On the last trading day of the year I made good on my possible plan to execute some tax loss harvesting.

I closed out one position entirely, and trimmed another.  Both sales were alluded to in yesterday’s Portfolio Thoughts (Dec. 2018) post.

With the proceeds (and a little more cash) I added to a few positions I wanted build, and initiated a position in a stock I’ve been watching for months.

In total, I made 6 more transactions to close out 2018, capping off a busy month.

There’s lots to cover, so this may be less verbose than usual in an effort to make sure I get this post out in the waning hours of 2018.

Here are the details for my 6 transactions…

 

Hanesbrands (HBI)

HBI got crushed in latter half of 2018, losing well over 40%.  The yield even crossed over 5% recently before recovering a bit.  A few things led me to the sale beside the opportunity for some tax loss harvesting.  First, I own another apparel retailer in VF Corp (VFC), and I view it as the superior holding.  Second, HBI currently has a dividend freeze.  Third, the near-term outlook for HBI is very cloudy.

On 12/31/18, I closed out my entire HBI position, selling 309.331 shares at $12.40/sh.  After the commission and SEC fee, the sale proceeds were $3,833.65.

The sale results in a long-term capital loss of $1,316.93, and a short-term capital loss of $871.81.

A reduction of $185.60 in annual forward dividend income also occurred with the sale.

 

3M Company (MMM)

With the HBI proceeds and some additional cash, I purchased shares in industrial conglomerate 3M.  I’ve been watching MMM for the better part of 6 months.  The stock has been trading around my $190 target price for a couple of weeks.  MMM doesn’t go on sale too often, and I found the price acceptable, so I initiated the position rather than see it possibly run away from me.  If it does happen to head lower, I’m certainly open to adding more shares.

On 12/31/18, I purchased 25 shares of MMM at $189.50/sh, for a total of $4,739.50 after commission.

This purchase results in the addition of $136.00 in annual forward dividend income.

 

Cardinal Health (CAH)

CAH followed up a dismal 2017 with an even more disappointing 2018.  The price has dropped so much, the yield for CAH (over 4%) is now about double the normal level it’s had over the years.  I didn’t want to close out this position, so I chose to just trim it, selling my most expensive shares.

On 12/31/18, I sold 60 shares of CAH at $44.3201/sh.  After the commission and SEC fee, the sale proceeds were $2,657.17.  The sale leaves me with 75.942 shares of CAH, and brings CAH to the 2nd smallest position in my Portfolio.

The sale results in a long-term capital loss of $2,082.42.

I realized a reduction of $114.31 in annual forward dividend income with the sale.

 

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM)

So with more capital in hand after the trim of CAH, I started some buying.  I first decided to tack on some shares of JPM, a stock I initiated a position in about 3-4 weeks ago.  I was looking to double my 25-share position at a price of no more than $96.  However, rather than commit all my money to just this one stock, especially since the stock hadn’t quite reached my target price, I slightly reduced my purchase share count.

On 12/31/18, I added 20 shares of JPM at $96.90/sh, for a total of $1,940.00 after commission.  The additional 20 shares brings my JPM share total to 45 shares.  JPM is still in the bottom 25% in my Portfolio weighting, so there’s room to add some more in the future.

This purchase brings the addition of $64.00 in annual forward dividend income.

 

Altria (MO)

Less than 2 weeks ago I added 20 shares of MO at ~$51.34.  As the price has continued to decline below $49, I decided to continue to lower my cost basis by adding a few more shares.

On 12/31/18, I added 10 shares of MO at $48.95/sh, for a total of $491.50 after commission.  The additional 10 shares brings my MO share total to 100.633 shares.  Crossing the 100 share level will allow for writing covered call options if desired.

This purchase adds $32.00 in annual forward dividend income.

 

Comcast (CMCSA)

I’ve been looking to increase my position in CMCSA for months now.  I didn’t think I’d see CMCSA trading this low again.  So, I definitely wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.  While I would have preferred to purchase more shares, something is better than nothing, and it does help build up the position.  The recent price is nearly $2/sh. lower than when I initiated a position in CMCSA back in March.

On 12/31/18, I added 25 shares of CMCSA at $33.70/sh, for a total of $844.50 after commission.  The additional 25 shares brings my CMCSA share total to 126.678 shares.

This purchase boosts my annual forward dividend income by $19.00.

 

Summary

Wow… What a flurry of activity to wrap up 2018.  I closed out one position, but initiated another.  I also trimmed one position, but continued to build three other positions, all of which are new enough that I didn’t own any of them prior to 2018.

With the sale of HBI, I was able to reduce my Consumer Discretionary weighting, which had gotten a tad bigger than I liked over the course of the year.

The evolution of my Portfolio continues.

The net effect of these 6 transactions was the addition of $1,524.68 in new capital, but a decrease of $48.91 in my annual forward dividend income.  The prices of HBI and CAH have dipped so much that their yields are quite oversized now, making it rather difficult to replace the income.  While I hate to see the decrease in income, I’m still positive with regard to new income for the month, and I do like the transition I’ve made in my Portfolio holdings.

 

Did you wrap up 2018 with any tax loss harvesting?  Or did you snap up some lower-priced shares the market has presented recently?  Please share in the comments!