Latest news with #FTSE250
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
London stocks gain despite lingering US tariff uncertainty
LONDON: British equities ended higher on Friday, but trimmed initial gains after US President Donald Trump accused China of violating a tariff agreement, while investors assessed US consumer spending data. 'China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!,' Trump said on his Truth Social platform. The blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.6% and the midcap FTSE 250 rose 0.1%. Despite continued concerns over Trump's erratic tariffs, the benchmark index posted its best month in four. The mid-cap index posted its best month since July 2024. Investors in Britain remained optimistic over easing trade tensions with Washington after the US and UK announced a limited bilateral trade agreement earlier this month.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The FTSE 250 looks to be stuffed full of dividend stocks!
In my opinion, investing in dividend stocks is a great way of creating an additional income stream. But they can also play a part in building wealth. To do this, it's necessary to reinvest any cash received and buy more shares. This is a process known as compounding. And in my opinion, it's an effective way of increasing the value of a portfolio. This is best illustrated by way of an example. Let's assume an investor has £10,000 of shares yielding 3.6%. Each year, this would provide income of £360. Over 30 years, this would generate £10,800 of dividends and, assuming there was no capital growth (or losses), the original £10,000 would remain. Alternatively, if the £360 received in year one was reinvested, in the second year it would grow to £373. Repeat this again and, in year three, the income received would increase to £386. And so on… After 30 years, the investment pot would be £28,893. Okay, the investor has sacrificed income of £10,800. But the end result is much better. Of course, this analysis is a little simplistic. Dividends are never guaranteed and share prices can go up and down. However, it does illustrate the potential of dividend stocks. In my example, I used a yield of 3.6%. This is the same rate currently (30 May) available from the FTSE 250. In fact, the index presently offers a higher return than the FTSE 100, its more famous cousin. Look closer and there are many stocks currently yielding more than the average. According to Dividend Data, there are 17 with a yield above 8%. The average of these is 10.2%. Plug this figure into our example above, and £10,000 would grow to £184,267 over 30 years. Interestingly, 13 of the 17 operate in the energy sector, including oil, gas and renewables. Nine are investment trusts. Falling energy prices have impacted industry share prices and helped push yields higher. One example of this is Harbour Energy (LSE:HBR). Its share price has fallen 30% since the start of 2025 and the stock's currently yielding 10.6%. In January, it was close to 6%. The government's 'windfall tax' means profits made from the North Sea are taxed at 78%. This has prompted the group to announce plans to cut its workforce by a quarter and slash domestic investment. To mitigate the impact, in September 2024, Harbour Energy acquired the assets of Wintershall Dea. The majority of its earnings now come from outside UK waters. But a falling oil price affects all regions. The group's now expecting free cash flow (FCF) in 2025 of $900m. This is $100m lower than its previous guidance. Prudently, it assumes a Brent crude price of $65 and a European gas price of $12/msfc (million standard cubic feet) for the remainder of the year. Both are currently trading around these levels. However, volatile energy prices are a risk associated with investing in the sector. But crucially, FCF of $900m is comfortably more than the $455m the group has pledged to return to shareholders this year. Despite the challenges facing the sector, Harbour Energy's dividend looks secure, for now. On this basis, it could be a FTSE 250 income stock for investors to consider. The post The FTSE 250 looks to be stuffed full of dividend stocks! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool James Beard has positions in Harbour Energy Plc. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Greggs paid shareholders 50p this week. But is the FTSE 250 stock good for passive income?
When choosing a passive income stock, I'm looking for two things. Firstly, a generous dividend. This might sound obvious but not all shares are created equal. There's a wide variation in the level of payouts on offer. For example, in the FTSE 250, there are eight stocks that are yielding (based on amounts paid during the 12 months to 31 May) in excess of 10%. In contrast, 39 haven't made any payouts over the past year. The index average is 3.6%. The second requirement is a good track record of increasing – or at least maintaining – its return. In my opinion, a stock paying a reasonable but reliable dividend is better than one that offers an occasionally higher — but usually lower — yield. On Friday (30 May), Greggs (LSE:GRG) paid its final dividend in respect of its year ended 31 December 2024 (FY24). Qualifying shareholders received 50p a share. When added to the baker's interim payout of 19p, it means the stock's currently yielding 3.3%. This puts it in the top 40% of FTSE 250 divided payers. It's a solid – but unspectacular – performance. However, if this level of return could be relied upon then it could be attractive to income investors. Of course, dividends are never guaranteed but some stocks have a better history than others when it comes to shareholder returns. Understandably, Greggs suspended its dividend during the pandemic. Since then, it's increased it. In cash terms, the baker's FY24 final payout was 19% higher than in FY22. Its interim amount was 26.7% more. In addition, there have been two post-Covid special payments of 40p each (FY23 and FY21). However, although additional payments are always welcome, it means Greggs has a very 'lumpy' recent dividend history. That's because its capital allocation policy prioritises expansion and a strong balance sheet over shareholder returns. The group seeks to maintain 'circa 3% of revenue' as cash at the end of each financial year. Recently, although Greggs' dividend has been hard to predict, it has always surprised in the right direction. It's been steadily increasing its interim and final payouts with an occasional top-up when there's some spare cash. This seems like a sensible approach to me. However, looking further ahead, analysts are sounding a note of caution. They are forecasting a payout over the next three years of 68.32p (FY25), 70.78p (FY26), and 75.19 (FY27). If they are right, Greggs will be cutting its dividend in 2025. Personally, I have concerns that the group's rate of growth could start to slow soon. And like all companies, its dividend could come under pressure if this happens. In 1984, when the company floated, it had 261 stores. It now has 2,638 with a medium-term ambition of reaching 3,000 shops. Logically, each new store will be operating in a slightly less suitable location than the previous one. The group probably already has a presence in the best areas, reducing the marginal benefit from each new shop. Also, the move towards healthier eating might harm the sale of some of its more popular products. In my view, Greggs isn't a bad choice to consider for passive income. However, due to concerns over its growth prospects, I think there are better opportunities elsewhere. The post Greggs paid shareholders 50p this week. But is the FTSE 250 stock good for passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool James Beard has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Greggs Plc. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
2 FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 growth shares to consider in June!
Searching for the best growth shares to buy this month? Here are two from the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 I feel demand close attention. City analysts expect Babcock International (LSE:BAB) to report robust full-year earnings growth later this month (25 June). A 55% bottom-line rise is predicted for the 12 months to March, driven by conditions across both its defence and civil operations. As an investor, I like this diversification as it reduces the impact of weakness in one or two areas at group level. The company's operations include maintaining the UK's nuclear submarine fleet, training fighter pilots, tank drivers and emergency services, building armoured vehicles, and servicing and decommissioning nuclear power stations. However, I'm most excited by the enormous opportunities Babcock enjoys in the defence sector. It makes around three-quarters of revenues from defence customers, and rising arms expenditure drove its contracted backlog to an impressive £10.1bn as of March. Reflecting its strong markets, brokers expect the FTSE firm's earnings to rise another 8% this fiscal year, and by 10% in fiscal 2027. These growth projections could suffer a setback if US defence spending trends lower. But encouragingly, Babcock has limited exposure to Department of Defense budgets, which helps to mitigate this risk. Furthermore, moderating arms spending in the States would likely be offset by rising spending among other NATO nations and partners of the defence bloc. Babcock's four largest customers are Britain, Australia, South Africa and Canada. Britain's participation in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative provides additional reason for optimism too. Domestic defence companies will now have access to the EU's £150bn loan fund for defence projects. Today, Babcock shares trade on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.5 times. This makes it one of the London stock market's cheapest defence stocks on this metric. The FTSE 250's NCC Group (LSE:NCC) is also tipped for strong and sustained profits growth. Forecasters anticipate a 55% earnings jump for the financial year ending September 2025. Further double-digit rises (of 30% and 23%) are predicted for fiscal 2026 and 2027 as well. Like Babcock, current growth projections make the cybersecurity specialist looking ultra cheap on paper too. A forward price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 0.6 comes in below the widely accepted value watermark of one. It's possible that these growth projections could disappoint if the world economy stumbles and businesses scale back spending. However, I'm optimistic that the essential software and assurance services NCC provides could limit weakness compared with the broader tech sector. Marks & Spencer's catastrophic online outage in April outlines the importance of having robust online protections. And the threat's steadily growing (the head of HSBC's UK unit said the bank's 'being attacked all the time' by online criminals). NCC's a share I think is worth considering owning for the long haul. Fortune Business Insights expects the global cybersecurity markets to grow at an annualised rate of 14.3% between 2024 and 2032. The post 2 FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 growth shares to consider in June! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool HSBC Holdings is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Royston Wild has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended HSBC Holdings. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Sign in to access your portfolio
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Matt Moulding's THG set for FTSE demotion
One of Britain's most outspoken businessmen faces a humiliating blow next week as his business is in line to be knocked out of the high-profile FTSE 250 index after a share price slump. Matt Moulding could see his company THG, formerly known as The Hut Group, demoted after being included in the index for just three months. The online retailer, which sells products including protein powder and cosmetics, joined the ranks of the FTSE 250 in March. The potential demotion follows a 95 per cent share price slump since its 2020 float, valuing the online retailer at just £344 million, a far cry from initial hopes of it rivalling £1.6 trillion tech giant Amazon. Moulding has seen his personal stake plummet from £493 million to just £24 million. A prolific social media user, he has openly blamed the press and the London stock market for THG's poor performance, describing the listing experience as having 'just sucked from start to finish' and the market as a 'barren wasteland'. The final decision on THG's FTSE 250 status hinges on its share price at the market close on Tuesday.
