Have some spare pounds to invest but put off by the sharp cool-down in the global economy?
Well don’t let that stop you. There’s still a wide range of top income shares that could still make you a mint in the near term and beyond. Take ContourGlobal (LSE: GLO), for example, whose role as owner and operator of electricity plants all over the world gives it terrific earnings visibility, not to mention predictable cash generation, even with an increasingly-troubled macroeconomic outlook.
Not that investors will likely have to wait long to ride the power play’s brilliant investment case, however. With profits predicted by City analysts to explode through to the close of next year, dividend yields are expected to keep rocketing too, resulting in monster dividend yields of 6.6% for 2019 and 7.2% for next year. And in the long term, ContourGlobal’s a great play on booming energy demand in the emerging markets of Africa and Latin America.
Dig this
I reckon Watkin Jones (LSE: WJG) is another great ISA pick for income hunters today.
It’s true that a 3.6% yield for the year to September 2020 sits some way below those of ContourGlobal, though this figure still smashes the rate of inflation in the UK right now. Besides, the rate at which the student accommodation provider has already hiked annual dividends in recent times (up 90% in the three years to 2018) still makes it worth sitting up to take notice of.
Watkin Jones is benefitting from booming enrolment in UK universities from both homegrown and overseas students, and the subsequent shortage of available accommodation for these students. The business has a bulging development pipeline (of 9,000 beds through to fiscal 2022) to exploit this fertile environment to the fullest. And so Watkin Jones (which saw adjusted pre-tax profits rise leap 10% in the first half of fiscal 2019) is in great shape to keep delivering brilliant returns up to the end of the 2020s at least.
Ace in the hole
If you’re seeking shares with bigger yields than the UK blue-chip average of 4.5% today, though, you might be happier to splash the cash on 888 Holdings (LSE: 888) instead. For 2019 and 2020, these clock in at 4.7% and 4.9% respectively.
And I’m confident that shareholder payouts should remain on the right side of generous as 888’s ambitious expansion strategy promises to deliver some powerful profits growth. This year the firm has launched into Sweden and Portugal while it’s been busy on the M&A front too, snapping up a sports-betting platform for £15m and a number of well-loved bingo brands from Costa Bingo for £18m as well.
These actions saw the number of first-time depositors across its brands balloon 20% in the first six months of 2019, and so robust is the company’s balance sheet that it can continue pursuing its excellent growth strategy with gusto. Forget about the regulatory uncertainties that come with the gambling industry, I’m confident that 888 will still keep delivering some mighty shareholder returns over the next decade.
