In the past couple of weeks I have been fortunate enough to build up enough cash to do one of my more favourite activities, purchasing more shares of dividend paying companies! Now, I had the money in my account for a couple of weeks, waiting to see how the markets settled with all the recent volatility. Well, last week I pulled the trigger and put that capital to work with a new position in my portfolio!
This time around I have added a new position to my portfolio, which I believe I have not done for quite some time. Well, this time around I added 42 shares of Manulife Financial(TSE:MFC). MFC was one of my stocks to watch from my last Watchlist, and has been a company that I have kept an eye on since I started planning and building my portfolio two years ago.
So I am quite happy to have added those 42 shares at what I view to be a good price of $20.38 per share. Today, the shares have closed for the long weekend on the Toronto Stock Exchange at $21.58. Now, while it feels pretty good to have bought the stock and have it go up almost 6%, it also means that if I wanted to add more to the position, it will cost me more to do so.
At the time of purchase, MFC was yielding a dividend of 3.29%, with its quarterly payout of $.17. So my annual dividend income has increased by $28.56. In my view as an additional side bonus is that MFC pays out its dividend on the third month of every quarter, which is currently my lowest month for dividend income. So this purchase has that added benefit of smoothing out my passive income a bit more.
In regards to MFC I am definitely looking to hold it for the foreseeable future. For the most part the company has consistently raised its dividends prior to the 2008 financial crisis, and has started the steady march of dividend increases since that time when it cut the dividend in half. As I mentioned in my watchlist, as a customer to Manulife I have had no issues with their service or products which I think bodes well for them. No one wants to have an insurance policy where they have to fight the company they pay good money to for their coverage reimbursements. I also see great growth opportunity for the company as they expand and solidify their global operations, in particular Asia-Pacifc regions, and I am curious if any part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) being discussed between Canada, U.S., and Asia-Pacific countries will have items favourable to MFC.
Great purchase, Wisp. MFC is also on my watchilst and I really like the overall prospects. I think the tough days are behind them and things are starting to look brighter. The Asian exposure is great and if the interest rates rise in the US, insurance companies like MFC will see a nice tailwind over teh short/medium term.
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Agreed! Its been on my personal/posted watchlist on and off for over 2 years now! Was happy to once again see it dip down to its 2013/2014 price range and just couldn't resist not getting some! And totally agree, interest rates are likely to go up(hopefully) in the next year or so, or at least eventually right? And with that lifeco's will be able to get better returns, since part of their fiduciary duty to stakeholders is to have a prudent portfolio, which basically requires a good deal of fixed income. So these low rates have been hurting them over all with lower income and a lot of tied up capital in bonds etc.
DeleteThanks for stopping by, wish you the best of luck in your next buys!