Today, I’m going to take a look at two FTSE 250 stocks I think have tremendous income and growth potential for long-term investors.
FTSE 250 growth stock
Online stockbroker AJ Bell (LSE: AJB) is one of the UK’s fastest-growing financial firms. The company has revolutionised the online trading business, offering low-cost dealing for all investors.
This has helped the business gain an edge over competitors, and customers have flocked to the group. Revenues have risen 120% over the past six years. Meanwhile, profits have surged from £13m in 2014 to £36m today.
AJ Bell has benefitted from a surge in interest in its products during 2020. Its latest trading update reported a 26% increase in customer numbers for the 12 months to the end of June. For the three months to the end of June, net customer inflows were £1.2bn.
Thanks to this jump in customers, and customer activity in volatile markets, the FTSE 250 business told investors in July it expects profit growth to beat expectations for the year. This bodes well for future growth, in my opinion.
Changing stockbrokers can be a time-consuming and costly process. So, most investors don’t bother. As such, the influx of new customers may help AJ Bell for years to come.
What’s more, the company’s growth may only just be getting started. The firm has total assets under administration of £54.3bn. That’s half of online peer Hargreaves Landsdown.
Therefore, now may be a good time to buy the stock ahead of further growth.
Assura Group
FTSE 250 property group Assura Group (LSE: AGR) may also be a good buy right now. While some property firms are facing falling rents and declining occupancy levels, Assura should be protected from this trend. The company develops, invests and manages a portfolio of primary care medical centres across the United Kingdom. This gives it a defensive nature.
Management is planning a massive expansion of the firm’s portfolio. It’s currently working on 18 developments in total worth £95m. On top of this, another £60m of projects are expected to begin in the next 12 months. And there are £51m of acquisitions being considered.
This portfolio growth should help the company expand its dividend in the years ahead. Unlike other FTSE 250 stocks, due to the nature of Assura’s property portfolio, it has been able to maintain its payout. The stock currently supports a dividend yield of 3.5%.
The payout has grown by 55% over the past six years and, considering its development pipeline, I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar level of growth is seen during the next six years.
With shares in Assura trading less than 10% above the level at which they began the year, I think that now could be an excellent time to buy the stock. It has the potential to produce large capital and income returns to investors in the long run.
