FTSE 250 shares round-up: Taylor Wimpey, Costain, Genuit

A 75% dividend hike by newly promoted Costain Group (LSE:COST) and forecast-beating results by Genuit Group (LSE:GEN) today ensured their shares led the FTSE 250 index during a stronger session for mid-cap investors.

The second-tier benchmark rebounded by 2% at one point as renewed hopes for an end to the Middle East war enabled traders to push back on fears of higher UK interest rates.

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Among the biggest stocks, Taylor Wimpey (LSE:TW.) rallied by 2.7p to 98.9p, while Computacenter (LSE:CCC) put on 52p to 3,202p ahead of Thursday’s release of the IT firm’s annual results.

Costain, which last week returned to the FTSE 250 following an absence of more than 20 years, led the index by some distance after the infrastructure projects business reported another strong year of financial progress.

Boosted by exposure to the nationally important sectors of water, defence, energy and transport, the group said its forward work position had grown by 30% to a record £7 billion.

That’s almost seven times 2025 revenues of £1.05 billion as Costain delivered a 9.3% rise in adjusted operating profit to £47.1 million on an improved margin of 4.5%.

Strong cash generation has boosted the balance sheet and supported increased shareholder returns, including through a £20 million share buyback programme.

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A previous constraint on dividend payments due to pension funding requirements was removed earlier this year, meaning the company has increased 2025’s distribution to 4.2p.

This includes a 60% jump in the full-year award to 3.2p as Costain moves to adopt dividend cover of three times adjusted earnings.

Costain said it expects to remain highly cash generative in 2026, although the margin is set to dip to 4% due to the non-repeat of positive contract completions in 2025.

It added: “We continue to expect a step change in performance in 2027 and beyond, driven by the step up in our customer’s investment spending plans and growth across all our markets, and our ambition remains to deliver improving operating margins in excess of 5%.”

The shares jumped 30p to briefly touch 200p for the first time since 2019, having advanced from less than 50p in autumn 2023.

Genuit delivered the next best performance in the FTSE 250 index after the UK's largest provider of sustainable water and climate products posted a 4.5% rise in underlying profits to £82.9 million for 2025.

That compared with the City consensus of £80 million, with the outperformance driven by stronger-than-expected margin progress in the second half of the year.

The shares rallied 26.5p to 331p although they remain cheaper than before the Iran war, having slumped 18% in the last week.

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Peel Hunt, which has a price target of 400p, said current multiples of 11 times forecast earnings and 7.6 times for enterprise value-to-earnings were about 20% below long-term averages despite the cyclical low level of activity.

The broker added: “These multiples look good value, in our view, given the group’s long-term track record and strong organic cash flow.”

The recovery for shares came as Genuit said subdued market conditions have continued as expected into the current quarter, albeit with some positive signs on order intake. Prolonged wet weather impacted construction site activity in January and February.

Regardless of the macroeconomic conditions, the group added that it would continue to target market outperformance by focusing on higher growth segments. It said: “We are confident in achieving our medium-term targets and with a strong balance sheet, the group will continue to invest for the future.”

A dividend of 8.7p a share is due for payment on 3 June, lifting the total for the year by 3.2% to 12.9p.