December 2020 Dividend Stock Purchases

 As I'm writing this blog post, Christmas Day is in the rearview mirror and New Year's Day is coming up in just a few more days. 

With that in mind, I'll be discussing my dividend stock purchases that were executed during December 2020. 

Before I start off with the activity in my retirement account, I would like to preface this post with an explanation of why my buying activity for the month overall was over $3,000.

As some may be aware, Robinhood recently announced that it would be lowering its margin rates from 5.0% to 2.5%.

I saw an opportunity to add just over $1,800 in margin to my account (aside from the first $1,000 in interest free margin) to buy high quality dividend stocks with yields primarily in the 3-4% range since a margin call would require a 75%+ drop in my Robinhood portfolio and I 1) view that as a highly unlikely scenario and 2) have virtually no debt aside from my margin debt.

Without further ado, I deployed $341.67 in gross capital when including my 7% contribution to my Capital Income Builder (CAIBX) position within my retirement account, my employer's 3% contribution, and dividends/special dividends received during December.

When factoring in sales charges and the $10 annual fee that CAIBX charged in December for the upcoming year, I deployed $320.32 in net capital during December 2020.

This allowed me to build my CAIBX position from 140.581 shares heading into December to 145.695 heading into January 2021, which added $10.94 to my net annual forward dividends, assuming an annualized dividend/share of $2.14.

My capital deployment into CAIBX during the month equates to an average weighted net yield of 3.42%.

Moving to the activity within my Robinhood portfolio, I started the month off by initiating a 10 share position in National Retail Properties (NNN) at a total cost of $397.00 (which I essentially provided my explanation for in an article here on Seeking Alpha a couple months before I initiated my position).

My 10 share purchase of NNN added $20.80 in net annual forward dividends to my portfolio, which equates to an average weighted yield of 5.24%.

I also purchased 5 shares of WEC Energy Group (WEC) during the month at a total cost of $457.41, which when weighted against the $13.55 in net annual forward dividends added equates to an average weighted yield of 2.96% (for more insight into why I went on to initiate a position in WEC, I would refer interested readers to my article last month on the stock).

I added 3 shares to my position in Pfizer (PFE) (due to the fact that I believe in the company's R&D pipeline and commercial drug/vaccine portfolio at this time and the company appears to be trading at a slight discount to fair value), which cost $112.06, working out to an average weighted yield of 4.18% when considering the $4.68 in net annual forward dividends that were added with this purchase.

I also increased my position in CVS Health (CVS) by 1 share at a cost of $67.53 due to the stock's continued strong operating fundamentals (more on that in my upcoming SA article), which equates to a yield of 2.96% factoring in the $2.00 in net annual forward dividends that were added as a result of the purchase.

I added 2 shares of Realty Income (O) to my portfolio at a total cost of $121.92, which works out to a yield of 4.62% when considering the $5.628 in net annual forward dividends that were added with this purchase.

I also increased my position in PepsiCo (PEP) by 1 share at a cost of $144.76, which works out to a yield of 2.83% factoring in the $4.09 in net annual forward dividends that were added as a result of the purchase.

Another high-quality dividend payer that I added 1 share to my position in was Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) at a cost of $153.15, which equates to a 2.64% yield when considering the $4.04 in net annual forward dividends that were added due to this purchase.

I also added 2 shares to my position in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) at a total cost of $72.80, which works out to a 5.49% yield factoring in the $4.00 in net annual forward dividends that were added with this purchase.

Next, I increased my position in British American Tobacco (BTI) by 2 shares at a total cost of $73.45, which equates to a 7.35% yield when considering the $5.40 in net annual forward dividends that were added as a result of this purchase.

I also increased my position by 1 share in Lockheed Martin (LMT) at a total cost of $351.26, which works out to a 2.96% yield factoring in the $10.40 in net annual forward dividends that were added due to this purchase (for further insight into why I went on to add to my position in LMT, I would refer interested readers to my October 2020 article on the stock).

I added 2 shares to my position in Cisco (CSCO) at a total cost of $89.48, which equates to a 3.22% yield when considering the $2.88 in net annual forward dividends that were added to my portfolio as a result of this purchase.

I also increased my position in Genuine Parts Company (GPC) by 1 share at a total cost of $100.27, which works out to a 3.15% yield when factoring in the $3.16 in net annual forwards that were added due to this purchase (for more of an explanation into why I added to my position in GPC, I would refer interested readers to my article this month on the stock).

I added 1 share to my position in W.P. Carey (WPC) at a total cost of $71.16, which equates to a 5.88% yield when considering the $4.184 in net annual forward dividends that were added as a result of this purchase.

Finally, I initiated an 11 share position in Aflac (AFL) at a total cost of $481.80, which works out to a 3.01% yield when factoring in the $14.52 in net annual forward dividends that were added due to this purchase.

Concluding Thoughts:

Overall, I added $110.27 in net annual forward dividends on the $3,014.37 in capital that was deployed during December, which works out to a 3.66% average weighted yield.

When factoring in the $46.76 in additional Robinhood Gold costs due to the aforementioned ~$1,870 in margin, a $19.20 downward adjustment to my Simon Property Group (SPG) dividends (there was a glitch between when I got my new smartphone and when I wrote my previous post of this series, which didn't account for SPG's dividend cut months ago in my spreadsheet that is synced to my blog's portfolio), and the $7.16 in dividend increases to my portfolio during December, my annual net forward dividends heading into 2021 are at an all-time high of just over $1,363.

Discussion:

How was your capital deployment during the month of December 2020?

Did you open any new positions as I did with NNN and WEC (and from a whole share standpoint with AFL, as I only owned a fraction of a share in my M1 Finance account prior to the purchase of 11 shares of AFL this month)?

I appreciate your readership and look forward to creating content in 2021! Please feel free to leave your comments in the comment section below.

Expected Dividend Increase for January 2021

As I'm writing this blog post, we're just over a week away from the end of 2020, and in the process, ushering in the New Year!

With that aside, I'll be delving into the intent of this post, which is to discuss the dividend increases that I received during the month of December 2020, and to look ahead to the dividend announcement that I am expecting in January 2021.

Actual Dividend Increases for December 2020

Dividend Increase #1: Realty Income (O)

Just as I had predicted in the previous post of this series, Realty Income (O) delivered the 0.2% dividend increase that I was expecting, taking its monthly dividend from $0.2340/share to $0.2345/share.

Out of all the stocks in my portfolio, O is arguably the most predictable, and that predictability makes it one of my favorite stocks in my portfolio! As I'll detail in the section below, I am also expecting O to deliver its customary largest dividend increase of 2021 in January, which will provide a nice boost to my net annual forward dividends.

Across my 7 shares of the stock, my net annual forward dividends increased by $0.042.

Dividend Increase #2: W.P. Carey (WPC)

Yet another consistent dividend stock within my portfolio is W.P. Carey (WPC), which delivered the 0.2% dividend increase I was expecting, taking its quarterly dividend from $1.044/share to $1.046/share.

My net annual forward dividends advanced $0.04 as a result of the dividend increase across my 5 shares of the stock.

Dividend Increase #3: Amgen (AMGN)

My (tied for) largest dividend increase in terms of percentage increase and second largest absolute net annual forward dividend increase came from Amgen (AMGN), as the stock managed to slightly exceed my expectations, delivering a 10% dividend increase, taking its quarterly dividend from $1.60/share to $1.76/share.

My decision to purchase 2 more shares of AMGN last month ahead of AMGN's dividend increase literally paid dividends, which helped boost my net annual forward dividends across my 3 shares by $1.92.

Dividend Increase #4: Eastman Chemical Company (EMN)

Another company that managed to increase its dividend this month was Eastman Chemical Company (EMN), which slightly exceeded my expectations.

EMN announced a 4.5% increase in its quarterly dividend, taking the dividend from $0.66/share to $0.69/share, which advanced my net annual forward dividends by $0.48 across my 4 shares of the stock.

Dividend Increase #5: Broadcom (AVGO)

My (tied for) largest dividend increase in terms of percentage increase and my largest absolute net annual forward dividend increase came from Broadcom (AVGO), which managed to meet my expectations.

Just as I expected, AVGO announced a 10.0% increase in its quarterly dividend, from $3.25/share to $3.60/share.

This dividend increase contributed to a $4.20 surge in my net annual forward dividends across my 3 shares of the stock.

Surprise Dividend Increase: Pfizer (PFE)

Given that Pfizer (PFE) recently completed its spinoff of its Upjohn with Mylan to form Viatris (VTRS) and that Upjohn accounted for over 15% of PFE's total revenues, I would have been entirely happy if PFE opted to freeze its dividend over the next year as a result of the hit to the new PFE's profits due to the spinoff. 

Surprisingly, PFE opted to announce a 2.6% increase to its quarterly dividend, taking it from $0.38/share to $0.39/share.

Since PFE's payout ratios are still reasonable even in the absence of Upjohn, I am certainly pleased with the dividend increase as it shows PFE's commitment to returning cash to its shareholders. 

Across my 12 shares of PFE at the time of the dividend increase, my net annual forward dividends were boosted by $0.48.

Surprise Dividend Freeze: AT&T (T)

Interestingly, AT&T (T) opted to announce a quarterly dividend of $0.52 in December, which is payable in February, and in line with the previous dividend payment in November 2020.

Given COVID-19's impact on operating and financial results in the current fiscal year, it may be that T is deferring a dividend increase to the first or second quarter of next fiscal year, when there is more clarity on COVID-19's ultimate impact on operating and financial results.

Expected Dividend Increase for January 2021

Realty Income (O):

The only dividend increase that I am expecting to receive in January 2021, is a 2.3% increase in Realty Income's (O) monthly dividend, taking it from $0.2345/share to $0.2400/share.

My rationale for this is that O has typically delivered 2-3% increases in its monthly dividend in January, so a 2.3% increase in the monthly dividend would seem to be a customary dividend increase from O.

Across my 7 shares of the stock, my net annual forward dividends would advance by $0.462, should this dividend increase manifest itself as I plan.

Concluding Thoughts:

December 2020 marked my strongest month to date in terms of the absolute amount of dividend increases.

My net annual forward dividends soared $7.162 as a result of the 6 dividend increases that I received during the month, which was primarily driven by the increases from AMGN and AVGO.

While I anticipate January 2021 will be relatively slow in terms of dividend increases as I'm just expecting the one increase from O, I am expecting February 2021 to be about as busy in terms of the number of dividend increases that I will receive.

Discussion:

Did you experience a record amount of increases in your absolute net annual forward dividend income as I did during December?

Did you benefit from any first time dividend increases as I did in the case of AVGO?

As always, I thank you for your readership and look forward to any comments that you're welcome to leave in the comment section below.

My Financial & Personal Goals for 2021

Given that there are just a couple weeks left in 2020, I will soon begin to look back on 2020 and in a couple posts, I will be checking back on my progress in my goals that I initially set for this year in my post last Christmas Eve, and my post that was revised a few months ago.

With that aside, the intent of this post is to look ahead to 2021 and begin setting goals for the year that lies ahead.

Without further ado, I present my financial and personal goals for 2021.

Image Source: Pexels

My Financial Goals for 2021

1. Collect at least $1,800 in net dividends during the year

2. End 2021 with at least $2,200 in net annual forward dividends

3. Amass at least $55,000 in investments/end 2021 with a net worth of at least $65,000

Beginning with my first goal to collect at least $1,800 in dividends during 2021, I believe that this is a reasonable goal.

For context, I will enter 2021 with roughly $1,400 in net annual forward dividends, so as long as I add roughly $800 in net annual forward dividends during the year, I will be on track to accomplish my goal of collecting $1,800 in net dividends (assuming relatively balanced capital deployment throughout the year).

My second goal for 2021 is to end with at least $2,200 in net annual forward dividends.

In order to accomplish this goal, I would need to deploy $20,000 or ~$1,700/month at a 4% yield (without factoring in any dividend growth or reinvestment of dividends), which is roughly in line with the amount of capital that I have allocated each month to debt repayment and/or investing. 

Given that I anticipate I will enter 2021 with virtually no debt aside from my $1,000 of interest free Robinhood margin, I am confident that I will come close to meeting this goal or slightly exceed it.

My final financial goal for 2021 is to amass $55,000 in investments, which I believe is reasonable when considering that my investments heading into 2021 are likely going to be around $35,000.

Factoring in the nearly $2k in dividends that I will be positioned to receive during 2021 and roughly $20,000 in fresh capital that I believe I can invest, the markets could slightly fall from current levels and I would be able to reach my goal of $55,000 in investments.

From a net worth standpoint, my net worth will be right around $45,000 going into 2021, so as long as I meet my goal to invest $20,000 in fresh capital for the year, I will likely reach my goal of a $65,000 net worth in 2021.

My Personal Goals for 2021

1. Publish 1 blog post each week

2. Publish 1 Seeking Alpha article each week

3. End 2021 with 8,000+ followers on Seeking Alpha

My first two personal goals for 2021 are the same as they were in 2020, which was to publish at least 1 blog post each week and 1 Seeking Alpha article each week.

Seeing as I am enjoying pumping out the amount of content that I have been producing this year, I am comfortable continuing on this goal because it strikes the right balance of productivity and leisure for me.

Just as my second goal revolves around Seeking Alpha, my third and final goal for 2021 hinges on maintaining an active presence on Seeking Alpha.

I believe that as long as I publish at least 1 Seeking Alpha article each week that I will be able to achieve 8,000 followers on the platform by the end of 2021.

Since I will be just a few hundred followers under 5,500 heading into 2021, I would need to roughly average roughly new followers each week, which is only slightly above what I have averaged in my first 2 years here on Seeking Alpha.

Concluding Thoughts:

Because most of my goals depend upon each other, I suspect that 2021 will be an all or nothing year in terms of achieving my goals.

If I'm able to deploy capital at the level that I suspect I will be able to and the markets are down slightly at worst, I will likely achieve all 3 of my financial goals.

Similarly, if I continue to produce content on a weekly basis, I will certainly be able to achieve my first two goals, and I give myself a good chance of surpassing 8,000 followers on Seeking Alpha by the end of 2021.

Discussion:

What are your goals for 2021? 

Of all your goals, which one do you believe is your most ambitious?

As always, thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you in the comment section below!

November 2020 Dividend Income

As I'm writing this blog post, we are less than 4 weeks away from the end of 2020! The speed with which this year has passed us by never ceases to amaze me. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was writing my goals for this year, but it was nearly a year ago!

With that aside, I will be turning my attention to the intent of this blog post, which is to discuss the dividends that I received during November 2020.

Analysis:

During the month of November, I collected $86.15 in net dividends against the $91.19 in net dividends that were collected in August 2020, which represents only the second time my portfolio's net dividends have declined from one month of a quarter to the next month of a quarter (the one other exception was from December 2019 to March 2020 as indicated on my Dividend Income page).

My quarterly growth rate from August 2020 to November 2020 was -5.5%, whereas my YoY growth rate from the $63.69 collected in November 2019 was 35.3%.

Within my Robinhood portfolio, I received $74.64 in net dividends from 15 companies. I received $11.17 in net dividends from 3 companies within my Webull portfolio. Finally, I received $0.34 from 15 companies in my M1 Finance portfolio.

Going into more detail, my net dividends declined by $5.04 as a result of the following activity within my portfolio:

The dividends that I received from Williams Sonoma (WSM) were up $0.45 as a result of the dividend increase that was announced in October (I appear to have accounted for that dividend increase in my spreadsheet, but I seem to have forgot to include it in my dividend increase series due to the surprise of the increase).

The amount that I received from Energy Transfer (ET) declined by $8.86 as a result of the distribution cut that I discussed in my Expected Dividend Increases for November post.

I also received an extra $0.01 in dividends from British American Tobacco (BTI).

I received an additional $0.01 from Realty Income (O) as a result of its most recent dividend increase that I discussed in my Expected Dividend Increases for October post.

I also received an extra $0.20 in dividends from Lowe's (LOW) as a result of the company's dividend increase in August.

I received an additional $0.08 in dividends from General Mills (GIS) due to its dividend increase in September.

Due to the timing of JP Morgan's (JPM) dividend increase (which accounted for $0.02 in extra income during November) and the recent dividend increases from Verizon (VZ) and General Mills that boosted dividend income by $0.01 each, I received an additional $0.04 in dividends from my M1 Finance accounted compared to last quarter.

Finally, my Robinhood interest expenses declined $3.03 from the $3.03 in August 2020 to $0.00 in November 2020 due to the deleveraging of my Robinhood account to the first $1,000 of interest free margin.

Concluding Thoughts:

While the distribution cut from ET was a significant headwind to my net dividend income during the month of November 2020, it was a reminder of the power of diversification. 

Fortunately, I am forecasting that upcoming dividend increases, dividend reinvestment, and capital deployment in the weeks ahead will help me to recover to my previous middle of the quarter month record in terms of net dividend income.

I'm very excited that I have resumed my typical capital deployment schedule of $1,500-$2,000/month as I believe this will be highly beneficial to my goal of steadily increasing my net dividends each and every quarter.

Discussion:

Did you endure the headwinds of any dividend cuts in November as I did with ET?

How was your dividend income in November?

Thank you for your readership and I look forward to replying to your comments in the comment section below!

November 2020 Dividend Stock Purchases

 As I'm writing this blog post, the month of December is just days away, and amazingly, 90% of the ground here in Central Wisconsin is still visibly free of snow cover!

With that aside, I'll delve into the intent of this blog post, which is to outline my dividend stock purchases for the month of November 2020.

Starting with the activity in my retirement account, I deployed $252.00 in capital between my 7% contribution and my employer's 3% contribution.

Net of the $11.34 in sales charges, I set aside $240.66 in capital to increase my position in Capital Income Builder (CAIBX), which helped my share count rise from 136.677 to 140.581.

Assuming $2.14 in annualized dividends/share, my net annual forward dividends were boosted by $8.35, which equates to a 3.47% net yield.

Moving to my Robinhood account, I decided to purchase 2 shares of Amgen (AMGN) at a cost of $447.58 due to the stock's strong 3rd quarter operating results, the relatively attractive current stock price for the long-term, and my desire to add to my position in AMGN.

The 2 shares of AMGN that I added to my portfolio will add $12.80 in immediate net annual forward dividends, which works out to an average weighted yield of 2.86%, with a dividend increase expected from the stock in just a few weeks further bumping up my net annual forward dividends.

I purchased 9 shares of Cisco (CSCO) in November at a total cost of $370.95, which marks my initiation of a position of CSCO into my portfolio.

Weighing my costs against the $12.96 in net annual forward dividends that were added by my purchase of shares of CSCO, my average weighted yield equates to 3.49%.

I also continued to add to my position in AT&T (T) by purchasing 1 share at a cost of $28.91, which works out to a yield of 7.19% when factoring in the $2.08 in net annual forward dividends that were added to my portfolio.

Consistent with the theme of primarily building positions during the month, I added 1 share of Lockheed Martin (LMT) at a cost of $372.39, which equates to a yield of 2.79% when considering the additional $10.40 in net annual forward dividends that went into my portfolio as a result of the purchase.

I also added to my position in Philip Morris International (PM) with the purchase of 1 share at a cost of $75.02, working out to a yield of 6.40% when factoring in the $4.80 in net annual forward dividends that were added to my portfolio.

Closing out my dividend stock purchase activity for the month of November, I added 2 shares to my CVS Health (CVS) position at a total cost of $139.42, which equates to a yield of 2.87% when considering the additional $4.00 in net annual forward dividends that went into my portfolio due to my transaction to purchase shares of CVS.

Concluding Thoughts:

November marked a return to my typical capital deployment schedule of $1,500-$2,000/month after several months of intensive capital deployment to reduce my debt load to virtually nothing, aside from the $1,000 in interest free Robinhood margin.

As a result of my $1,674.93 in capital deployed in November, I added $55.39 in net annual forward dividends to my portfolio, which works out to an average weighted yield of 3.31%.

As I detailed in my previous post of my expected dividend increases series, Iron Mountain (IRM) opted to keep its dividend in line with the previous, which meant there were no dividend announcements that resulted in an increase or decrease in my net annual forward dividends during November.

My net annual forward dividends heading into December are just over $1,310, which marks yet another all-time high for my portfolio, positioning me for a strong close to 2020.

Discussion:

How was your November in terms of capital deployment?

Were you fortunate enough to be able to add a position to your portfolio as I was in the case of CSCO?

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