Expected Dividend Increases for May 2019

Can you believe it? It's the end of April and the year is officially one third of the way over. The Milwaukee Bucks are continuing to make their push toward their first ECF appearance in 18 years and I believe they'll do us loyal Bucks fans proud this season despite that nasty blowout loss in Game 1 against the Celtics. With that said, it's time for us to analyze our dividend increases from April. Buckle in because this was quite the month!

April Dividend Increases:

Increase #1: Exxon Mobil (XOM)

Exxon Mobil (XOM) announced a 6.1% increase in their quarterly dividend from $0.82 to $0.87/share. This was actually slightly higher than the raise that I was expecting from them. This increased my annual forward dividends by $1.20 across my 6 shares.

Increase #2: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced a 5.6% increase in their quarterly dividend from $0.90 to $0.95/share. This community has always said JNJ is as steady as they come and having received my first raise from them, I certainly back that statement! This increased my annual forward dividends by $0.40 across my 2 shares.

Increase #3: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) announced a 0.6% increase in their quarterly dividend from $0.435 to $0.4375/share. This was another increase that was exactly as expected and it increased my annual forward dividends by $0.10 across my 10 shares.

Increase #4: Southern Company (SO)

Southern Company (SO) announced a 3.3% increase in their quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.62/share. This was yet another increase that was exactly as I expected it to be, and I couldn't be happier with it. My annual forward dividends increased by $0.40 across my 5 shares as a result of this increase.

Increase #5: EQM Midstream Partners (EQM)

EQM Midstream Partners (EQM) announced a 1.3% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.13 to $1.145, which was slightly below my expectation. This increased my annual forward dividends by $0.24 across my 4 shares.


Expected Dividend Increases for May:

Expected Dividend Increase #1: International Business Machines (IBM)

It appears as though IBM is breaking from its usual pattern of announcing dividend increases in April, so I'd expect IBM to announce a raise in May. Given the Red Hat acquisition last year, I'd assume management will deliver a raise to the tune of around 4%, increasing the quarterly dividend from $1.57 to $1.64/share. This would increase my annual forward dividends by $0.84 across my 3 shares.


Expected Dividend Increase #2: Lowe's Companies (LOW)

LOW is a wild card and could also be announced in June. Nonetheless, I would expect that LOW will continue its trend of strong dividend increases, with a 15% dividend increase. This would mean the quarterly dividend would increase from $0.48/share to $0.55/share. If this does happen, my annual forward annual dividends will increase by $0.56 across my 2 shares.

Expected Dividend Increase #3: Leggett & Platt Incorporated (LEG)

I expect that LEG will continue its recent trend of increasing its quarterly dividend by $0.02 per share. This would equate to a 5.3% increase in the quarterly dividend, from $0.38/share to $0.40/share. If this does occur, my annual forward dividends would increase by $0.40 across my 5 shares.

Summary:

April provided me with $2.34 in increases, which would take $58.50 in fresh capital deployed at a 4% yield to match. This is really the power of DGI on a small scale at work here! Overall, I'm expecting $1.80 in dividend increases for May due to IBM likely delaying their dividend increase from April to May. This would take $45.00 of fresh capital to match, assuming a 4% yield.

Discussion:

How many dividend increases are you expecting in May? Do you have any stocks that aren't mentioned on this list?