Have £3k to invest? 2 FTSE 250 dividend stocks I’d buy and hold for 25 years

Assura (LSE: AGR) is a big-yielding share from the FTSE 250 I think could generate brilliant shareholder returns now and many years into the future.

Healthcare is one of the country’s fastest-growing industries as the domestic population booms, and in particular the number of elderly people who put particular strain on the health service. Indeed, the Office for National Statistics estimates that the UK population will top 70m by 2030 and hit 77m by the mid-point of the century.

Assura, in my opinion is a great way to play this theme, a firm which buys up, develops and manages doctors’ surgeries, primary care and community healthcare infrastructure. As I noted last time out, it’s committed to aggressive M&A to fully exploit this opportunity-rich marketplace and latest trading details underlined the wisdom of such a strategy.

5%+ yields

In interims released a month ago Assura advised that EPRA (or European Public Real Estate Association) earnings shot 36% higher in the six months to September, to £31.7m, while the rent roll rose 7% to £97m. What’s more, the value of its property portfolio rose 6% from a year earlier to £1.8bn.

And these solid results prompted the FTSE 250 firm to hike the interim dividend 9% year-on-year to 1.3p per share.

City brokers believe that Assura, supported by a 9% earnings rise in the full financial year, will lift the total dividend to 2.7p per share from 2.455p last year. In fiscal 2020 it’s expected to grow again to 2.8p, supported by a prediction of another 5% yearly profits improvement Such projections yield an inflation-smashing 5% and 5.2% respectively.

As Assura commented in that release, there is “significant underinvestment in the nation’s primary care premises [with] many GP premises not currently fit for purposes.” And with the government boosting investment in community care to take the strain off Britain’s jam-packed hospitals, Theresa May announcing a £3.5bn cash injection in this area by 2023/24 just last month, the profits picture over at the business looks extremely bright to me.

Bricks beauty

Marshalls (LSE: MSLH) is another great income share that should thrive in the decades ahead.

Profits generation at the paving block manufacturer has been most impressive, growing relentlessly and at double-digit percentages for more than half a decade now. And acquisition activity this month has boosted its appeal as a great growth stock for the coming years, Marshalls buying concrete brick manufacturer Edenhall for £17.2m in a move that increases its exposure to the robust housebuilding market.

In the immediate future, City analysts are forecasting another 16% earnings rise in 2018, this forecast supported by news this month that revenues boomed 14% during the first 11 months of the year to £465m. Another 8% rise is predicted for next year, although I can see this figure being upgraded as we move through 2019 following the aforementioned M&A action.

With sales and profits expected to keep ripping higher, the number crunchers are predicting even more special dividends and so total rewards of 14.5p and 14.6p per share are anticipated for 2018 and 2019 respectively. The yield consequently sits at a handsome 3.2% through to the close of next year, making Marshalls one of the hottest FTSE 250 shares to buy now and hold for many years into the future, I believe.

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Royston Wild has no position in any of the shares mentioned. 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.

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