Seasoned investors realise that the recent market sell-off provides an attractive opportunity for buying dividend shares, especially in retirement portfolios. The new tax year and ISA season began on 6 April. Thus you have almost a year to place £20,000 into your ISA.
Today I’ll discuss two FTSE 250 shares that you may want to research for including in a Stocks and Shares ISA.
Dividends in drinks
My first pick is Irish beverages business C&C Group (LSE: CCR), which manufactures, markets, and distributes premium branded cider, beer, wine, and soft drinks. Our readers would likely recognise several of C&C’s core brands, including Bullmers, Magners, and Tennent’s.
In 2018, the company acquired Matthew Clark and Bibendum, two UK-based companies. Since then, most of its revenues and profits come from the UK rather than Ireland. As the British operations increase, it is likely that both the top line and the bottom line will grow further.
Interim executive chair Stewart Gilliland recently released a statement on the Covid-19 outbreak. He said “The Group’s supply chain and production facilities remain fully operational… We are working with our off-trade partners to meet demand in supermarkets… The closure of pubs, bars, and restaurants means this is an incredibly challenging time for our on-trade customers. We have therefore put in place … support measures including the postponement of a planned price increase on our beers and ciders, and a three-month holiday on capital and interest repayments to our loan customers”.
The cautious tone of Gilliland’s words could be seen as a profit warning. In fact, year-to-date, the stock is down about 48%. The price is now hovering around 212p. And the decline has pushed the current dividend yield to 6.4%.
Value investors may be encouraged by the forward price-to-earnings ratio of 7.7 as well as P/S ratio of 0.49. I’d buy the dip in CCR stock, especially for including in a retirement portfolio.
Gold wins
Centamin (LSE: CEY) operates a mine in Sukari, Egypt, one of the largest gold deposits in the world. The miner is debt-free, has low-cost production, and $348.9m in cash and liquid assets.
Earlier in January, Canadian mining group Endeavour walked away from a potential bid for CEY. It had made a $2.5bn all-stock offer. Management on both sides failed to agree on terms of the takeover. However, there may be other suitors yet to emerge. Consolidation among miners is likely to continue.
On 21 March, management released a Covid-19 update. It highlighted that there was no “material disruption to operations, supply chain, or gold shipments”. Analysts believe that its strong balance sheet would enable the firm to weather any potential adverse effects of the pandemic better than many others.
The past two months have shown us why gold still has a place in many portfolios. While the rest of the market was melting down, gold jumped higher. And an increase in the price of the shiny commodity is usually good for mining shares.
So far in 2020, CEY stock is up about 8% and it trades around 137p. Despite the increase in price, its dividend yield stands at a robust 5.8%. I believe it’d be a sound addition to a Stocks and Shares ISA to enjoy retirement years with a peace of mind.
