July 2024 Dividend Growth Stock Purchases/Sales

As I'm writing this blog post, it's Friday, July 26. The temperature here in Central Wisconsin is expected to reach a high of 84 degrees Fahrenheit. But for the forecast of showers throughout the day, the weather would be perfect.

Now that the month of July is just days from its conclusion, I will highlight my dividend stock purchases/sales for the month.

Dividend Stock Purchase #1: Brookfield Asset Management (BAM)

My first dividend growth stock purchase for the month was 11 more shares of Brookfield Asset Management at an average price per share of $40.90. That boosted my net annual forward dividends by $16.72, which works out to a 3.72% net dividend yield.

Interested readers can find more info on my investment thesis from my July 2024 Dividend Stock Watch List blog post.

Dividend Stock Purchase #2: Mastercard (MA)

The next dividend growth stock that I purchased was an additional share of Mastercard at a cost of $438.65. This transaction increased my net annual forward dividends by $2.64, which is equivalent to a 0.6% dividend yield.

Readers can also find more insight into why I added to my stake in MA from the aforementioned July 2024 Dividend Stock Watch List blog post.

Dividend Stock Purchase #3: Essential Utilities (WTRG)

The third dividend growth stock purchase for the month was 11 shares of Essential Utilities at an average price per share of $40.38. That lifted my net annual forward dividends by $13.512, which equates to a 3.04% net dividend yield.

Curious readers can also find my the gist of my investment thesis in my blog post linked above.

Bonus Activity:

Dividend Stock Sales: Dominion Energy (D) and Tanger Inc. (SKT)

I closed my positions in both Dominion Energy and Tanger Inc. this month. Since dividend cuts from each of these holdings years ago, those dividends haven't yet been restored. So, I figured now was the time to finally cut them loose. These sales resulted in a $28.12 drop in my portfolio's net annual forward dividends.

Dividend Stock Purchase: British American Tobacco (BTI)

I redeployed my capital proceeds and most of my modest cash reserves in one of my taxable accounts to purchase 22 shares of British American Tobacco at a cost of $33.21 a share. This is another $64.90 in net annual forward dividends for my portfolio and works out to an 8.88% yield.

For curious readers, Dividend Sensei's Seeking Alpha article from May sums up my decision to up my BTI stake by nearly 50%.

Dividend Stock Purchase: Meta Platforms (META)

I also purchased a two-share starter position in Meta Platforms in my taxable account at an average cost per share of $505.49. This lifted my net annual forward dividends by $4, which is a 0.4% net dividend yield.

Interested readers can check out my investment thesis for META here.

Concluding Thoughts:

Besides the capital shuffling, the dividend growth stock purchases that I made with non-stock capital amounted to capital deployment of $2,343.71. These purchases added $36.872 to my portfolio's net annual forward dividends, which is a weighted-average net dividend yield of 1.57%. Capital redeployment added another $36.78 in net annual forward dividends to my portfolio.

Another $14.4926 increase in my net annual forward dividends came from dividend raises announced in July.

In total, my net annual forward dividend climbed from almost $4,770 heading into July to nearly $4,860 exiting the month.

Discussion:

How was your capital deployment for the month?

Did you close any positions or start any new ones in July 2024 as I did with D/SKT and META?

Thank you for your readership and I look forward to your comments!