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!

Expected Dividend Increases for December 2020

As I'm writing this blog post, we're just days away from Thanksgiving, which means we barely have another month to achieve our goals for the year!

Interestingly, Iron Mountain (IRM) opted to keep its dividend steady with its dividend announcement in November, which means that I didn't receive any dividend increases during the month (although I also didn't endure any dividend cuts during the month).

Without further ado, I will be discussing a dividend increase that I forgot to include in my previous post of this series, and getting into the dividend increases that I am expecting for next month. I'd advise you to buckle up as I am expecting quite a few in December!

Missed Dividend Increase In October

Missed October Dividend Increase: Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B)

As alluded to by the heading above, Royal Dutch Shell's (RDS.B) 4.1% increase to its quarterly dividend from $0.32/share to $0.333/share got past me as the dividend increase came in the last couple days of the month.

While the 66.7% cut in RDS.B's dividend back in April was a notable blow to my portfolio's net annual forward dividends (resulting in a $22.32 decline in my portfolio's net annual forward dividends), the difficulties that the industry was and still is experiencing justified a dividend cut to preserve capital for the sake of investing for the future and maintaining the balance sheet.

It will be a long road to recovery for RDS.B's dividend, but it was nice to see the company start back on its path to restoring its previous dividend.

Across my 9 shares of the stock, my net annual forward dividends were boosted by $0.468 as a result of RDS.B's dividend increase.

Expected Dividend Increases For December:

Expected Increase #1: Realty Income (O)

Starting with arguably the most consistent REIT within my portfolio, I am expecting a 0.2% increase in Realty Income's (O) monthly dividend from $0.2340/share to $0.2345/share.

While this is a minuscule dividend increase, it's worth remembering that O increases its dividend by 2-3% every January, with smaller increases like the above in March, June, September, and December.

It's steady raises from O that are a testament to the power of dividend growth and compounding, which is why O is among the most favorite stocks in my portfolio.

My net annual forward dividends would increase $0.042 across my 7 shares should O's dividend increase meet my expectations outlined above.

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

Moving to yet another consistent REIT within my portfolio, I am expecting W.P. Carey (WPC) to announce a 0.2% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.044/share to $1.046/share.

Similar to O, WPC increases its dividend in the last month of each quarter, so while the stock barely increases its dividend, it increases its dividend 4 times a year typically.

Across my 5 shares of WPC, I anticipate my net annual forward dividends will increase $0.04 in the event that WPC continues upon its trend of $0.002/share increases to its quarterly dividend.

Expected Increase #3: AT&T (T)

Moving to the stock in this post with the longest dividend increase streak, I don't expect that AT&T (T) will break from its customary $0.01/share dividend increase, which means that I am forecasting T will increase its quarterly dividend 1.9% from $0.52/share to $0.53/share.

While the stock is making significant progress in deleveraging its debts, I don't believe the stock is quite ready to bust the doors down and deliver more than its customary $0.01/share dividend increase this year.

With that in mind, I forecast my net annual forward dividends will be boosted by $0.84 as a result of T's dividend expected dividend increase across my 21 shares.

Expected Increase #4: Amgen (AMGN)

Moving to my only biopharma holding in this post (normally Pfizer or PFE would be included in my December dividend increases, but given the spin-off of Upjohn and Mylan to form Viatris or VTRS, PFE's next dividend will likely be a bit lower, although even when factoring in VTRS's dividend), I am forecasting yet another strong dividend increase from Amgen (AMGN).

Given that AMGN's payout ratios are in the mid to upper-30% range in terms of non-GAAP EPS and FCF, I am anticipating that AMGN will announce a 9.4% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.60/share to $1.75/share.

Given my soon to be 3 shares of AMGN (spoiler alert: I'll be buying two shares of AMGN later this week ahead of the dividend announcement), I am expecting a $1.80 uptick in my net annual forward dividends as a result of AMGN's next dividend announcement.

Expected Increase #5: Eastman Chemical Company (EMN)

Given that Eastman Chemical Company has been adversely impacted by COVID-19 and that earnings as a result won't recover to 2019 levels until next year, I am expecting a smaller dividend increase than the 6.5% that was announced last December.

In light of the above, I am forecasting a 3.0% increase in EMN's quarterly dividend from $0.66/share to $0.68/share.

Should this occur, my net annual forward dividends would be boosted by $0.32 across my 4 shares of the stock.

Expected Increase #6: Broadcom (AVGO)

Wrapping up this blog post, I am expecting yet another strong dividend increase from Broadcom (AVGO), although I don't anticipate this dividend increase will be nearly as large as the 22.6% dividend increase last December.

Given that AVGO's payout ratio can't really expand much more without starting to sacrifice long-term viability, I am forecasting that AVGO will announce a 10.8% increase in its quarterly dividend from $3.25/share to $3.60/share.

Across my 3 shares of AVGO, this announcement would result in a $4.20 surge in my net annual forward dividends.

Concluding Thoughts:

While I didn't receive any dividend increases in November due to IRM's announcement that it was keeping its dividend in line with the previous, I am looking forward to what is sure to be my strongest month of dividend increases next month.

It would take $181.05 in capital deployment to match the $7.242 in dividend increases that I am expecting next month, assuming a 4% weighted average yield.

As I'll be discussing in my next post for November 2020 dividend stock purchases, I am also pleased to announce that my capital deployment schedule is back to its ~$1,500/month routine, which I believe will bode well in my progression to FI closing this year out and heading into next year.

Discussion:

Are you expecting December to be a busy month for dividend increases within your portfolio as well?

Will you be receiving dividend increases for the first time from any of your stock holdings as I will be in the case of AVGO?

As always, I value your readership and welcome your comments in the comment section below!

How Blogging Is Helping Me Reach My Goals

Since the advent of the Internet, a plethora of individuals with varying interests have taken to the Internet to share their interests with the world via blogging.

Given the key benefits of blogging and by also using hindsight, it's easy to understand why so many, especially in the personal finance community have adopted the hobby/side hustle of blogging.

Without further ado, I'll discuss several of the ways that blogging is helping me to reach my personal and financial goals.

Blogging Holds Me And So Many Others Accountable

As one of my favorite bloggers, Jason Fieber points out, the purpose of his blog was to document his journey to financial independence and to hold himself accountable during that journey. 

One of the primary ways that I hold myself accountable personally and within the personal finance community is by outlining my goals for a particular year at the beginning of the year and doing my very best to accomplish those goals.

When one writes down their goals in a concise manner, they are 20-40% more likely to accomplish them.

Given that I am publishing my specific goals for the world to see, I would argue that the odds of accomplishing my goals increase a bit more for the sake of proving that I am capable of achieving those goals.

This Is A Very Supportive Community

Unlike the world in general, which tends to be a very divided place, I can fairly characterize the community that has formed on this blog over the past 2 and a half years as one that is supportive.

While I'm confident that this community would call me out on any oversights on my part, I also believe that this community is much more mature and respectful than most others, which is another factor that motivates me to continue working toward bettering myself and achieving my goals.

 

I believe that blogging has helped me to connect with other great bloggers over the past 2 and a half years that I have followed, which is a great thing because I believe that Jim Rohn's "you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" quote applies to this digital age as well.

What we read online has significant potential to impact our thought patterns and can either build us up or tear us down on our path to achieve our goals, which is why I am so grateful for this respectful and thoughtful community.

Blogging Builds Discipline

One final way that I believe blogging is helping me to reach my goals is by building a key characteristic in achieving any meaningful measure of success in life, which is discipline.

Blogging over the past 2 and a half years for no monetary profit primarily due to the commitment to documenting my journey on financial independence has shown me what I am capable of when I am committed to my goals.

Regardless of whatever someone's goals may be, success is a byproduct of relentless tenacity, which is a trait I believe everyone can build upon over the duration of their life.

Concluding Thoughts:

The advent of the Internet has been beneficial to those that know how to use it to their advantage by holding themselves accountable, amongst a supportive community, and building discipline in the process.

I truly believe that over the past 2 and a half years I have benefited tremendously from operating this blog for the foregoing reasons, and I look forward to continuing to share my thoughts along my journey to financial independence.

Discussion:

Are you currently blogging or have you ever blogged?

If so, have you found blogging to be beneficial in the ways that I have?

As always, I appreciate your readership and welcome your comments in the comment section below.

October 2020 Dividend Income

 As I'm writing this blog post, I'm about halfway into my 6 day break from work (due to recently taking 4 vacation days) and I couldn't have received any better weather during my vacation. Needless to say, we haven't been fortunate enough to experience warm, sunny days in November in years (it's been 60 to 70 degrees every day this past week).

With that aside, I will be getting into the intent of this post, which is to detail the dividends that I received during the month of October 2020.

Analysis:

During the month of October 2020, I received $75.70 in net dividends.

Against the $73.79 in dividends collected in July 2020, this represents 2.6% quarterly growth.

More impressive, is the fact that this represents 80.6% YoY growth compared to the $41.91 in dividends received in October 2019.

More specifically, I received $62.98 in net dividends from 16 companies within my Robinhood portfolio. Additionally, I received $12.50 from 6 companies within my Webull portfolio. Lastly, I received $0.22 in dividends from 10 companies within my M1 Finance portfolio.

The $1.91 increase in my net dividend income from July 2020 to October 2020 was as a result of the following activity within my taxable portfolios:

My net dividends received from GEO Group (GEO) declined by $2.24 across my Webull and Robinhood accounts due to the stock's recent dividend cut.

Conversely, my net dividends received from W.P. Carey (WPC) increased by $0.01 in my Robinhood account as a result of the stock's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends received from Realty Income (O) also increased by $0.01 within my Robinhood account due to the stock's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends received from STORE Capital (STOR) were boosted by $0.17 due to its recent dividend increase across my Webull and Robinhood accounts.

My net dividends received from Philip Morris International (PM) increased by $0.27 within my Webull and Robinhood accounts as a result of the stock's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends received from Altria Group (MO) were boosted by $0.34 due to the stock's recent dividend increase in my Webull and Robinhood accounts.

My net dividends received from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) increased by $0.13 as a result of the stock's previous dividend announcement.

The dividends within my M1 Finance portfolio were $0.02 lower as a result of the timing of JP Morgan's (JPM) dividend payment.

Finally, my net dividends increased $3.24 as a result of my reduction in Robinhood margin used.

Concluding Thoughts:

While my net dividends received changed very little from July 2020 to October 2020, it's encouraging that they managed to increase given that I sustained a significant dividend cut from GEO that was first reflected in this income report.

Fortunately, I will be resuming my previous capital deployment schedule of ~$1,500/month beginning this month, so my dividend income should begin to make significant progress once again.

I am anticipating that my net dividends received in January 2021 will represent at least 10-15% growth over October 2020 as a result of my capital deployment in the weeks ahead.

Discussion: 

How was your October in terms of dividend income?

Were any recent dividend cuts that you endured reflected in your October 2020 dividend income as was the case with GEO for me?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to replying to any comments that you leave in the comment section below!

October 2020 Dividend Stock Purchases

Readers will have to forgive me for sounding like a broken record over the past number of months, but we're already in November as I'm writing this blog post!

This year continues to fly by and as a result, I am in crunch time as far as trying to achieve my personal and financial goals for the year.

Without further ado, I'll get into the crux of this post, which is to discuss my capital deployment during the month of October 2020. As a spoiler alert, there was a significant improvement in capital deployment during October 2020 as compared to September 2020.

Beginning with the activity in my retirement account, I deployed $378.00 in capital between my 7% contribution and my employer's 3% contribution.

Net of the $17.00 in sales charges, I set aside $361.00 in capital to build my Capital Income Builder (CAIBX) position, which boosted my share count from 130.445 starting October to 136.677 at the end of the month.

Factoring in $2.14 in annualized dividends/share, this boosted my net annual forward dividends by $13.34.

The additional net annual forward dividends as a result of my capital deployment during the month works out to a 3.70% net yield.

Transitioning to my Robinhood account, I lowered my margin used from $1,619.88 heading into October to just under $1,000 at the end of October.

Since margin used after the first $1,000 accrues 5% annualized interest charges, this $619.88 reduction in my margin as a result of $561.45 in capital contributions and $62.98 in net dividends resulted in a $30.99 increase in my net annual forward dividends.

Concluding Thoughts:

Overall, October was a great month in terms of capital deployment for me as I deployed $980.88 (my strongest month of capital deployment since I deployed nearly $3,000 in May 2020) during the month in the form of retirement contributions and deleveraging my Robinhood margin to just below $1,000.

This activity within my portfolio added $44.33 in net annual forward dividends to the portfolio, which equates to an average weighted yield of 4.52%.

Unfortunately, my net annual forward dividends fell $32.34 as a result of dividend announcements during October 2020 (i.e. Energy Transfer's distribution cut, as well as dividend increases from AbbVie and Visa), which led to my net annual forward dividends plunging from their all-time high of $1,281.99 set earlier in the month.

However, I was fortunate enough to end October 2020 with my highest end of month net annual forward dividend total of $1,254.52.

Given that I have now paid off virtually all of my personal debt going into November (aside from a few hundred dollars in credit card debt that I still have about 3 months to pay off without incurring interest charges and the $1,000 of interest free Robinhood margin), I anticipate that I will be able to deploy $1,500-$1,600 of capital in November.

Discussion:

How was your October in terms of capital deployment?

Did you initiate any new positions in dividend stocks during the month?

As always, I appreciate your readership and look forward to reading your comments in the comment section below!

Expected Dividend Increase for November 2020

As I'm writing this blog post, we're just a couple months away from the year coming to a close. I've indicated it before in past blog posts and I will again: the speed with which this year is passing us by has not and will not cease to amaze me.

Since the only dividend increase that I'm expecting in my whole share portfolio during November is Iron Mountain and the dividend increase that I'm expecting from Hormel Foods (HRL) will be statistically insignificant, this blog post will be more of an update on dividend increases that were received in October from Visa and AbbVie, as well as the distribution cut from Energy Transfer.

Pending Dividend Increases/Expected Dividend Increases for October/Surprise Distribution Cut

Pending Increase #1: Visa (V)

I will reiterate my thoughts pertaining to Visa's (V) upcoming dividend announcement once again just as I did in my previous post of the series, which is that I'm expecting a 10.0% increase in V's quarterly dividend from $0.30/share to $0.33/share when V reports its earnings on Wednesday.

Even though this year has been difficult as a result of COVID-19 due to business closures and travel restrictions, the fact that V has plenty of room with regard to its payout ratio leaves me confident that although we won't see nearly as strong of a dividend increase as last year's 20% increase, V will still deliver a robust dividend increase all things considered.

UPDATE:

I was a bit surprised to learn that V announced a 6.7% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.30/share to $0.32/share, which was slightly below my expectation outlined above, but I don't fault V for taking a conservative approach to their dividend increase for this year while the global economy gets back on track in the months ahead.

Across my 2 shares of V, this announcement increased my annual forward dividends by $0.16.

Missed Expected Dividend Increase #1: AbbVie (ABBV)

Given that AbbVie (ABBV) has reported earnings in November over the past couple years and has also announced its dividend increases in November, I failed to include ABBV's expected dividend increase.

ABBV has delivered fair operating results year to date, especially considering the impact of COVID-19 on both its Botox Cosmetic and Therapeutic businesses.

As a result of ABBV's operating results and the accretive impact of its acquisition of Allergan earlier this year, Yahoo Finance analysts are expecting $10.44 in EPS this year and $12.14 in EPS next year, which leaves plenty of room for a high-single digit dividend increase.

I am expecting ABBV to announce a 9.3% increase to its quarterly dividend from $1.18/share to $1.29/share when the company reports earnings this Friday.

UPDATE: 

ABBV managed to exceed my expectations as the company announced that it was hiking its quarterly dividend 10.2% from $1.18/share to $1.30/share.

Across my 6 shares of the stock, my annual forward dividends were boosted by $2.88 as a result of the above dividend announcement.

Distribution Cut: Energy Transfer (ET)

Energy Transfer announced a 50% cut to its quarterly distribution from $0.305/unit to $0.1525/unit.

While this did catch me a bit by surprise in that ET's distribution remained relatively well covered prior to the announcement of its distribution cut, I do understand the rationale for the decision to cut the distribution.

When considering the possibility of contending with penalties for operating without a permit in the case of DAPL and additional disputes pertaining to the Mariner pipeline in Pennsylvania, as well as ET's debt load, I think that despite how painful this cut was for me, it was a necessary one for the continuity of the business going forward.

It also provided a much needed reminder for me to focus more on dividend growth and capital appreciation going forward, which is why I will be emphasizing the purchase of SWANs such as PepsiCo (PEP), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and General Dynamics (GD) in the weeks ahead.

This distribution announcement resulted in a $35.38 plunge in my annual forward dividends/distributions across my 58 units of ET.

Expected Dividend Increase for November: Iron Mountain (IRM)

Staying on the theme of reiterating my outlined expectations in the previous post of this series, I am doubling down on my thoughts relating to Iron Mountain's (IRM) upcoming dividend announcement.

Given that IRM is working to reduce its AFFO payout ratio to a more sustainable payout ratio that is in line with its data center REIT peers, I'm not expecting a significant increase in IRM's dividend.

Due to this stated objective of IRM, I am expecting that IRM will announce a 1.1% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.6185/share to $0.6250/share.

This announcement would increase my annual forward dividends by $0.208 across my 8 shares of IRM.

UPDATE:

I initially thought that IRM's earnings were going to be reported on October 29, but I noticed after I published this blog post that IRM will be reporting earnings on November 5.

Concluding Thoughts:

Aside from the distribution cut from ET in the final few days of this month, I was pleased with the dividend announcements this month as V and ABBV both delivered nice dividend increases, especially in light of how this year has been on the dividend announcement front. 

Despite the $3.04 uptick in annual forward dividends from V and ABBV, my annual forward dividends declined $32.34 as a result of the halving of ET's distribution.

Discussion:

Have you benefited from any first time dividend increases as I did from V's recent dividend announcement?

Has your portfolio stabilized in terms of dividend announcements as mine has over the past couple months (aside from ET's recent announcement)?

As always, I appreciate your readership and look forward to any comments that you are free to leave in the comment section below!

My Single Biggest Takeaway After 3 Years of Dividend Investing

It was just a few weeks ago that I reached a massive milestone on my dividend growth investing journey, which was the 3 year mark of when I began investing and it was almost exactly 3 years ago that I received my very first dividend ($1.35 courtesy of GPC).

It has been such an amazing journey over the past 3 years, which aside from beginning my investing career, also led to the very birth of this blog, as well as my work on Seeking Alpha.

In this blog post, I'll be discussing my biggest takeaway after 3 years of dividend investing. If you haven't read my previous two posts of this series, be sure to check out my lessons learned after one year as a dividend investor and my lessons learned after two years as a dividend investor.

If you had told me just 9 months ago that 2020 would be a year in which my portfolio sustained 8 dividend cuts and 1 dividend suspension, I sure wouldn't have believed you!

Yet that is exactly what has transpired since the dividend cuts began to trickle in this spring and into the summer as a result of the unprecedented government response with the goal of curbing the spread of COVID-19.

To date, my portfolio's net annual forward dividends have declined by $73.858 this year as a result of dividend announcements that have been increases, cuts, and suspensions. 

When considering that the weighted monthly average of my annual forward dividends is around $1,135 year to date, this works out to a 6.5% decline in my annual forward dividend income as a result of dividend announcements.

While this news would have been deflating to the me of 9 months ago had you left out the details of the extent to which the world has been locked down since early this spring, I find it absolutely amazing that even in the midst of a global pandemic and the resulting aggressive government response to combat the virus, my portfolio's net annual forward dividends declined by merely 6.5%!

Despite all of the twists and turns that this year has taken along the lines of COVID-19 and unexpected expenses on my end that somewhat limited my ability to deploy capital at the rate I intended at the beginning of this year, my net annual forward dividend income of $1,282 at the time of writing this post is an all-time high.

I would argue that out of my numerous takeaways on dividend investing the past few years, this is my most powerful yet. My portfolio experienced its worst year of dividend announcements this year and I encountered a few thousand dollars of unexpected expenses during the year, but my portfolio's net annual forward dividends is the highest it has ever been.

This really goes to show that dividend investing in the form of fresh capital investments (even when capital is somewhat limited), dividend announcements (which in any "normal" year would lead to mid-single digit growth in annual net forward dividends for my portfolio), and reinvestment can overcome even the most challenging years.

Concluding Thoughts: 

I hope that this blog post was a ringing endorsement of the effectiveness of dividend investing in an average person's ability to actively work toward achieving financial independence.

2020 has been one hell of a year to be an investor in terms of volatility, but if there is a single investing strategy that has allowed me to sleep well at night even in the midst of a global pandemic and an election year, it has been dividend investing.

Even in a year of chaos, dividend investing has been one of the few constants in my life, which is why I firmly believe dividend investing is by far the most powerful investing strategy for most regular Joes and Janes.

Discussion:

What's your biggest takeaway from 2020 as a dividend investor?

How has your dividend income fared this year from a dividend announcement standpoint?

As always, I greatly appreciate this audience's readership and welcome any comments that you may have in the comment section below.

September 2020 Dividend Stock Purchases

 As I'm taking the time to write this post, it's nearly the middle of October!

We just experienced our first overnight freeze here in Central Wisconsin a few nights ago, which means that fall is in full effect and our first snowfall is likely just a few weeks ago.

With that side note out of the way, I will be delving into the intent of this post, which is to discuss my dividend stock purchases during September.

Starting with the activity in my retirement account, I deployed $317.43 in capital between my 7% contribution, my employer's 3% contribution, and the $63.66 in dividends during the month that were reinvested.

Net of the $11.44 in sales charges, I deployed $305.99 in capital to my Capital Income Builder (CAIBX) position, which boosted my share count from 125.273 heading into September to 130.445 going into October.

This increased my annual forward dividends by $11.07, which equates to a net yield of 3.62%.

Moving to my Robinhood account, my margin fell from $1,683.91 at the beginning of September to $1,619.88 at the end of September as a result of the net dividends of $64.03 that I received in my Robinhood account during the month.

This reduction in my margin helped to pad my annual forward dividends by $3.20 when factoring in the 5% interest rate on Robinhood margin over the first $1,000.

Concluding Thoughts:

I deployed $370.02 in capital (including dividend reinvestment) during September and added $14.27 in annual forward dividend income as a result of my capital deployment, which works out to an average weighted yield of 3.86%.

When also including the dividend announcements during the month of September for my portfolio, my annual forward dividend income was up just over $17 and I came into October just over 1% away from my all-time high annual forward dividend income of $1,252.

I am continuing to make significant progress in deleveraging my Robinhood margin and anticipate that I will have all margin repaid by the end of October (aside from the $1,000 of interest free margin). My credit card debt was less than $2,000 heading into October (most of which is interest free until next March), which means that I will be able to resume my $1,500/month capital deployment schedule starting in November.

Discussion:

How was your September in terms of capital deployment?

Were you fortunate enough to not have endured a dividend cut in your portfolio's dividend announcements during September?

I appreciate your readership and look forward to replying to your comments in the comment section below!

September 2020 Dividend Income

Summer ended nearly 2 weeks ago and it has become abundantly clear as we just experienced our first overnight freeze here in Central Wisconsin.

In just a few more weeks, we'll likely be experiencing our first snowfall, which will usher in 5 months of unpredictable winter weather!

With that aside, I'll be delving into the intent of this blog post, which is to examine the dividends that I collected during the month of September.

Analysis:

During the month of September, I received $139.46 in net dividends against the $136.28 in dividends that I collected in June 2020, which represents a 2.3% quarterly growth rate.

Even more impressive, is the fact that the $139.46 in net dividends received during the month represents a 99.2% YoY growth rate compared to the $70.00 in dividends collected in September 2019.

Delving into more detail, I received $64.03 in dividends from 20 companies within my Robinhood portfolio net of the $5.00 in Robinhood Gold fees and $2.75 in Robinhood Gold margin costs. I collected $11.30 in dividends from 6 companies within my Webull portfolio. I also collected $63.66 in dividends from my CAIBX mutual fund holding within my employer-sponsored retirement account. Finally, I received $0.47 in dividends from 24 companies within my M1 Finance portfolio.

The additional $3.18 in net dividend income from June 2020 to September came as a result of the following activity within my portfolios:

The dividends that I received from my position in BP Plc (BP) declined $3.46 as a result of BP's recent dividend cut.

I also received an additional $0.04 in dividends from my position in J.M. Smucker (SJM) due to its recent dividend increase.

I received $3.28 less in dividends from my position in Wells Fargo (WFC) as a result of its recent dividend cut.

I received $6.98 in additional dividends as a result of continued contributions to my CAIBX mutual fund holding within my retirement account.

I benefited from $2.91 less in Robinhood margin costs as a result of my commitment to reducing my Robinhood margin used down to $1,000 (as the first $1,000 of margin used is interest free).

My M1 Finance dividend income fell $0.01, which was as a result of BP's dividend cut.

Concluding Thoughts:

September marked yet another record month in terms of dividend income, which is really what the harnessing of DGI in the pursuit of financial independence is all about!

Despite the challenges that COVID-19 have posed for me from a dividend standpoint and the fact that dividend announcements this year have resulted in roughly a 7% decline in my annual forward dividends, my annual forward dividends are currently at a record $1,270 at the time that I am writing this post.

This just goes to show how powerful the DGI strategy is when the three aspects of it are utilized (i.e. fresh capital investment, dividend growth, and dividend reinvestment) even in the middle of the most challenging business environment arguably in most of our lives.

I am looking forward to soon once again resuming my ~$1,500/month capital deployment schedule beginning next month, which I am confident will really begin to advance my annual forward dividends in the most meaningful way since I began investing in September 2017.

Discussion: 

How was your September in terms of dividend income?

Did your portfolio's dividend cuts show themselves for the first time in September as was the case for mine with BP and WFC?

I'm grateful for your readership and welcome your comments in the comment section below!