Habitual Fool readers will know that my wife and I have been on a share-buying spree this month. In brief, we have just invested a lump sum into 10 new UK shares, consisting of eight new FTSE 100 stocks and two new FTSE 250 holdings.
Unfortunately, August has so far proved to be a bad month for British shareholders. Since 31 July, the FTSE 100 has lost 5.5% of its value, while the FTSE 250 has dropped by 6.1%. Hence, I started calling myself ‘the Master of Mistiming’ last week.
Time is on my side
Then again, I’m not spilling tears simply because all 10 shares we bought have already declined. That’s because I’m a veteran value investor with an investing timescale of a decade or more. While my timing may be poor this month, it’s mostly time in the market that counts.
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At first glance, our latest family portfolio looks pretty rotten, because 19 out of 20 of our UK holdings have recorded paper losses. But two things have rescued it. First, our US mega-tech holdings have done incredibly well since we bought them during last year’s lows before the November US midterm elections.
Second, we are value, fundamental, and dividend investors — and large cash dividends are reliably flowing into our portfolio. In time, I expect this torrent of cash to wash away the effect of my recent bad timing — fingers crossed.
Three FTSE 100 stocks for delightful dividends
For example, here are three Footsie shares we recently bought for their superior, market-beating cash yields:
| Company | Sector | Share price | Market value | Dividend yield | One-year change | Five-year change |
| Glencore | Mining | 419.85p | £51.9bn | 8.7% | -14.7% | +30.9% |
| Anglo American | Mining | 1,968.6p | £26.3bn | 5.1% | -31.0% | +25.6% |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | Financial | 756.8p | £3.6bn | 5.3% | -17.0% | -65.2% |
The first thing to note is that all three stocks have lost value over the past year. But these price falls are one reason why the shares ended up on my buy list. However, both mining stocks have increased in value over the last five years.
Second, the above returns exclude dividends, which are hefty from all three firms. Indeed, the average cash yield across the three comes to a tidy 6.4% a year. That’s more than 1.5 times the FTSE 100’s yearly dividend yield of around 4.1%. Nice.
That said, all three businesses face stiff headwinds in the immediate future. Slowing Chinese economic growth has dragged down commodity prices, hitting the current earnings of both miners. Also, volatility in financial markets has made owning financial stocks something of an ordeal this year, as I know well.
Nevertheless, my 37 years as an active investor have taught me that patience, discipline, and a defined strategy can help to produce superior returns in the long run. Let’s hope this proves to be the case with my latest FTSE 100 purchases…
