After having only one Portfolio transaction on the books in 2019, I got off the sidelines and executed a flurry of activity this past Monday.

I closed out one position, and initiated positions in four new ones!  Wholly cow.  One of the new positions was recently alluded to in my Portfolio Thoughts (May 2019) post.

The proceeds from the one position I closed out funded about 63.5% of my purchases, with some of my cash hoard providing the remainder of the funds I needed.

Here are the details for my 5 transactions…

 

Bank OZK (OZK)

OZK did not have a good 2018.  The stock lost over half its value due to slowing growth and posting a couple of losses in its real estate specialties group.  This group was touted as a strength for the company and those losses were the first posted by the group.  While OZK did have a nice bounce back to start 2019, I wasn’t sure of the company prospects moving forward and decided to move on and allocate its sale proceeds between a couple of other regional banks that I felt better about (see below).

On 6/10/19, I closed out my entire OZK position, selling 210.503 shares at $31.15/sh.  After the SEC fee, the sale proceeds were $6,557.03.

The sale resulted in a long-term capital loss of $1,487.01, and a short-term capital gain of $12.61.

A reduction of $193.66 in annual forward dividend income also occurred with the sale.

 

Chemical Financial (CHFC)

CHFC is a regional bank headquartered in Detroit, MI, with a footprint in the upper midwest.  This stock was a recent addition to my watchlist (see my last Portfolio Thoughts post), and it didn’t have to stay on my list too long before I made my purchase.  I’m excited to see what’s made of the upcoming merger with TCF Financial (TCF).  CHFC has a good history with past mergers and there’s not much in the way of geographical or customer overlap with TCF.  TCF is more consumer-focused, while CHFC is more business-focused.

On 6/10/19, I purchased 100 shares of CHFC at $39.35/sh, for a total of $3,935.00.  The stock yields 3.46% at my purchase price (well above my Portfolio average).

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

Of the two regional banks I added, I preferred this stock the most, and thus made it a bigger position relative to the other one (ZION -mentioned below).

I consider my initial CHFC stake to be about half a full position, and thus will look to build this position as time passes.

Now for a quick look at the past dividend growth rates for CHFC…

As might be expected given CHFC is a financial stock, its dividend did not fare well in the aftermath of the Financial Crisis (2008).  However, the dividend has been on the mend since 2012 and the stock now boasts decent growth rates over the past 1, 3 and 5-year periods.  I hope this dividend growth continues.

 

Zion Bancorporation (ZION)

ZION is also a regional bank, but headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, with a footprint in the western U.S.

Revenues and Income have been moving up each of the past few years, as has their dividend.

On 6/10/19, I purchased 60 shares of ZION at $44.25/sh, for a total of $2,655.00.  The stock yields 2.71% at my purchase price (approximately equal to my Portfolio average).

This purchase results in the addition of $72.00 in annual forward dividend income.

I consider my initial ZION stake to be about half a full position, and thus adding to this position over time is a possibility.

Here are the historical dividend growth rates for ZION…

The dividend for ZION got crushed during the Financial Crisis, and still hasn’t fully recovered.  However, the dividend growth is now ratcheting higher, and it would be terrific if the company can find its way all the way back and exceed the dividend level of 2007.

 

Iron Mountain (IRM)

IRM is one of my more speculative purchases here.  This REIT is a storage and information management services company attempting to transition from physical storage to digital and cloud-based storage.  The physical storage need is on the decline so the move makes sense.  However, they have to transition from the physical storage space which they dominate, into an area in which they lack experience, and they have to do that by issuing equity and debt.

On 6/10/19, I bought 50 shares of IRM at $31.20/sh, for a total of $1,560.00.  The stock yields a hefty 7.83% at my purchase price.

This purchase adds $122.20 to my annual forward dividend income.

I consider my new IRM position to be a full position given that I don’t wish its dividend to be heavily weighted in my Portfolio.  Thus, I won’t be looking to add to IRM moving forward.

As for IRM’s dividend growth…

Note – IRM reorganized into a REIT in 2014.

The growth rate has slowed down recently, with a 4% raise being the latest offering.  Raises of this level or less are expected moving forward given IRM’s growth and already high yield.

 

Eastman Chemical (EMN)

Lastly, I initiated a position in EMN, a stock in the Materials sector.  This is my 3rd Materials stock, along with RPM International (RPM) and Air Products and Chemicals (APD).

EMN is an advanced materials and specialty chemical/additives company.  EMN operates worldwide within four business segments: Additives & Functional Products, Advanced Materials, Chemical Intermediates & Fibers.

For those who may not know, EMN was a spinoff of the former Eastman Kodak Co.  Who doesn’t remember Kodak cameras and film?  Oops!  I just dated myself :-).  The spinoff took place in 1994.

On 6/10/19, I bought 30 shares of EMN at $72.40/sh, for a total of $2,172.00.  The stock yields 3.43% at my purchase price.

This purchase adds $74.40 to my annual forward dividend income.

I consider my new EMN position to be a 1/2 position, and thus will look to build up this position over time.

Checking out the historical dividend growth for EMN…

After no dividend growth over the 2000-2010 timeframe, EMN changed that in 2011 and has kept up with the increases.  The recent growth rates for all 4 growth periods now look great, each hovering around the 10% mark.

 

Summary

That was certainly an exciting way to end my transaction drought, no?  I closed out 1 position (OZK) and initiated 4 new ones (CHFC, ZION, IRM & EMN).

In the Financial sector, I essentially swapped my OZK position for smaller positions in CHFC and ZION.  I then added the REIT in IRM, and a Materials stock in EMN.

The total number of stocks in my Portfolio has now grown to 47.

The net effect of these 5 transactions was the addition of $3,764.97 in new capital, and an increase of $210.94 in my annual forward dividend income.

Even better, that increase in forward dividend income has pushed me past $10K in annual forward dividend income.  Woohoo!  My current forward dividend income number is now $10,045.67.

I’m glad to have this milestone under my belt.  I’ll now set my sights on seeing if I can achieve $10K in actual dividend income for 2019.  I’d say I’m going to be hard-pressed to achieve this, but maybe I’ll surprise myself.

 

Do you have any of my new stocks in your portfolio already?  Maybe only IRM?  Do you have any portfolio stocks that seem to be unique to your portfolio?  Please share in the comments!