The start of 2019 has been good for my Portfolio.  While I haven’t been able to boost my Portfolio’s value by making many purchases, the market’s upward trajectory has lifted the value of my holdings.  Throw in my reinvested dividends, as well as a good collection of dividend raises, and my Portfolio has moved nicely ahead.

I’m now approaching $10K in annual forward dividends (currently $9,743.28), and it appears that reaching that level sometime in 2019 is a foregone conclusion.  Receiving $10K in actual dividend income appears to be a more challenging endeavor, but who knows, maybe that can happen in 2019, too  Through Q1 I was able to collect $2,475.56, so it seems I could get to $10K.  However, a couple of dividend payments from Pepsico (PEP) in Q1 (thanks to their fairly unique payout schedule) skew that number higher than it might otherwise be.

In any case, some big milestones are approaching and it just makes me want to achieve them sooner than later.

Last month I spoke about how Union Pacific (UNP) had nearly claimed the top spot in my Portfolio by surpassing RPM International (RPM).  Well, here we are one month later and UNP has now passed RPM, but it didn’t make it to the top spot.  What happened, you ask?  Happily, I can report that they both got leapfrogged by Qualcomm (QCOM).  QCOM’s settlement with Apple (AAPL) led to a quick boost in QCOM’s share price.  In fact, at the start of the month QCOM was the ranked 11th in Portfolio value for me.  On the day of the settlement announcement QCOM went from 11th to 2nd, and by the next day it secured 1st.  Since then, it’s created quite a gap between itself and my other Portfolio stocks – so much so that a QCOM trim has become a possibility.  For now though, I’m holding my shares and watching with interest.

So, what am I planning to cover in this Portfolio Thoughts post?  As usual, I’ll discuss any Portfolio transactions, price movement for my Portfolio stocks, and what might be on my watchlist.

After not making a stock purchase in Q1, I’m happy to report I’m on the board already in Q2.  The purchase led to a new holding in my Portfolio… a company in the Industrial sector.  Stay tuned to find out which stock joins my Portfolio.

It was another good month in terms of price movement.  QCOM certainly led the pack this past month, but I have some other stocks to highlight, too.

Lastly, I’ll discuss stocks both inside and outside my Portfolio that I’m looking at for possible purchases.

Let’s get to it!

 

Transactions

Earlier this month, I was able to make my first Portfolio purchase of 2019.  It was a purchase of a stock I’d been watching for months, and discussed many times in these very Portfolio Thoughts posts.  The stock is General Dynamics (GD), an aerospace and defense company.  The purchase was fairly hefty in that I invested over $4,200, however, that amount only put the holding in the bottom 5 of my Portfolio in terms of value.  Since my purchase, the stock has made a decent move up in price – always a welcome outcome!

You can read more about the purchase in my Recent Buy (GD) post.

The GD purchase brings the number of stocks in my Portfolio to 43.

 

Price Movement

Note – my price changes cover closing prices from 3/27 to 4/26.

In terms of price movement this month, it was more good than bad, continuing the trend I’ve seen since the start of the year.  It was almost a 3-to-1 ratio of stocks with price gains compared to price declines.  32 of my 43 holdings posted a gain.  I’ll take that any month.

This month, QCOM stood head and shoulders above the rest with a 52.24% gain.  Yes, you read that right.  Wow!  While the next closest gainer came in under 15%, there was a nice cluster of 5 stocks that posted gains between 13% and 15%, with yet another 3 stocks over 10%.

The group with 13%-15% gains was led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), rising 14.95%.  JPM got a positive reaction to their most recent earnings report.  That was followed by Air Lease (AL), climbing 14.19% while bouncing back a bit from last month’s dip.  Close behind AL was Blackrock (BLK), moving up 14.14%.  BLK has moved higher with many of the other financial stocks.  Gentex (GNTX) gained 13.72% this past month, part of which resulted from its earnings report, although it was moving up prior to that as well.  Rounding out the group was Fastenal (FAST) with a gain of 13.65%.  FAST is up nearly 40% year-to-date… a great run for sure.  I hope these stocks can hold onto their gains.

Sectors which seem to be well represented by the gainers this month are the Industrial, Financial, Technology, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.

Looking at price decliners, I’d have to say it wasn’t bad at all.  As you may know, I usually mention those stocks that declined 10% or more.  However, I didn’t have any that reached that mark this month, which is unusual.  In fact, I only had 3 stocks fall more than 5% this month.  The biggest drop came from Hormel Foods (HRL), with a loss of 9.12%.  A rise in pork prices has some worried about an impact to HRL’s future earnings.  Another notable decliner was 3M Co. (MMM), pulling back 7.48%.  MMM had a disappointing earnings report just this past week and the stock suffered its largest 1-day decline in over 30 years, wiping out all price gains it had posted year-to-date.  Lastly, Altria (MO) dipped 6.23% this past month, although it’s still well above the lows from late January.  The idea of a new law to raise the smoking age to 21 has raised yet another potential hurdle for MO to clear.

While I didn’t have any REITs make my worst performers list this month, I did note that the majority of them were in the red for the month.  Realty Income (O), Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI), and Crown Castle International (CCI) were down about 2%-4%, while W.P. Carey (WPC) bucked the trend and managed to eek out a gain of less than 1%.

I didn’t have any stocks from the Healthcare sector stand out on the negative side this month either.  Considering that sector has been under pressure this year, it was a bit surprising to not see any stocks stand out.  Perhaps their declines over the past several quarters has already placed them in the bargain bin, with nowhere to go but up.

 

Watch List

Even with price gainers recently outnumbering price decliners and reducing the number of stocks ripe for purchase, there always seems to be one or more sectors out of favor, offering up a stock or two for my watchlist.

Here are some of my Portfolio stocks that I’m watching for possible additions…

After its recent plunge, MMM has gained a place on my watchlist.  MMM is still trading just above my cost basis.  I might be inclined to add some shares should the price drop below $175.

I’d be interested in adding some Exxon Mobil (XOM) south of $78/sh.  I’m thinking something on the order of 10 shares.  This would be just shy of a 10% add.

At $65/share, the price of Gilead Sciences (GILD) is about 10% below the lowest of my previous purchase points, so I’m looking to ratchet down my cost basis.  My GILD position is currently sized to my satisfaction, so only a small purchase makes sense for me.

Abbvie (ABBV) has garnered my interest below the $80/sh. level.  However, ABBV is already one of my larger dividend payers.  Thus, if I do decide to add any ABBV, it won’t be much.  I’d probably hold out for something at the $75/sh. price.

Just like last month, Cardinal Health (CAH) and CVS Health (CVS) are at prices where I could see adding some shares, but due to all the uncertainty in the healthcare sector, I’m still inclined to sit on the sidelines with my current shares, as opposed to adding to them.

One tech name on my radar is Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH).  This is a position in my Portfolio that I’d like to see grow a bit, and the $72 price level is a point where I’d consider an add of about 20 shares.  CTSH is not a big dividend payer at this time, but the company only starting paying a dividend a couple of years ago and will have to work up to it.

As for non-Portfolio stocks that I’m watching… it’s more of the same compared to previous posts.

I’ve still got eyes on Boeing (BA) and FedEx (FDX) as they move up and down on a weekly basis.  BA continues to deal with the aftermath of the grounding of their 737 Max aircraft.  Meanwhile, FDX recently dropped due to a downgrade as well as a disappointing earnings release from fellow air freight and logistics company, UPS.  I’m thinking both BA and FDX can be had at lower prices than we see today, so I’m holding out for now.

I did remove GD though from my watchlist though, due to my recent purchase.

 

Thoughts?

Has your portfolio seen a significant boost in value thus far this year?  Is it a few stocks like QCOM doing most of the lifting, or small but steady increases from the majority of your holdings?  Please share your thoughts!