April 2025 Stock Watch List

As I'm writing this blog post, it's currently Friday, March 14th. The temperature here in Central Wisconsin is set to reach a high of 70 degrees Fahrenheit later today. This weather front is also expected to come with rain stretching into the weekend.

Now that March is nearly half complete, I'll be taking a moment to go over the top stocks on my watch list for April 2025.

Stock #1: Brookfield Asset Management (BAM)

The first stock up on my watch list for next month is Brookfield Asset Management. I would argue that my investment thesis is intact from the last time that I covered BAM in my July 2024 Dividend Stock Watch List blog post. So, I would refer interested readers to that blog post for more details.

BAM remains a top-notch competitor in the booming alternative asset management industry. As of December 31st, 2024, the company had $1.8 billion of liquidity on the balance sheet compared to no long-term debt. Due to a very capex-light business model, BAM's 3.7% dividend yield is fairly secure. The stock also could be moderately undervalued from the current $47 share price (as of March 14th, 2025).

Stock #2: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD)

Next up on my watch list for April 2025 is Enterprise Products Partners. In the six months that have passed since I covered it in my October 2024 Stock Watch List blog post, EPD's investment thesis looks to be holding up.

As of my Seeking Alpha article last month, the midstream operator had approximately $7.6 billion in major capital projects that were under development. These projects should continue to keep key metrics like adjusted EBITDA, distributable cash flow, and operating cash flow moving higher in the years ahead. EPD's leverage ratio of 3.1x was also firmly within its targeted range of between 2.75x and 3.25x. That supports the A-rated balance sheet. On top of these factors, EPD's units look to be worth every bit of $38 each. That would imply a decent discount from the current $34 unit price (as of March 14th, 2025).

Stock #3: Nvidia (NVDA)

The third and final stock on my watch list for next month is Nvidia. Since my January 2025 Stock Watch List blog post, the investment thesis for NVDA has arguably proven itself with the latest data.

While it didn't beat by as wide of a margin in the past, it still did manage to beat expectations in Q4. Significantly higher spending from its hyperscaler customers in 2025 also means that NVDA will have more plenty of demand for the foreseeable future. The company's AA-rated balance sheet also makes it a financial fortress. Best of all, shares are trading at approximately 24x current-year analyst EPS consensus. That makes NVDA an interesting pick from the current $108 share price (as of March 14th, 2025).

Concluding Thoughts:

There we have it. Another month. Three more stocks that I believe are world-class. Overall, I believe the trio does a nice job of balancing income, growth, and value. This will also keep me right around my targeted dividend yield of 3%.

Discussion:

Are any of BAM, EPD, or NVDA on your watch list for April 2025?

If not, what are you keeping on your radar for next month?

I appreciate your readership and look forward to your comments below!

February 2025 Dividend Income

As I'm writing this blog post, it's currently Monday, March 10th. The temperature here in Central Wisconsin is set to reach a high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit today. Unfortunately, I have been mostly unable to enjoy this nice weather as I have had a bacterial sinus infection for the last week and counting. The good news is that I believe my 10-day course of antibiotics (began on March 8th) will soon get me on the road to recovery.

Now that the month of February 2025 is complete, I figure it's a good time to briefly look back on my net dividend income for the month.

Net Dividends Surpassed $500 For The Month

In February 2025, I collected $516.48 in net dividends (including ADR fees for British American Tobacco). That works out to a 15% quarterly growth rate versus the $449.18 in net dividends that I received in November 2024.

My net dividends collected in February were also 46.8% higher versus the $351.91 in net dividends posted in February 2024.

In my Charles Schwab portfolio, I received $486.46 in net dividends from 24 companies. Sales of CVS Health (CVS), Texas Instruments (TXN), and STAG Industrial (STAG) in previous months were more than offset by purchases of more Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) and Energy Transfer (ET).

Moving to my Webull account, I collected $15.75 in net dividends from three companies.

Lastly, I received $14.27 in net dividends from three companies in my Fidelity IRA portfolio. The sale of Starbucks (SBUX) stock in January reduced this amount.

Concluding Thoughts:

That's all for now. Overall, I was pleased to make more progress in building up the dividend growth portfolio during the month. Have a safe, healthy, and joyous rest of your week!

Discussion:

How was your dividend income in February 2025?

Did you receive any first-time dividends during the month?

Thanks for reading and I welcome your comments below!

February 2025 Stock Purchases/Sale

As I'm writing this blog post, it's February 28th. The temperature here in Central Wisconsin is expected to reach a high of 51 degrees Fahrenheit for today. Needless to say, that's quite pleasant for this time of the year.

Now that February 2025 is coming to a close, I'll go over the stock purchases that I made during the month with fresh capital. I will also go over a stock sale and the stocks into which I redeployed the capital proceeds.

Stock Purchase #1: Amazon (AMZN)

The first stock that I bought in the month was another three shares of Amazon at an average price per share of $241.74. Curious readers can check out my investment thesis in my February 2025 Stock Watch List blog post.

Stock Purchase #2: British American Tobacco (BTI)

The next stock that I purchased in February 2025 was 11 shares of British American Tobacco at an average cost of $40.13 a share. Interested readers can also pore over my February 2025 Stock Watch List blog post for my investment thesis. This transaction lifted my net annual forward dividends by $32.45, which equates to a 7.35% net dividend yield.

Stock Purchase #3: PepsiCo (PEP)

The third stock that I bought during the month was three shares of PepsiCo at an average price per share of $143.03. For my investment thesis, readers can peruse my February 2025 Stock Watch List blog post or my December Seeking Alpha article. The purchase raised my net annual forward dividends by $16.26, which works out to a 3.79% net dividend yield.

Dividend Stock Sale: Iron Mountain (IRM)

I closed my 21 share position in Iron Mountain (IRM) at an average price per share of $103.88. To be clear, I think IRM's fundamentals are fairly solid. However, the valuation seemed elevated to me when I sold the stock. At the time of my sale, this reduced my net annual forward dividends by $60.06.

Dividend Stock Purchases: Alphabet (GOOGL) and VICI Properties (VICI)

I purchased six shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) at an average cost of $190.78 a share. Curious readers can read my January 2025 Dividend Stock Watch List blog post for my rationale. This added $4.80 to my net annual forward dividends, which is equivalent to a 0.42% net dividend yield.

I also added 38 shares of VICI Properties (VICI) at an average price per share of $29.91. Interested readers can check out my investment thesis in my June 2024 Dividend Stock Watch List blog post. This transaction boosted my net annual forward dividends by $65.74, which equates to a 5.78% net dividend yield.

Concluding Thoughts:

I deployed $1,595.70 in capital to fresh capital purchases in February 2025. Compared to the $48.71 in net annual forward dividends that I added from these transactions, this works out to a 3.05% net dividend yield. Capital redeployment also lifted my net annual forward dividends by $10.48.

Finally, my net annual forward dividends rose by $33.702 from February 2025 Dividend Increases. These elements resulted in my net annual forward dividends rising from roughly $5,600 at the start of the month to approximately $5,690 to close out the month.

Discussion:

How was your capital deployment in February 2025?

Did you open any new positions for the month?

Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment below!

Expected Dividend Increases For March 2025

As I'm writing this blog post on Friday, February 21st, it's going to reach a high of 25 degrees Fahrenheit here in Central Wisconsin. That's about what you'd expect for this time of the year. What makes it all the better is that we're on a warming trend and the high this weekend could reach 40 degrees.

Now that there's just a week remaining in the month, I'll go over the dividend raises that I've received thus far in February 2025. As the remaining raises that I'm expecting are announced in the coming days, I will also update this blog post accordingly. I'll also go over the dividend hikes that I'm predicting for March 2025.

Actual Dividend Increases for February 2025

Dividend Increase #1: Brookfield Asset Management (BAM)

Brookfield Asset Management announced a 15.1% hike in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.4375. This was better than the 13.2% boost to $0.43 that I predicted in the previous post of this series.

Across my 30 shares of BAM, my net annual forward dividends soared by $6.90 due to this announcement.

Dividend Increase #2: Genuine Parts Company (GPC)

Genuine Parts Company upped its quarterly dividend per share by 3% to $1.03. My net annual forward dividends grew by $0.72 across my six shares of GPC.

Dividend Increase #3: Coca-Cola (KO)

Coca-Cola upped its quarterly dividend per share by 5.2% to $0.51. Across my 10 shares, my net annual forward dividends grew by $1.00.

Dividend Increase #4: Meta Platforms (META)

Meta Platforms declared a 5% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.525 - - this came a few weeks earlier than I expected. Overall, I was leaning more toward a 10% raise in the payout. However, I can't argue with META's conservatism with its raise. The company boasts superb returns on capital, so I'm completely fine with modest raises for the foreseeable future.

My net annual forward dividends rose by $0.50 across my five shares of META from this declaration.

Dividend Increase #5: NextEra Energy (NEE)

NextEra Energy announced a 10% boost in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.5665. This was just above the 9.7% increase to $0.565 that I anticipated.

Across my 18 shares of NEE, my net annual forward dividends rose by $3.708 due to this announcement.

Dividend Increase #6: Realty Income (O)

Realty Income upped its monthly dividend per share by 1.5% to $0.2680. That boosted my net annual forward dividends by $5.424 across my 13 shares of O.

Dividend Increase #7: PepsiCo (PEP)

PepsiCo declared a 5% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $1.4225. That came in a bit below my expectation of a 6.3% raise in the quarterly dividend per share to $1.44. A company doesn't become and stay a Dividend King by overextending itself with unsustainable dividend raises. So, I appreciate the more cautious raise from PEP in what will likely be a 2025 with more modest growth.

My net annual forward dividends grew by $4.59 across my 17 shares of PEP from this declaration.

Dividend Increase #8: Prudential Financial (PRU)

Prudential Financial announced a 3.8% raise in its quarterly dividend per share to $1.35. This was slightly less than the 4.6% increase to $1.36 that I predicted.

Across my 10 shares of PRU, my net annual forward dividends increased by $2.00 due to this announcement.

Dividend Increase #9: Rexford Industrial (REXR)

Rexford Industrial declared a 3% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.43.

My net annual forward dividends were lifted by $1.50 from this declaration across my 30 shares of REXR from this declaration.

Dividend Increase #10: T. Rowe Price Group (TROW)

T. Rowe Price Group announced a 2.4% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $1.27.

Across my six shares of TROW, my net annual forward dividends rose by $0.72 due to this announcement.

Dividend Increase #11: Tractor Supply (TSCO)

Tractor Supply declared a 4.5% raise in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.23. This was less than the 9.1% increase to $0.24 that I anticipated.

My net annual forward dividends increased by $1.00 across my 25 shares of TSCO from this declaration.

Dividend Increase #12: United Parcel Service (UPS)

United Parcel Service announced a 0.6% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $1.64.

Across my five shares of UPS, my net annual forward dividends edged $0.20 higher due to this announcement.

Pending Dividend Increase #1: Allstate (ALL)

Allstate has yet to declare a dividend hike. However, I'm sticking with my forecast of a 5.4% raise in the quarterly dividend per share to $0.97.

My net annual forward dividends would grow by $1.00 across my five shares of ALL from such a declaration.

UPDATE: ALL upped its quarterly dividend per share by 8.7% to $1.00. My net annual forward dividends rose by $1.60 across my five shares of ALL from this declaration.

Pending Dividend Increase #2: The Home Depot (HD)

The Home Depot also has yet to announce a dividend boost. I still believe that HD will up the quarterly dividend per share by 7.6% to $2.42.

Across my five shares of HD, my net annual forward dividends would rise by $3.40 due to such an announcement.

UPDATE: HD announced a 2.2% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $2.30. Across my five shares, this increased my net annual forward dividends by $1.00.

Pending Dividend Increase #3: L3Harris Technologies (LHX)

L3Harris Technologies hasn't yet declared a dividend raise. I continue to think that LHX will increase the quarterly dividend per share by 7.8% to $1.25.

My net annual forward dividends would edge $1.44 higher across my four shares of LHX from such a declaration.

UPDATE: LHX increased its quarterly dividend per share by 3.4% to $1.20. My net annual forward dividends grew by $0.64 due to this dividend declaration.

Bonus Dividend Increase: TJX Companies (TJX)

TJX announced a 13.3% hike in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.42. This was earlier than I expected and ahead of my expectations of a 9.3% increase to $0.41.

Across my 11 shares of TJX, my net annual forward dividends grew by $2.20 from this announcement.

Expected Dividend Increases for March 2025

Expected Dividend Increase #1: General Dynamics (GD)

The first dividend raise that I'm expecting for next month will come from General Dynamics. I believe that GD will announce a 6.3% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $1.51.

Across my six shares of GD, my net annual forward dividends would grow by $2.16 from such an announcement.

Expected Dividend Increase #2: Realty Income (O)

The next dividend increase that I'm predicting for March will be from Realty Income. My best guess is that O will declare a 0.2% increase in the monthly dividend per share to $0.2685.

My net annual forward dividends would rise by $0.678 across my 113 shares due to such a declaration.

Expected Dividend Increase #3: Williams-Sonoma (WSM)

The third and final dividend raise that I'm expecting for March will be from Williams-Sonoma. I believe WSM will declare an 8.8% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.62.

My net annual forward dividends would grow by $2.00 across my 10 shares of WSM due to such a declaration.

Concluding Thoughts:

The 16 dividend raises that I have received thus far in February 2025 have boosted my net annual forward dividends by $33.702. That's like investing $1,123.40 at a 3% net dividend yield.

If the four raises that I'm projecting in March materialize, my net annual forward dividends would grow by $4.838. This would equate to investing $161.27 of fresh capital at a 3% dividend yield.

Discussion:

How was your February 2025 for dividend raises?

Did you receive any first-time raises as I did with REXR?

I appreciate your readership and look forward to your comments below!