If broker forecasts prove correct, £10,000 invested equally across these FTSE 250 dividend stocks could provide a £1,260 passive income this year.
Here’s why I think investors should pay them close attention today.
Vistry Group
Should you invest £1,000 in Ssp Group right now?
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The UK housing market isn’t out of the woods just yet. The domestic economy is struggling to grow and unemployment is rising. Inflationary pressures also persist, casting doubt on when interest rates could fall.
Yet recent industry data suggests now could be a good time to invest in the housebuilding sector. Vistry Group (LSE:VTY) is one major industry player that income investors may wish to look at closely.
The company carries a 4.3% dividend yield for 2024. This is far ahead of the 3.4% average for FTSE 250 shares.
But this is not all. City analysts are expecting dividends to soar rapidly over the next few years, driven by double-digit earnings growth. This consequently drives yields close to 7%, as shown in the table below.
| Dividend per share | Dividend yield | |
| 2024 | 50.4p | 4.3% |
| 2025 | 67.3p | 5.7% |
| 2026 | 80.2p | 6.8% |
According to Zoopla, mortgage approvals rose a whopping 32% year on year in February. The property listings provider says that new home sales are experiencing “a sustained upturn”, and predicted home sales of 1.1m in 2024. This would represent a 10% annual improvement.
As I say, the homes market could experience fresh turbulence, in turn putting Vistry’s dividend forecasts in danger. Dividend cover of 1.8 times for 2024 sits below the accepted security benchmark of 2 times.
But the prospect of explosive dividend growth over the next few years still make the builder one to watch.
Supermarket Income REIT
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) like Supermarket Income REIT (LSE:SUPR) can also be great income stocks to buy. I like this one because its 8.3% forward dividend yield is one of the biggest out there.
Under REIT rules, these companies most pay 90% or more of their yearly annual rental profits out by way of dividends. This is in exchange for them not having to pay corporation tax.
On the downside, these property stocks could endure more share price trouble if swingeing interest rate cuts fail to materialise. This would keep net asset values under pressure and borrowing costs above normal levels.
But on balance, I think Supermarket Income is a rock-solid dividend share to own. Its focus on the ultra-stable British grocery market means earnings remain broadly stable at all points of the economic cycle.
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And today (29 April) it announced plans to diversify its operations by entering the French retail sector. The decision to acquire 17 stores from Carrefour reduces the risk of profits turbulence still further.
As with Vistry, dividends at this REIT are also tipped to grow over the next three years. And so the dividend yield rises to 8.4% and 8.5% for 2025 and 2026, respectively.
