Lanny’s Stock Purchases November 1st through November 15th

The dividend stock purchases machine keeps rolling!  Yes, this is yet another round of dividend stock purchases, covering the first two weeks of activity in November.  I am going to start doing this now, from an article standpoint, as my dividend stock purchases are becoming more frequent, due to certain life events and brokerage changes.  The stock market has continued it’s roller-coaster ride, creating value on dividend stocks I currently or have wanted to own.  Therefore, I made a few stock purchases over this time period and let’s dive in and find out what I bought!

The stock purchase

After I released my new $7,200 in forward taxable dividend income goal article, you should have a great sense why I have so many stock purchases.  I am finally over four months into my six month entry period at my new employer, before I am allowed to contribute to their 401(k) plan.  Therefore, I have more cash on hand to deploy in the market and it made sense to start juicing back my taxable account.  The stock purchase you will read below is not as significant of a purchase that I usually make (primarily due to building positions, etc.).  Now let’s see what stock purchase I made over the last two weeks!

Stock Purchase – Leggett & Platt (LEG)

I first picked up shares of this dividend aristocrat – Leggett & Platt (LEG), last month.  Bert wrote more about what they do and who they are in previous articles, but LEG designs and produces various engineered components and products.  This dividend aristocrat has gone from $47.86 at the first of the year, all the way to $35.25, my initial purchase price.  The price has come back up a few percent, but  I had cash to deploy and wanted to pick up more shares before December 13th, their ex-dividend date.  Here are the quick-stats through the Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener:

  1. Price to Earnings: At $37.31 with a forward earning projection of $2.44, this equated out to a p/e ratio of 15.29, which is below the overall market on average.  The price was $2.06 higher than the first time.
  2. Dividend Growth: They are a dividend aristocrat, pumping dividends for well over 25+ years.  Their 5 year and 3 year dividend growth rates are 4.82% and 5.79%, respectively.  See why the impact of the dividend growth rate is real!
  3. Dividend Yield: With the $37.31 price point, at a dividend of $1.52, their yield was at 4.07%, well above the S&P 500 (on average) and definitely higher than my dividend portfolio, on average.
  4. Payout Ratio: Based on forward earnings of $2.44 and a dividend of $1.52 per year, this equates to a payout ratio of 62.30%.  Right at the top of the payout ratio – 60%.

Here is proof of my investment:

In summary, I purchased 20 shares on 11/12 of 2018 at $37.31 with a $3.95 trading fee for a total cost of $750.15.  The 20 additional shares adds $30.44 to my forward dividend income projection.  I am now at 42 shares, producing ~$64.00 in forward dividends, almost covering two shares at these prices upon reinvestment.

Stock Purchase Summary & Conclusion

Short and sweet baby!  Not too much activity, in the first half of November, as the market rebounded quite a bit from the sharp declines we were experiencing.  However, I may or may not have already changed that in the 2nd half, but know that there is SO much work to be done, to reach my goals for the year and beyond.  Let’s go and get it everyone!

In addition to this stock purchase, I may have also crossed an elusive milestone for dividend investors.  I will write on that soon enough, so I may have to build up anticipation and/or wait further beyond Thanksgiving.  Since I was not as active in this first half, with only one stock purchase, my capital has been built up quite a bit and I am getting antsy to continue my march to financial freedom.  Don’t you hate it when that happens?  The only positive is that the idle cash earns 2.00%, while the opportunities are being reviewed on the stock watch lists.  Lastly, my dividend portfolio has been updated and I am locked in and ready for further opportunities.

What are you seeing out there?  What stocks are you buying?  Anything you would recommend?  Thanks again everyone, and, as always, good luck and happy investing! 

12 thoughts on “Lanny’s Stock Purchases November 1st through November 15th

  1. Great purchase and cost basis, Lanny! My cost basis of $43.19/share is considerably higher than yours, but I believe both valuations will offer good to great total returns in the next decade.

  2. I know you two have been looking at and buying LEG for some time now. I never considered this aristocrat before for my own portfolio. Nice to pick up some of that juicy yield which still is quite safe. I made one buy this month but starting to look at MO these days. Thanks for the update.

  3. Nice addition to the portfolio! I had LEG on my original list when building my portfolio but ended up dropping them off, and since then have maintained their standing on my list of stocks for times when I am looking to add new positions.

    I definitely like seeing them get that payout ratio down compared to where they were 5-7 years ago, and it is hard to complain with that dividend yield and steady growth.

    Looking forward to you sharing more about your milestone, nice tease!

  4. Love the blog but my advice would be to avoid many of these no growth value traps that keep being bought. Investing in companies like visa and unh will grow there dividend much faster and leave you with much more income in the long run.

    -Allen

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