Blue-Chip Stock #6: Amdocs Ltd. (DOX)
- Blue-Chip Stock #5: 3M Company (MMM)
- Blue-Chip Stock #4: Eversource Energy (ES)
- Blue-Chip Stock #3: NuSkin Enterprises (NUS)
- Blue-Chip Stock #2: Lincoln National Corp. (LNC)
- Blue-Chip Stock #1: Albemarle Corporation (ALB)
Blue-Chip Stock #7: Verizon Communications (VZ)
- Dividend History: 19 years of consecutive increases
- Dividend Yield: 8.6%
- Expected Total Return: 18.6%
Verizon is one of the largest wireless carriers in the country. Wireless contributes three-quarters of all revenues, and broadband and cable services account for about a quarter of sales. The company’s network covers ~300 million people and 98% of the U.S.
On July 27th, 2023, Verizon announced earnings results for the second quarter for the period ending June 30th, 2023. For the quarter, revenue decreased 3.6% to $32.6 billion, which was $720 million below estimates. Adjusted earnings per-share of $1.21 compared unfavorably to $1.31 in the prior year, but was $0.04 higher than expected.
Source: Investor Presentation
Verizon had postpaid phone net additions of 8,000, but retail postpaid net additions totaled 612K. Revenue for the Consumer segment increased 3.8% to $19.1 billion. Broadband continues to act well as the company added 418K net new customers during the period. This included 384K fixed wireless net additions, up from 256K additions in the prior year. First half free cash flow improved to $8 billion from $7.2 billion in the prior year.
Verizon reaffirmed guidance for 2023 as well with the company still expecting adjusted earnings-per-share of $4.55 to $4.85 for the year. Wireless service revenue is still projected to grow 2.5% to 4.5%.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on VZ (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Blue-Chip Stock #6: Amdocs Ltd. (DOX)
- Dividend History: 10 years of consecutive increases
- Dividend Yield: 2.1%
- Expected Total Return: 18.6%
Amdocs Limited is a B2B software company that serves communications service providers (CSPs). The business has software solutions that help CSPs to transition from working in the traditional data center environment to operating effectively in the cloud.
Amdocs is set to capitalize on 5G, Cloud, and digitalization, and management expects that these mega-trends will help their serviceable addressable market continue to expand.
The business serves communications service providers across the world with its 29,000 employees and has ~75% recurring revenue. The strong resiliency from its recurring revenue business model and strong operations have led to extremely stable operating margins over the past 10 years, where margins have steadily increased from 18.6% in 2013 to 21.0% in 2022.
Management sees room for long term growth in the business by retaining and building new platforms for the current customer base, expanding the footprint within underpenetrated Tier 1 customers, like Verizon and Charter Communications, and adding new businesses to the current services.
On August 2nd, 2023, Amdocs Limited reported third quarter fiscal year 2023 results for the period ending June 30th, 2023. The company earned $1.32 in GAAP diluted earnings-per-share for the quarter, up 26.9% from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $1.04 per share and above management’s guidance range of $1.16 to $1.26.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on DOX (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Blue-Chip Stock #5: 3M Company (MMM)
- Dividend History: 65 years of consecutive increases
- Dividend Yield: 6.8%
- Expected Total Return: 20.4%
3M sells more than 60,000 products that are used every day in homes, hospitals, office buildings and schools around the world. It has about 95,000 employees and serves customers in more than 200 countries.
3M is now composed of four separate divisions: Safety & Industrial, Healthcare, Transportation & Electronics, and Consumer. The company also announced that it would be spinning off its Health Care segment into a standalone entity, which would have had $8.6 billion of revenue in 2021.
Source: Investor Presentation
3M’s innovation is one of the company’s greatest competitive advantages. The company targets R&D spending equivalent to 6% of sales (~$2 billion annually) in order to create new products to meet consumer demand.
This spending has proven to be very beneficial to the company as 30% of sales during the last fiscal year were from products that didn’t exist five years ago. 3M’s commitment to developing innovative products has led to a portfolio of more than 100,000 patents.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on 3M (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Blue-Chip Stock #4: Eversource Energy (ES)
- Dividend History: 25 years of consecutive increases
- Dividend Yield: 5.0%
- Expected Total Return: 20.4%
Eversource Energy is a diversified holding company with subsidiaries that provide regulated electric, gas, and water distribution service in the Northeast U.S. The company’s utilities serve more than 4 million customers after acquiring NStar’s Massachusetts utilities in 2012, Aquarion in 2017, and Columbia Gas in 2020.
Eversource has a long history of generating steady growth over time.
Source: Investor Presentation
On July 31st, 2023, Eversource Energy released its second quarter 2023 results for the period ending June 30th, 2023. For the quarter, the company reported revenue of $2.63 billion, a decrease of 8.9% compared to $2.88 billion in the same quarter of last year.
The company reported earnings of $15 million and earnings-per-share of $0.04 compared with earnings of $292 million and earnings-per-share of $0.84 in the prior year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ES (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Blue-Chip Stock #3: NuSkin Enterprises (NUS)
- Dividend History: 23 years of consecutive increases
- Dividend Yield: 8.0%
- Expected Total Return: 21.9%
Nu Skin Enterprises is a health and beauty direct-selling company with diverse product lines. The company has three main product divisions: anti-aging, skin, and pharmaceuticals. The latter division offers nutritional, weight management products and food supplements. The company has operations internationally in more than 50 countries across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific.
Nu Skin’s anti-aging and skin-related products include peels, masks, scrubs; moisturizers; body care, hair care, men’s care, oral care, sun protection, and cosmetics. Moreover, the company sells its product directly to consumers through its own sales channel and has a sizable market overseas.
On May 3rd, 2023, Nu Skin announced Q1 2023 results, reporting quarterly earnings of $0.37, beating market estimates by $0.04. In addition, the company reported revenues of $481.46 million for the quarter, down 20.4% year-over-year. Despite the persisting macro problems, Q1’s performance aligned with management’s forecasts and anticipate gradual improvements throughout the year.
The company’s guidance for Q2 2023 is between $0.45 to $0.55. For the full year 2023, the company has projected revenue of $2.03 billion to $2.18 billion, which takes into account an anticipated 1% to 2% unfavorable impact from foreign currency. In terms of earnings per share, the company is expecting a range of $2.27 to $2.67.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on NUS (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Blue-Chip Stock #2: Lincoln National Corp. (LNC)
- Dividend History: 11 years of consecutive increases
- Dividend Yield: 7.5%
- Expected Total Return: 23.8%
Lincoln National Corporation offers life insurance, annuities, retirement plan services and group protection. The corporation was founded in 1905.
Lincoln National reported second quarter 2023 results on August 2nd, 2023. The company generated net income of $2.94 per share in the second quarter, which compared unfavorably to $4.83 in the second quarter of 2022. Adjusted income from operations equaled $2.02 per share compared to $2.13 in the same prior year period.
Additionally, annuities average account balances shrunk by 1% to $148 billion and group protection insurance premiums grew 6% to $1.3 billion.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on LNC (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Blue-Chip Stock #1: Albemarle Corporation (ALB)
- Dividend History: 28 years of consecutive increases
- Dividend Yield: 1.0%
- Expected Total Return: 33.0%
Albemarle is the largest producer of lithium and second largest producer of bromine in the world. The two products account for nearly two-thirds of annual sales. Albemarle produces lithium from its salt brine deposits in the U.S. and Chile. The company has two joint ventures in Australia that also produce lithium.
Related: 2023 Lithium Stocks List
Source: Investor Presentation
On May 3rd, 2023, Albemarle announced first quarter results. For the quarter, revenue grew 128.3% to $2.58 billion, but this was $160 million less than expected. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $10.32 compared very favorably to $2.38 in the prior year and was $3.26 above estimates.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Albemarle (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Other Blue Chip Stock Resources
Blue chip stocks tend to have many or all of the following characteristics:
- Market leaders
- Popular / well-known
- Large market capitalization
- Long history of paying rising dividends
- Consistent profitability even during recessions
That’s why they can make excellent investments for the long-run. And their strength and reliability make them compelling investments for investors of all experience levels, from beginners to experts.
This article featured several resources for finding compelling blue chip stock investments:
- The 7 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Now
- The Blue Chip Stocks List (see below)
The resources below will give you a better understanding of blue chip investing, long-term investing, and dividend growth investing.
Blue Chip Stock Investing
- 20 Safe High Dividend Blue-Chip Stocks With Low Volatility
- 20 ‘Forever’ Blue-Chip Stocks For Long-Term Investing
Dividend Growth Investing
- Dividend Kings: 50+ Consecutive years of dividend increases
- Dividend Champions: 25+ Consecutive years of dividend increases
- The Best DRIP Stocks: The top 15 Dividend Aristocrats with no-fee dividend reinvestment plans