Today was a rare day for me. I sold one of my positions completely. It's been a long time since I've sold one of my stocks and I don't plan on making a habit of this but when circumstances change so dramatically in such a short time I can't help but to evaluate and take action if I fell it is warranted.
This time around an old friend of mine in Tompkins Financial (TMP) was on the chopping block. Tompkins Financial Corporation is a small, diversified financial
services company based in Ithaca, New York with banking branches across
New York and Pennsylvania.
My decision to sell wasn't because of an accounting scandal or poor management. Quite the contrary and through no fault of their own TMP has simply become grossly overvalued.
As you can see the stock has made quite a run in the last couple of years, nearly doubling since I purchased it in 2014. I kinda wish it had not made such a run so I could keep buying at a better yield, but now the yield is at 2% and the last dividend raise was a modest 2.3% raise when they typically raise 5% or so. TMP has very steadily growing earnings and even through the financial crisis earnings grew and the stock performed better than any other financial entity I can think of. That being said the valuation has grown far in excess of earnings growth and I am going to wait for the inevitable pullback before buying again.
With the funds from the sale I purchased 81 shares of Verizon (VZ) which offers a better yield and is a far better value at this time.
