This post is overdue. I made a Portfolio transaction over a week ago and am finally getting around to sharing it.
I’m often looking to grow the position size of some of my smaller holdings, and that applies in this case. It’s hard to justify having a position so small that if it does turn out to do well it only has a minimal impact on Portfolio performance.
This most recent purchase was an addition to one of my stocks in my bottom 5 holdings. Granted the size of the addition wasn’t huge (the stock remains in my bottom 5), but the position does grow, leading to a larger reinvested dividend which helps grow the position a bit faster, too.
Here are the purchase details…
American Tower (AMT)
I initiated my AMT position earlier this year in mid February. I added to that position a month later when the price declined.
Since then, the price has been up and down, but with it dipping even lower than the price of my 2nd buy, I felt it was a good time to bolster the position.
Sure the addition was small, but it all counts when building out the position.
I’ve owned a cell tower REIT before. A few years ago I owned Crown Castle (CCI), but sold it at the start of the pandemic. At the time, the stock price of CCI was holding up well, so I sold in order to invest in other stocks that were punished in the market downturn. When the time came to reinvest in the cell tower REIT space, I decided to give up some of the yield CCI provided and lean towards the dividend growth that AMT offered.
Funds From Operations (FFO) growth is not projected to materialize in 2023, which I’m sure is contributing to AMT’s stock price pullback. However, I have a longer-term view and I expect FFO growth will resume in 2024. The stock price should follow the upward FFO trajectory.
On 6/12/23, I bought 2 shares of AMT at $187.00, for a total of $374.00. The stock was yielding 3.36% at that price, which is more than one half percentage point above my current Portfolio yield of 2.80%.
My AMT position grew by almost 20% with this addition, increasing the number of shares I own to 12.076 shares. The purchase lowered my cost basis to $203.20/share. I hope to get the cost basis below $200/share with my next purchase, whenever that might be.
My Portfolio’s annual forward dividend income increased by $12.56 with the purchase. This isn’t a big needle mover, but what can I expect when buying 2 shares?
AMT is now my 3rd smallest REIT, surpassing National Retail Properties (NNN) and somewhat distancing itself from Medical Properties Trust (MPW).
With the purchase, AMT went from my 2nd smallest overall holding to my 5th smallest. It sits behind Cummins (CMI) and ahead of Whirlpool (WHR).
With AMT being an existing holding, the number of stocks in my Portfolio remained at 60.
Summary
June has been a bit slow when it comes to Portfolio transactions. My purchase of AMT last week has been my lone buy this month.
I bought 2 shares of AMT, boosting to my REIT sector holdings. Despite the purchase, AMT is still a bottom 5 stock in my Portfolio.
My AMT position grew to just over 12 shares, slightly lowering my cost basis at the same time.
The purchase resulted in an investment of $374 into my Portfolio. and raised my forward dividend income by $12.56.
AMT probably has another 6 to 12 months before its FFO prospects start to look up. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can build out the position and drop my cost basis below $200/share.
Have you been adding to any of your REITs recently? What do you think of AMT at my buy price? Please share in the comments!