Recent Sell – Allianz AG

I bought a few shares of Allianz AG in 2016 after the Brexit referendum. That was a good timing, because of the panic at the stock market. I sold that shares a few days ago, because I think, that the valuation of the company's shares are really high.

When I bought the shares, the P/BV was 0.85 and the P/S was 0.52, but now I calculate P/BV 1.31 and P/S 0.75. If I look at the historical data, I can only see such high values in 2007. So this two ratios show me, that it is better to realize my profit.

But what I would expect from the company if I hold the shares? Allianz increased it's revenue from €92.183 billion to €110.500 billion over the period spanning fiscal years 2007 to 2016. That's a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.89%.

Over the same 10-year period, the company's diluted earnings per share decreased from €17.71 to €15.00, which is a CAGR of -1.12%.

 I think that it's not so impressive from a company, so take a look at it's dividend.

The company increased it's dividend in the last 4 years, with a ten year CAGR 7.18%. The dividend yield is 4.12% with my selling price. (€184.35) The payout ratio increased in the last 10 years.

These numbers show me, that the company's numbers are stagnating, and I won't expect great long-term returns from it. It was a good value play for me, but at today's prices I think that I will find muh better investment opportunities for my money in the next few months.

Recent Buy – Kroger

The Kroger Company (KR) operates supermarkets, multi-department stores, jewelry stores, pharmacies, fuel centers and convenience stores in the United States.

This week was really interesting. On Thuesday Kroger decreased the earnings guidance, on Friday Amazon (AMZN) announced to buy Whole Foods (WFM) for $13.7 billion. What was the reaction? The price of the Kroger shares was falling as a stone. It made me curious, so I looked through the company's financials.

Kroger Co. increased it's revenue from $70.235 billion to $115.337 billion over the period spanning fiscal years 2007 to 2016. That's a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.67%.

Over the same 10-year period, the company's diluted earnings per share grew from $0.84 to $2.05, which is a CAGR of 10.42%. I think that it's really impressive from such a large company, so take a look at it's dividend.

The company increased it's dividend in the last 11 years, with a ten year CAGR 13.85%. The dividend yield is 2.15% with the Friday's closing price. ($22.29) The payout ratio is really low, it's only 21.60%.

What is the valuation of Kroger Co.?

It has a TTM P/E 10.81, which is greatly below the stock market's P/E ratio. The Debt/Equity ratio is 2.10, which is not so great, but I think it's managable.

I think that the stock market overreacted the Amazon's transaction, and the Kroger Co. proved in the last 10 years that it can improve it's business. The company is buying back it's shares, so the recent decrease of the stock price is not just a good opportunity to buy the shares of this really good company, but it's a good opportunity for the company to buy back it's own shares to improve the shareholder's return.

On Friday I bought a few shares of Kroger Co. at $21.10 which gives me a 2.27% dividend yield.

Full disclosure: Long Kroger.

How to Predict the Next Stock Market Crisis?

I have terribble news. You can't predict the next stock market crisis. Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest men who ever lived on the Earth and made his fortune from investing, but he wrote this in the 2016 Annual Report of Berkshire Hathaway:

"Moreover, the years ahead will occasionally deliver major market declines - even panics - that will affect virtually all stocks. No one can tell you when these traumas will occur - not me, not Charlie, not economists, not the media."

GlaxoSmithKline - A Potential Dividend Cut

A few years ago I bought a few shares of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) because of it's good dividend yield and dividend-paying track record. I felt myself really good while I was receiving the dividends. But a few month ago, I read the company’s 2016 Annual Report. I saw that the EPS was £0,19 and the dividend was £0,80, so the EPS didn’t cover the dividend. It was not a good news for me, so I read more to see the chairman’s words about it. I found this:

“Ordinary dividends of 80p per share have been declared for 2016, the same level as 2015. The company expects to maintain the same payment in 2017, in accordance with the statements made in 2015. This level of distribution still exceeds the free cash flow generated by the business despite the material improvement in cash generated in 2016 referred to above. Given that 2017 is the last year of the three year dividend commitment made in 2015, the Board will be considering the appropriate dividend policy for 2018 and beyond during the course of the year. ”

(Source: Annual Report 2016 – GSK, 04.p.)

I think that the Board will cut the dividend in 2018. The GSK needs a really good financial performance in 2017 to avoid the dividend cut. The first quater of 2017 was a good beginning, but I sold my shares, because I'm more relaxed to watch it from a little distance.

Full disclosure: I have no position in GlaxoSmithKline.

My First Shares – Hungarian Telekom (MATÁV)

Now I'm an investor, who is looking for long term investments, but when I started, I was trading actively. I used to learn more from my investing mistakes, than my successful trades, so I share my first trade on the stock market.

In May, 2000 I bought a few shares of the Hungarian Telekom company at a 2000 HUF per share. That time was almost the top of the tech bubble, but I didn't know it. As many other inexperienced investor, I entered into the market with terribble timing.

(Source: https://bet.hu/oldalak/ceg_adatlap/$security/MTELEKOM)

After my bought the price of the share went down, and I was waiting for a little correction to close the deal. I was really lucky, that I could sell them in a few month with 1% gain. Yes, I was lucky, because I bought it at a very high valuation.

Two investment lessons, that I learned:

• Never buy shares with high valuation.
  • The share was after a large price increase and the fundamentals didn't follow it.
• Most of the beginner investors starts investing when the market has a high valuation.
  • More and more new investor comes to the stock market, because of the low interest rates and the good yields of the past 8 years, while the markets have really high valuation.

A Few Words About Me

Today is a great day for me. I have decided to make a blog and write about my financial journey. As a frugal man I put aside at least half of my salary, and I made a few investments over the last two decades. I bought my first shares in 2000. I saw the collapse of the tech bubble and the 2008-2009 crisis. I collected some valuable expreience about investing while I bought and sold shares. I would like to share my thoughts and my experience with my readers on this blog. 

In the last two years I read a lot about dividend growth investing, which greatly inspired me. Nowadays I have an investing style which is the mixture of dividend growth investing and value investing.