The Top 20 Australian Companies by Market Capitalization

The ASX Top 20 is comprised of the largest 20 Australian publicly-listed companies by market capitalization. The following table lists these companies with their tickers on the US markets ,if available and the current dividend yields:

S.No.CompanyTickerMarket Capitalization as of Mar 6, 2013 (in A$s)Dividend Yield as of Mar 5, 2013Sector
1RIO TINTO LIMITEDRTNTF$358,707,607 3.57%Materials
2BHP BILLITON LIMITEDBP$287,153,366 3.07%Materials
3COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.CMWAY$277,839,804 7.26%Banking
4WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATIONWBK$242,871,846 5.30%Banking
5NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITEDNABZY$237,245,326 6.05%Banking
6AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITEDANZBY$179,818,344 5.16%Banking
7WESTFIELD RETAIL TRUSTWTSRF$161,986,724 6.07%Real Estate
8TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED.TLSYY$137,753,923 6.30%Telecom
9WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITEDWOPEY$132,143,008 4.85%Energy
10WESFARMERS LIMITEDWFAFY$120,476,736 4.25%Food and Consumer Staples retail
11FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LTDFSUGY$114,421,357 1.85%Materials
12WOOLWORTHS LIMITEDWOLZY$103,445,038 0.00%Food and Consumer Staples retail
13NEWCREST MINING LIMITEDNCMGY$97,304,201 1.57%Materials
14CSL LIMITEDCMXHY$89,275,653 1.60%Pharma and Biotech
15NEWS CORPORATIONNWS$84,386,026 0.56%Media
16QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITEDQBIEY$67,525,699 3.63%Insurance
17ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITEDOGFGY$66,500,998 4.05%Energy
18BRAMBLES LIMITEDBMBLY$63,791,119 3.07%Professional Services
19WESTFIELD GROUPWFGPY$59,961,187 4.50%Real Estate
20OIL SEARCH LIMITEDOISHY$57,041,477 0.51%Energy

 

Data Sources: Australian Financial Review and Business Spectator

Since Australia is a resources-based economy, the top two highly valued companies are in the materials sector. Four banks are the next most valued companies. This is not surprising since banks act as the financial pillar of the Australian economy providing financing to companies and consumers alike. Since the real estate sector has held up well in the past few years Aussie banks have not been adversely impacted like their peers in Europe and in the U.S. Australian banks also have high exposure to the fast growing markets in Asia. For example, ANZ Banking Group (ANZBY) was recently named as one of the top four corporate banks in Asia.

From an investment standpoint, the four banks noted and the Telstra(TLSYY) look attractive at current or lower levels for long-term investment. Investors willing to add commodity stocks which can be highly volatile can consider the resource companies shown in the table above.

Note: Dividend yields noted are as of Mar 5, 2013

Disclosure: No Positions

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