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.