I’m searching for the best FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 shares to buy and hold to the end of the decade. Here are two on my watchlist.
Spire Healthcare Group
The poor state of the National Health Service (NHS) makes Spire Healthcare Group (LSE:SPI) an attractive investment today. Demand for private healthcare is likely to continue rising as patients seek to avoid long waiting lists.
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Fresh Office for National Statistics research shows that almost 10m people are either waiting for a hospital appointment or to begin receiving NHS treatment. This backlog will likely take years to cut substantially, a challenge made all the more difficult by the growing healthcare needs of an ageing population.
It’s why I expect demand for Spire’s services from both self-pay patients and those using private medical insurance to keep soaring. Private revenues jumped 9.5% year on year in 2023, to £959.7m which, in turn, pushed operating profit almost a third higher, to £126.2m.
Spire can also expect further business from the NHS to help cut those massive waiting lists. NHS-related revenues leapt 15.5% in 2023, to £341.1m. And Spire has advised that “there could be increased commissioning” further down the line.
Reflecting this bright outlook, City analysts expect annual earnings growth here to average 34% through to 2026. This leaves the FTSE 250 firm trading on a forward price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 0.8.
Any reading below 1 indicates that a stock is undervalued. Despite the threat of potential staffing shortages, I’m considering adding more Spire shares to my portfolio.
Antofagasta
I also think getting exposure to copper could be a good idea today. Prices of the essential metal just struck 14-month highs of $9,300 a tonne on mounting supply risks. And bets of further rises are growing on hopes of recovering Chinese demand.
Analysts at Citi, for instance, expect copper values to hit $12,000 within the next two years.
Purchasing a copper-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF) could allow me to exploit any further price rises. But I’d rather buy shares in a dividend-paying mining stock. This strategy would also provide me with an income.
Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO) is one such stock to consider buying today. For this year the Chile-focused miner carries a dividend yield of 1.2%, a figure that rises steadily through to 2026.
While some other copper stocks offer larger yields, Antofagasta has one large advantage: a string of world-class assets that could help it deliver sector-beating returns. This includes the Los Pelambres mine where it is steadily ramping up production.
The FTSE 100 firm now trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 35.6 times. A high figure such as this could cause a share price correction if news suddenly worsens. Yet on balance, I still believe it’s a top stock to consider owning for the next several years.
