At the end of my September dividend income summary article, I mentioned that I was extremely motivated and excited to purchase some stocks in October. Shortly after, I put together a watch list identifying four dividend stocks that were on my radar. It did not take long for me to put some capital to work with some of the stocks on this watch list. When a stock price falls after you add it to your watch list, how could you say no? These purchases were small and frequent due to our free trade credits from Ally Investing, so there will be a few different stocks in this article. Here are the stocks I have been purchasing over the last couple of weeks!
Stock #1: WestRock Company (WRK)
This was the first stock on my watch list. Ever since I initiated a position in WRK for the first time in the third quarter, I have been looking to continue building my stake. At first I purchased 25 shares and it was far from what I considered a “full” position in my portfolio. In my watch list article, I laid out a detailed case about how WRK passed the metrics of our Dividend Stock Screener. Their P/E ratio is well below the broader market (12.4X), payout ratio is below our 60% threshold (42%), and the company has a solida recent streak of increasing their quarterly dividend. After performing so well, it was hard not to add to my position in this paper and packaging company. So I added shares of WRK on two different days. Here were the purchases and purchase prices.
- 9 Shares of WRK at $51.37/share. Cost basis of purchase: $462.34
- 1 Share of WRK at $50.57/share. Cost basis of purchase: $50.57.
The 10 shares of WRK purchased at the end of last week added $17.20 in additional dividend income. Now, I own 35.194 shares of the company that produces $60.53 in dividend income each year. Honestly, if the price continues to fall, I will continue adding small chunks of shares. I think it would be cool to earn at least $100 in dividends annually from my position. That would call for purchasing an additional 23 shares. That’s without a potential dividend increase that I’m expecting to receive at the end of the month based on WRK’s recent dividend history.
Stock #2: Consolidated Edison (ED)
Dividend Aristocrat…check. Long-term history of paying dividends….check. P/E ratio below the broader market (18.2X)…check. Reasonable payout ratio for the utility sector (67%)….check. Continuing to build a position in my portfolio…check. Yes, that was the thought process going through my mind when I decided to add to my position lately. Like WRK, ED passed the metrics of our stock screener. Similar to above, my recent watch list article will have additional detail about ED’s metrics at the moment.
ED is one of our Top 5 Foundation stocks for a reason and I’m fortunate to continue building a foundation in this company. Sure, there may have been other utility stocks that I do not own that may be trading at a slightly lower multiple. However, at this time, I just wanted to build my position since this purchase was such a small dollar amount. Here was my purchase details:
- 4 shares of ED at $76.45/share. Cost basis of purchase: $305.80
In total, this purchases added $11.44 in forward dividend income to my portfolio. Now, I own 46.339 shares of ED, which produces $132.53 in dividend income annually. If the price falls in the coming month, I’ll continue to add and build to my position.
Stock #3: Iron Mountain (IRM)
IRM was a new position to our portfolio. After the transfer from Capital One Investing to Ally Investing, my wife had a lot of available capital in her Roth IRA account. In fact, I transferred a few more dollars in September to maximize her contributions for the year. She has hit her $5,500 limit already, so I can only use the remaining cash to add to her positions, or start a new one, in the coming months. But enough with these boring details, back to the stock purchase.
I discussed the metrics in our watch list article, but I didn’t elaborate too much on WHY I wanted to invest in Iron Mountain in the first place. Their business model is built for the current and future business environment. They are a company that works with many of the major corporations, and smaller businesses to, to help store, track, and analyze their data. Per their investor relations page, IRM has over 225,000 customers worldwide. Switching costs in this industry are extremely high. I can’t imagine that data storage and analysis providers would not be an easy feat, especially for a large corporation.
IRM is a REIT (Explanation of what a REIT is and how their dividends are taxed can be found here) and thus, it made sense to make a purchase in my wife’s Roth. Why is that? The company has a massive real estate footprint. Based on their IR page, IRM has “a real estate network of more than 85 million square feet across more than 1,400 facilities in over 50 countries.” The more I read about the company, the more I loved their footprint, area of focus. Plus, as demonstrated, the company’s metrics were great. A low P/FFO ratio, dividend payout ratio for a REIT, and a dividend growth history are very solid. Once again, it made sense to start my purchasing of this company. Here are the details about our several purchases over the last few weeks:
- 15 shares of IRM at $34.21/share. Cost basis of purchase: $513.15
- 20 shares of IRM at $34.21/share. Cost basis of purchases: $684.14
Here is something that is very strange and I just now realized it. I made the two purchases four days apart. What are the odds that I purchased the stock at the exact same time both days. Very strange! In total, I purchased 25 shares of IRM, adding $82.32 in forward dividend income to my portfolio. I guess it is easy for the income to add up when the company yields over 7%! Much like WRK, I would love to continue building my position in this company over the coming weeks. Especially before IRM announces their dividend increase at the end of October!
summary
Yes, there have been a lot of individual purchases over the last few weeks. In total, I increased my portfolio’s cost basis $2,016 and added $110.96 in dividend income. Unfortunately, I will not receive my first dividend from IRM until January 2019 since I missed the ex-dividend date for the company’s October dividend. However, it is nice that the company will increase the income received in the first month of the quarter. This is by far my lowest month. Now, it is time to get back to work. Time to continue side-hustling and to continue making every dollar count!
What are your thoughts about my purchases? Would you have purchased different stocks? Do you like IRM? What stocks have you been purchasing recently?
-Bert