May 2021 Dividend Income

Things are really heating up here in Central Wisconsin! This past Friday (June 4), we reached a high temp in the 90s Fahrenheit. The heat also appears poised to continue into the weekend and the next week when this blog post is set to be published.

With that aside, I will be detailing my dividend income during May 2021, which was (spoiler alert incoming) yet another record month for me for the middle month of a quarter.

Analysis:

During the month of May 2021, I collected $116.98 in net dividends compared to the $98.44 in net dividends received during February 2021, which equates to an 18.8% quarterly growth rate.

What's more striking, however, is that the $116.98 in net dividends collected during May 2021 represent a 35.0% YoY growth rate against the $86.62 in net dividends received in May 2020.

Going into detail by account, I received $104.76 in net dividends from 18 companies in my Robinhood portfolio, $11.89 in net dividends from 3 companies in my Webull portfolio, and $0.33 from 15 companies in my M1 Finance account.

My net dividends received from February 2021 to May 2021 increased by $18.54 due to the following activity within my portfolio:

I received an extra $0.54 in net dividends from Williams Sonoma (WSM) within my Robinhood account as a result of WSM's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends collected from British American Tobacco (BTI) were $3.53 higher in my Robinhood and Webull accounts due to BTI's dividend increase and my recent purchases of additional shares of the stock in December 2020 and February 2021.

I received an additional $0.01 from Realty Income (O) within my Robinhood account as a result of O's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends collected from AbbVie (ABBV) in my Robinhood account advanced $1.30 due to my recent purchase of another share of the stock.

I received a $0.27 boost in my net dividends received from General Dynamics (GD) within my Robinhood account as a result of the stock's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends collected from Verizon (VZ) in my Robinhood account surged $8.79 due to my initiation of a whole share position.

I received $4.00 less in net dividends from The GEO Group (GEO) within my Robinhood and Webull accounts as a result of the stock's recent dividend suspension, which I now realize I forgot to include in the Actual Dividend Announcements for April 2021 section of my Expected Dividend Increases for May 2021 post.

My net dividends benefited from an $8.07 reduction in my Robinhood Gold ($5.00)/margin expenses ($3.07) due to my discontinuation of my Robinhood Gold subscription. 

Finally, I collected $0.03 in additional net dividends within my M1 Finance account due to the timing of Fastenal's (FAST) and Norfolk Southern's (NSC) dividend payments.

Concluding Thoughts:

As a result of dividend increases and steady capital deployment, my net dividends advanced 18.8% on a quarterly basis and an astonishing 35.0% over last May's total.

This was the first of what I anticipate will be many middle of the quarter months in the triple digits, which is encouraging considering all of the distribution cuts (i.e. ET and EQM, which later became ETRN) and dividend cuts/suspensions (i.e. SKT and GEO) that the portfolio has endured over the past year.

As painful as these cuts and GEO's suspension have been, I'm grateful that they occurred now when I'm not dependent on the income rather than years down the line when I am on more of a fixed income. 

It was a lesson that I foolishly ignored in my earlier days of investing, but the lesson to not chase yield is one I am beginning to take to heart, especially with my capital deployment in higher growth dividend stocks in recent months. The common denominator in most, if not all of the dividend cuts and suspensions I have went through over the years was eye-popping (unsustainable) yield, especially in the high-single digits to low-double digits.

Having finally learned this lesson, I look forward to seeing how long the portfolio can go before its next dividend cut (not counting T's upcoming dividend cut next year).

Discussion:

How was your May in terms of dividend income?

Did you receive any first time dividends during the month as I did from the whole shares of VZ in my Robinhood account?

I appreciate your readership and welcome your comments in the comment section below!