About two weeks ago I made a purchase for my Portfolio. It was my first transaction for September, and it remains my only one.
The move was an addition to an existing holding… one of my smaller holdings, too. Did the buy push the stock outside of my Bottom 10? You’ll know shortly.
I initiated a position in this stock back in January of this year and this is my 2nd addition to the stock since then. This wasn’t the lowest price I paid for the stock, but it was close.
The stock has dropped about 10% in less than 2 months, moving it onto my radar. For the year, the stock is trading slightly in the red, which stands out as poor in a year in which nearly everything has done well.
Let’s get to all the details for my latest purchase…
Hershey Co. (HSY)
HSY already had a 0.5% Value weighting in my Portfolio (my goal for the end of 2024), but ultimately the goal is to get all holdings to have at least a 1% weighting. Adding to HSY moves me closer to that goal.
The stock reached my watchlist last month and I was looking for a dip below $187. Well, the stock fell right through that level and kept going. I didn’t catch the bottom, but I did much better than my target price.
HSY remains my 2nd smallest Consumer Staples holding, topping that of my McCormick & Co. (MKC) position.
On 10/15/24, I bought 3 shares of HSY at $183.95/share for a total of $551.85. The stock was yielding 2.98% at that price. This yield is 0.43 percentage points larger than my current Portfolio yield of 2.55%.
My HSY position grew by 11.77% with this addition, bringing my share total to 28.498 shares. The purchase lowered my cost basis by a scant $0.34/share, to $186.87/share. The stock’s recent decline has put me in the red with this position, but I’m not worried. Should the stock head lower I can add more in my effort to reach that 1% weighting.
My Portfolio’s annual forward dividend income increased by $16.44 thanks to this small 3-share purchase… not bad.
With HSY being an existing holding, the number of stocks in my Portfolio held steady at 58.
Summary
I’m on the purchase board with my first Portfolio transaction of September. I bought a few shares of HSY after its recent price decline.
My buy of 3 shares resulted in an investment of nearly $552 into my Portfolio. In addition, my forward dividend income increased by a decent $16.44.
My HSY position grew by close to 12%, and my cost basis dropped by about one-third of a dollar per share.
While my HSY position grew in size, it wasn’t enough to get the stock out of my Bottom 10. It’s currently my 9th smallest holding, behind Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), but ahead of UGI Corp. (UGI).
I’d like to add more HSY shares to my Portfolio if the price drops below the $180 level.
Are you a HSY shareholder? Are there other stocks in the Consumer Staples sector that you prefer more at this time? Please share in the comments!