Sold HCP for VZ

Before going forward, I rarely sell. My philosophy is to buy a company and hold onto it for its cash generating abilities forever. However I am open to selling when it's appropriate. Usually I sell during spin offs or acquisitions, dividend cuts, or fundamental degradation. Today I exited my HCP from my IRA account and swapped the funds for Verizon. Verizon has dipped off its peak recently and provides a healthy yield of 4.4%, HCP has a higher yield at the moment at 6.70% due to the high risk nature of HCR Manorcare. I added VZ instead of T because T has not pulled back yet and I have more T than VZ.

I have exited HCP because of the announcements of their spinoff of their troubled unit. I personally feel this company is the lowest quality company I own and that spinning off its cancer will not be too favorable for me since I do not want to hold that spinoff with a ten foot pole.

In terms of quality rankings here is a comparison of HCP and VZ:

HCP:
S&P Financial Rating: BBB+
Value Line Financial Strength: B++
Value Line Safety: 3

VZ:
S&P Financial Rating: BBB+
Value Line Financial Strength: A++   (A++ is the highest)
Value Line Safety: 1   (1 is the best)

The majority of the companies I own have a safety of 1 and financial strength above A or BBB+ so HCP has been a yield-chase purchase from my earlier days when I was chasing yield over quality.