Recent Buy - Kraft Heinz Co (KHC) and Bayer AG (BAYRY)

I know what your thinking, "c'mon mix it up a little bit, same 'ol, same 'ol."  While I don't blame anyone for thinking that, I can't promise the companies I've been actively purchasing will change anytime soon.  KHC and BAYRY are two positions I have been adding to quite frequently it seems as of late.  KHC may not be an aggressive growth stock with a corresponding high dividend growth rate, but it does remain a cash cow with a yield getting closer to 5% week by week it seems as overall market valuation continues to decline.

With respect to BAYRY, nothing has changed with my rather strong conviction concerning what I believe to be a rather significant price discrepancy between Mr. Market's perceived risk associated with the company versus the potential long term reward with owning the stock.  My plan to continue to make purchases of BAYRY remains in tact so long as the valuation remains at unusually depressed levels.

2018 October Dividend Summary

October, the first month of Q4, is a wrap. As this post goes live, it is nearly half way thru November and just over a week away from the Thanksgiving holiday.  October's dividend summary brings bittersweet reflection and analysis.  To start, the bitter part is the impact of the dividend reduction GE announced in late 2017 (which at the time announced was a 50% cut) is now showing up as an unfavorable rate variance in my dividend summary (initial purchase was made in the later half of 2017 and prior to commencing this blog) and what is worse is that this will continue for the next year so long as GE remains a part of my portfolio due to another dividend rate cut announced here from $0.12 a quarter to $0.01 - a 92% cut, ouch! I am holding my position for now and will continue to keep a close eye on it.  It is far from a DGI opportunity at this point and, if anything, may be a speculative play or valuation play at some point (may be worth mentioning that the new CEO, H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., recently purchased 225,000 shares at $9.73 on 11/1/2018).  Today's closing price was $7.99/sh 😣.  If there is anything sweet to be salvaged from this month's summary, it is that despite the rate cut in GE's stock, YoY dividend income in October is up 41.5% over last year.  See below for additional details.

Recent Buy - Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG)

I must admit I was pretty excited when I checked the market this past week and saw that Leggett & Platt (LEG) was trading down > 7% after their earnings release.  Apparently, Mr. Market not too happy to hear management revise guidance lower for 2018.  The latest earnings presentation for Q3 2018 can be seen here and corresponding press release can be read here. Despite the revised EPS guidance for the current year, the company's decline in valuation leaves investors paying a Forward P/E ratio of less than 15x, which is a very reasonable valuation for this industrial company that is also very shareholder oriented.  See below for additional details on this purchase.