Expected Dividend Increases for November 2021

As I'm writing this blog post, it is the last week of October and only two months remain in the year. In a couple of weeks, Daylight Saving Time will be hitting Wisconsin. This basically means goodbye to daylight and hello to darkness by 5 PM!

Moving past complaining about the looming winter and to the focus of this blog post, I will be discussing the dividend increases that I received in October and what I'm expecting for November 2021. 

Actual Dividend Increases for October 2021

Dividend Increase #1: American Electric Power (AEP)

As I predicted in the previous post of this series, American Electric Power announced a 5.4% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.74 per share to $0.78 per share. This is a sensible dividend increase since analysts are expecting AEP's EPS to also grow by 5.4% to $4.68 this year.

Across my 11 shares of the stock at the time of the announcement, my net annual forward dividends advanced $1.76 due to AEP's dividend increase.

Dividend Increase #2: Visa (V)

While Visa hasn't announced a dividend increase yet, I anticipate that will happen by October 29th. I am reiterating my previous expectation of a 12.5% increase in the quarterly dividend from $0.32 per share to $0.36 per share. This is because Visa's mid-teen earnings growth that is expected for this year supports such a dividend increase.

If this dividend increase plays out as I anticipate, my net annual forward dividends will grow by $0.48 as a result across my three shares of the stock.

Update: Visa crushed my expectations with its announcement that it was raising its quarterly dividend by 17.2% from $0.32 per share to $0.375 per share! Given that Visa was conservative with its dividend increase last year, it makes sense that the company would want to make it up to investors this year.

Visa's dividend increase helped to boost my net annual forward dividends by $0.66 across my three shares of the stock.

Dividend Increase #3: Exxon Mobil (XOM)

Exxon Mobil was able to extend its dividend increase streak to 38 consecutive years and maintain its status as a Dividend Aristocrat. XOM announced a 1.1% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.87 per share to $0.88 per share. 

Across my 11 shares of the stock, this dividend increase led my net annual forward dividends $0.44 higher.

Dividend Increase #4: Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP)

Magellan Midstream Partners announced a 1% increase in its quarterly distribution from $1.0275 per unit to $1.0375 per unit, which was a welcomed increase.

This increase helped my net annual forward dividends to rise $0.44 across my 11 units of the stock.

Dividend Increase #5: AbbVie (ABBV)

Since I found out that AbbVie is reporting its third quarter earnings the final Friday of October rather than November, I am expecting a dividend increase in October rather than November.

Because analysts are anticipating that ABBV's EPS will surge 19.3% to $12.60 this year, I am confident that ABBV will announce a 10% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.30 per share to $1.43 per share.

Across my seven shares of ABBV, my net annual forward dividends would soar by $3.64 if this dividend increase were to occur.

Update: ABBV announced an 8.5% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.30 per share to $1.41 per share. Even though this was slightly beneath my expectations of a 10% raise, it's incredible that a company of ABBV's size is still handing out high-single-digit dividend increases. The only reason my expectations were so high is because of ABBV's beautiful execution throughout its corporate history.

Across my seven shares of ABBV, my net annual forward dividends surged by $3.08 as a result of the announcement.

Expected Dividend Increases for November 2021

Expected Dividend Increase #1: KeyCorp (KEY)

Because KeyCorp's management team indicated that they would be considering a dividend increase in the fourth quarter on their Q2 2021 earnings call, I believe it is reasonable to expect a 10.8% increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.205 per share from $0.185 per share. This is especially the case since KeyCorp hasn't announced a dividend increase since July 2019, so a bigger increase than usual could be in the works.

If this dividend increase plays out as expected, my net annual forward dividends would advance $1.76 across my 22 shares of the stock.

Expected Dividend Increase #2: Merck (MRK)

The second dividend increase that I'm expecting for November is from Merck.

Since analysts are forecasting 27.2% growth in MRK's EPS this year, I believe that MRK will deliver a solid dividend increase in a few weeks.

That's why I'm expecting MRK will announce a 9.2% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.65 per share to $0.71 per share.

Across my eight shares of MRK, this would raise my net annual forward dividends by $1.92 if the dividend increase works out how I expect.

Expected Dividend Increase #3: Pinnacle West Capital (PNW)

Pinnacle West Capital didn't announce its dividend increase in October, but I expect that it will do so in early November when it reports its earnings. And despite the regulatory headwinds that the company has faced this year, I am still expecting a dividend increase. I am moderating my expectations a bit, so I am lowering my dividend increase from 4.8% to 3.6%.

With my seven shares of PNW stock, my net annual forward dividends would be boosted by $0.84 as a result of such dividend announcement.

Concluding Thoughts:

I received $6.38 in dividend increases from AEP, V, XOM, MMP, and ABBV in October. A $6.38 increase in net annual forward dividends at a 3.5% yield would require a $182.29 investment to replicate.

November 2021 is looking like it will only include three dividend increases, but I will receive $4.52 in dividend increases during the month if all announcements play out the way I expect. This would take $129.14 in capital to match at a 3.5% dividend yield. 

Discussion: 

How was your October 2021 for dividend increases?

Did you receive any first-time dividend increases as I did from AEP in October?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments!