It’s starting to get a little frothy out there. Many speculative stocks are shooting up. New investment themes such as artificial intelligence are generating attention, and bullishness is running rampant. That’s all fine and well, but the macroeconomic backdrop remains challenging. As such, it could be a good time to look at these undervalued stable blue-chip stocks as a safer investment.
It sometimes pays to play defense when other traders are starting to get greedy. Whether or not the recent bull run continues, these solid blue-chip buys will keep on humming.
As another perk, these high-yield blue-chip stocks all offer dividend yields of at least 4% today. That gives investors a steady paycheck from these holdings regardless of what happens within the broader market.
Pfizer (PFE)
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is in a bit of an odd place right now. The firm saw its revenues more than double in recent years thanks to its successful development of various Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
Now that demand has sharply declined for Covid-19 related products, however, Pfizer’s revenues and profits have dropped. Unsurprisingly, Pfizer stock has fallen in-line with its reduced revenues.
The funny thing, however, is that Pfizer stock is now merely flat since the initial onset of the pandemic back in 2020. Though revenues decline, Pfizer is far larger now than it was in 2019. Specifically, Pfizer earned $41 billion in revenues in 2019. The company is expected, by contrast, to earn $68 billion in revenues in both 2023 and 2024.
Clearly, Pfizer has enjoyed a great deal of growth outside of just Covid-19 vaccines. Shares are going for just 12 times forward earnings and offer a 4.2% dividend yield. Investors have overreacted to the decline in pandemic-related revenues, making PFE stock a blue-chip bargain today.
Unilever (UL)
Unilever (NYSE:UL) is a leading multinational consumer staples company. It primarily focuses on food and consumer wellness with product lines including nutritional products, ice creams, beauty, personal care, and cleaning supplies.
Unilever had been fairly stagnant in recent years, with revenues coming in flat prior to 2020. Since then, however, things have inflected upward, with the company’s revenues jumping from $58 billion in 2019 to more than $64 billion last year.
The company has seen some pressures on the cost side with the recent waves of inflation and supply chain issues throughout the economy. However, these issues appear to be letting up as commodity prices start to normalize. Analysts see steady mid-single digits earnings growth in the years to come, and that’s not bad for a firm starting out at just 17 times forward earnings in a defensive recession-proof industry.
There is also a catalyst for change. When activist investors forced out the firm’s prior CEO, Unilever announced that Hein Schumacher will become the new CEO starting in July 2023. Schumacher previously headed a large dairy company and could give Unilever a fresh perspective and business strategy.
Public Storage (PSA)
Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) is the largest publicly-traded self-storage real estate investment Trust (REIT) in the country.
Self-storage is an interesting asset class. Unlike most REITs, self-storage can thrive during times of economic uncertainty. In 2009, for example, self-storage stocks such as PSA did comparatively well. This makes sense as the rash of foreclosures and economic volatility caused many to move from one housing situation to another.
Demographics are also at play. The millennial generation is entering their prime years for settling down and establishing their households. This may lead to a lot of moving around and a reliance on Public Storage units in the interims. As if that weren’t enough, hybrid work and e-commerce are both creating additional demand for storage space.
Public Storage should be in fine shape regardless of a potential recession. That being the case, it’s somewhat surprising that PSA stock has fallen by a third from its peak. The firm should be holding up better than most of its REIT peers. However, due to this steep sell-off, PSA stock is back to 17 times forward funds from operations (FFO) and offers a 4.1% dividend yield.
On the date of publication, Ian Bezek held a long position in UL stock. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
