The FTSE 250 has fallen by a whopping 14% since the start of the year. This provides investors with a wide selection of top value stocks to buy. Here are three high-dividend stocks I’m considering to boost my passive income.
Vistry Group (8.1% dividend yield)
Demand for homes is beginning to slip as the Bank of England hikes interest rates. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), 25% of estate agencies saw fewer enquiries in July.
But, pleasingly for housebuilders like Vistry Group (LSE: VTY), property values continue to soar. The same RICS survey showed that 63% of agents saw prices rise, well above the long-term average of 13%.
And the consensus among respondents was that home prices will be higher a year from now too.
Rising interest rates pose a threat to the likes of Vistry. But, so far, businesses like this continue to trade robustly. This is because of a huge shortage of housing stock that I’m confident will remain in place for years to come. And in particular it should support robust demand for new-build homes.
Vistry enjoyed an 11% improvement in its average weekly private sales rate between January and June. I think the company’s big forward dividend yield and P/E ratio of 6.2 times make it a top value stock to buy.
PageGroup (8% dividend yield)
PageGroup (LSE: PAGE) is another FTSE 250 stock whose ordinary dividend yield smashes the 2.7% index average.
Business confidence is tanking across the globe as inflationary pressures rise. This, in turn, poses a significant danger to recruiters such as this. But this is a threat I think is priced into PageGroup’s current price. Like Vistry, it trades on a sub-10 P/E ratio, at 9.7 times.
Extreme candidate shortages mean the recruitment sector actually continues to thrive. PageGroup announced this week that revenues and pre-tax profits soared 28% and 80% respectively during the January-June period.
Trading is so strong that the business hiked the interim dividend and announced plans for a special dividend earlier this week. I’m very tempted to buy this bargain today.
ITV (6.9% dividend yield)
My final high-dividend stock today is ITV (LSE: ITV). The broadcaster’s fallen a long way in 2022 after exiting the FTSE 100 last September. But I think it’s a top buy despite the threat that a weakening advertising industry poses to profits.
On top of that massive dividend yield, ITV trades on a rock-bottom P/E ratio of 5.5 times. As a long-term investor, I find this value hard to ignore.
You see, I’m expecting the huge investment the FTSE 250 new boy is making across the business to deliver massive returns. It is splashing the cash on its ITV Studios arm to turn it into a global production powerhouse. And it is building its position in the lucrative streaming market with initiatives like its soon-to-be-launched ITV X platform.