Are these the best FTSE 250 dividend shares to consider buying for 2025?

When looking for income shares to buy, it’s worth checking out the whole stock market and not just the traditional big payers.

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We traditonally look for dividend shares to buy in the FTSE 100. Right now though, there are more double-digit dividends outside the top London stock market index.

Today, I want to line up some of the FTSE 250 dividend yields I think investors will be considering now.

The following table shows five of the top forecast yields, mostly pushed up by share price falls. I haven’t picked the biggest as there’s a lot of sector overlap. I’ve just gone with the ones that most catch my eye.

Should you invest £1,000 in Ithaca Energy right now?

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See the 6 stocks

FTSE 250 yields

CompanyDividend yield12m price change
Ithaca Energy (LSE:ITH)24%-32%
NextEnergy Solar Fund12%-17%
Abrdn10%-15%
Ashmore9.7%+2.1%
Supermarket Income REIT (LSE: SUPR)8.6%-14%
(Sources: Yahoo, MarketScreener)

The 24% yield from Ithaca Energy makes me ask why isn’t everyone piling in? And I’ll also check out the Supermarket Income REIT, a real estate investment trust I’ve liked the look of for a while.

Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice.

Share prices

Created with Highcharts 11.4.3Ithaca Energy Plc + Supermarket Income REIT Plc PriceZoom1M3M6MYTD1Y5Y10YALL0www.fool.co.uk

Two things strike me about that chart. Those are not what we really want to see from these supposed growth stocks in the FTSE 250.

And it shows a disappointing early life for the Ithaca share price since the oil company came to market in November 2022. It’s not a great start, which only adds to the mystery.

Unusual oily

Ithaca plans to pay $500m in dividends for 2024 and 2025. But forecast earnings would cover only about half of it. The company also had adjusted net debt of £428m at Q3 time.

Still, the acquisition of oil and gas assets from Eni could see 150,000 barrels a day from the North Sea by the early 2030s. That’s close to BP‘s output from the region.

But it’ll probably mean the issue of a lot of new shares. So that massive yield already looks like it’ll be diluted. But by how much?

The puzzling combination of huge dividends not covered by earnings from a company likely to raise capital through an equity issue makes my head hurt too much to invest. I might be missing a great chance, but I’ll pass.

On dry land

Back to the boring old supermarket thing. Pressure on retail, stagnating property market, interest rates still high… who in their right mind would want to take on that combination in an investment trust that owns and rents supermarket properties?

Well, me for one. Supermarket Income REIT is definitely on my candidates list for early 2025.

I just hope the market doesn’t come to its senses and push the price up before I can buy any. Or, then, with the risks facing retail right now, maybe it’s my senses that are out of line.

Still, buying food and running the premises to buy it from seem like two of the surest long-term cash cows out there, to me.

Buy in 2025?

So that’s one dividend stock I won’t buy because I really can’t get my head round it. And one that makes my shortlist. The other three tempt me too. I’ll have to dig into them another time.

Like buying £1 for 31p

This seems ridiculous, but we almost never see shares looking this cheap. Yet this Share Advisor pick has a price/book ratio of 0.31. In plain English, this means that investors effectively get in on a business that holds £1 of assets for every 31p they invest!

Of course, this is the stock market where money is always at risk — these valuations can change and there are no guarantees. But some risks are a LOT more interesting than others, and at The Motley Fool we believe this company is amongst them.

What’s more, it currently boasts a stellar dividend yield of around 10%, and right now it’s possible for investors to jump aboard at near-historic lows. Want to get the name for yourself?

See the full investment case

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

Alan Oscroft 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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