Fresh off of hearing Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger speak in person, I feel like I’ve never been more inspired or motivated to reach financial independence. I know there’s a me that exists in the future that’s already financially free, and the me of today is simply doing what’s necessary to bridge the gap between the here and now where I’m not free and the future where I am free.
As such, I decided to put some capital to work once more. We’ve just started the month, but it’s just as good a time as any to buy slivers of high-quality businesses at attractive valuations. Like Munger said at the recent Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) shareholders meeting, value investors never go out of style. I feel more popular than ever!This most recent purchase involved me adding to my stake in a position I initiated last month. I felt shares were already attractively valued, but a recent slide of more than 4% from the time I initiated my stake meant it made sense to me to pick up even more stock.I purchased shares of W.P. Carey Inc (NYSE:WPC) on 5/4/15 for $64.13 per share.
Averaging Down
I analyzed WPC last month, so I won’t repeat that. However, I will discuss real quickly why I decided to pick up more shares.
I initiated my position in the company last month at $67.15, so $64.13 is even better. If it drops to $60, I’ll be interested in adding more, assuming there’s not a fundamental reason for it other than Mr. Market’s moodiness. As is stands, I increased the size of my position by 75% here.
Valuation
WPC’s P/FFO is now 14.06 after the recent slide, which I think warrants attention here. Since the P/FFO is an appropriate and useful valuation metric for REITs just like the P/E ratio is for most other stocks, one can see why a number just above 14 is attractive right now. Moreover, the P/B is well below the five-year average. And the current yield of 5.94% is almost 50 basis points higher than the five-year average, and obviously well above that of the broader market.
I valued shares using a dividend discount model analysis with an 8% discount rate and a 4% long-term dividend growth rate. That growth rate compares quite favorably to WPC’s ten-year dividend growth rate of 7.5%. And the payout ratio is 83.6%, which is common for REITs. All in all, I think WPC will most likely exceed 4% dividend growth for the foreseeable future, ensuring a margin of safety here. The DDM analysis gives me a fair value of $99.06, which means I have an additional margin of safety through the price I paid.
Conclusion
I’m incredibly happy with an opportunity to buy shares in WPC at this valuation and yield. As I previously mentioned, it’s quite rare to find a stock with a yield near 6% and a dividend growth rate well north of 7%. You just don’t find that kind of combination very often, especially attached to a high-quality business like WPC.
The fundamentals are excellent, the yield is very attractive, the firm is growing at a robust rate, and the diversification is outstanding. Count me as a happy shareholder. If WPC falls even more, I’d be interested in buying up additional shares if the capital is there and other opportunities don’t seem more pressing.
This purchase adds $57.15 to my annual dividend income, based on the current $0.9525 quarterly dividend.
