May 2023 Dividend Stock Watch List

As I'm writing this blog post on April 15th, it's my 26th birthday. The temperature here in Central Wisconsin is going to dip down to a high of just 34 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, which is well below the average for this time of year.

With just two weeks left in April, let's take a look at three dividend stocks that are on my watch list for May 2023.

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Dividend Stock #1: Comcast (CMCSA)

The first dividend stock on my watch list for next month is Comcast (CMCSA). Readers can check out my October 2022 Dividend Stock Watch List blog post for more details on why I like the stock.

Basically, CMCSA offers a safe and market-beating 3.1% dividend yield to investors at the current $38 share price (as of April 15, 2023). Coupled with high-single-digit annual earnings growth prospects, this is a nice mix of income and growth. Best of all, the stock is trading at a forward P/E ratio of just 10.4 based on the average analyst EPS estimate of $3.66 for 2023.

Dividend Stock #2: Home Depot (HD)

The next dividend stock on my watch list for May is Home Depot (HD). Interested readers can peruse my Motley Fool article on the stock from last month for the specifics of my investment thesis.

In a nutshell, HD's market-topping 2.9% dividend yield is sustainable. Home ownership doesn't seem as though it will be going out of style anytime soon, which should lead to fairly steady revenue for the home improvement retail industry that HD leads. Finally, analysts anticipate that HD will generate $15.82 in 2023 EPS. Against the current $293 share price (as of April 15, 2023), this equates to a reasonable forward P/E ratio of 18.5.

Dividend Stock #3: Texas Instruments (TXN)

The third dividend stock on my watch list for next month is Texas Instruments (TXN). My investment thesis remains unchanged from last August.

Electronics like smartphones and laptops are becoming a bigger part of our personal and business routines. And TXN's semiconductor chips are what make our modern life possible. This makes the stock's 2.8% dividend yield quite safe moving forward. At the current $180 share price, TXN's forward P/E ratio is sensible at 23.5 based on the average 2023 analyst EPS estimate of $7.63.

Concluding Thoughts:

I expect to again deploy between $3,000 and $3,500 in capital for the month of May. With at least high-single-digit annual dividend growth potential, the stocks on my watch list for next month arguably do a great job of balancing starting income with future growth.

Discussion:

Are any of CMCSA, HD, or TXN on your watch list for May 2023?

If not, what stocks are you monitoring for next month?

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment below!

March 2023 Dividend Income

As I'm writing this blog post, the temperature is expected to reach a high of 57 degrees Fahrenheit today (April 8) here in Central Wisconsin. That's about what you'd expect for this time of year. But the temperature is expected to quickly ramp up to a high of 80 degrees Fahrenheit as soon as Wednesday!

With the month of March over a week behind us at this point, now would be a good time to delve into my dividend income for last month.

During the month of March 2023, I received $392.62 in net dividends. Against the $423.00 in net dividends that I collected in December 2022, this is a quarterly contraction rate of 7.2%.

Compared to the $302.53 in net dividends that I received in March 2022, my net dividends grew by 29.8% over the year-ago period.

Digging deeper, I collected $296.44 in net dividends from 47 companies in my Robinhood portfolio. My net dividends received from the Capital Income Builder (CAIBX) mutual fund within my retirement account were $80.24. I collected $15.40 in net dividends from six companies in my Webull portfolio. Finally, I received $0.54 in net dividends from 25 companies within my M1 Finance account.

The $30.38 decrease in net dividends collected from December 2022 to March 2023 was due to the following activity in my portfolios:

My net dividends received from CAIBX were $73.43 lower within my retirement account. This was because in the prior period I received a special dividend.

I collected an extra $4.60 in net dividends from Broadcom (AVGO) in my Robinhood and Webull portfolios, which was the result of my purchase of another share in January 2023.

My net dividends received from PepsiCo (PEP) were an additional $4.62 within my Robinhood and M1 Finance accounts. That is due to the timing of PEP's dividend payment.

I collected $12.20 more in net dividends from Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of the timing of the dividend payment and my purchase of another four shares in February 2023.

My net dividends received from Union Pacific (UNP) were $1.30 higher within my Robinhood account. This was due to my purchase of another share in December 2022.

I collected an extra $0.40 in net dividends from BP plc (BP) in my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of a 10.1% payout hike in February.

My net dividends received from Main Street Capital (MAIN) in my Robinhood account were $4.32 higher. This was due to my purchase of another six more shares of MAIN in January and a higher special dividend.

I collected an additional $0.68 in net dividends from Shell (SHEL) within my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of a 15% lift in the dividend in February.

My net dividends received from L3Harris Technologies (LHX) were $0.08 higher in my Robinhood account. This was due to a 1.8% raise in the dividend back in February.

I collected an extra $0.57 in net dividends from Home Depot (HD) within my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of the 10% raise announced in February.

My net dividends received from BlackRock (BLK) in my Robinhood account were up $0.24. This was due to the 2.5% dividend increase in January.

I collected an additional $0.50 in net dividends from Prudential Financial (PRU) within my Robinhood and Webull portfolios, which was the result of the 4.2% raise declared in February.

My net dividends received from STAG Industrial (STAG) were $0.01 higher in my Robinhood account. This was due to the 0.7% dividend increase announced in January.

I collected an extra $0.38 in net dividends from NextEra Energy (NEE) within my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of the 10% raise declared in February.

My net dividends received from Realty Income (O) were $0.11 more in my Robinhood account. This was due to the 2.4% raise in the monthly dividend back in February.

I collected an additional $3.09 in net dividends from Tractor Supply (TSCO) within my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of my dividend stock purchase in December 2022.

My net dividends received from 3M (MMM) increased by $0.06 in my Robinhood account. This was due to the 0.7% dividend bump in February.

I collected an extra $0.50 in net dividends from United Parcel Service (UPS) within my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of the 6.6% dividend increase in January.

My net dividends received from American Electric Power (AEP) were $3.32 higher in my Robinhood account. This was due to my purchase of four more shares in January.

I collected an additional $1.36 in net dividends from Microsoft (MSFT) within my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of my purchase of two more shares last November.

My net dividends received from Amgen (AMGN) were $5.02 more in my Robinhood account. This was due to my purchase of two shares in January and the 9.8% dividend increase last December.

I collected an extra $0.17 in net dividends from Pfizer (PFE) within my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of the 2.5% payout raise in December.

My net dividends received from Aflac (AFL) were $0.22 higher in my Robinhood account. This was due to the 5% dividend increase last November.

I collected an additional $3.54 in net dividends from WEC Energy Group (WEC) within my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of both a dividend hike in January and my purchase of four more shares in February.

My net dividends received from Coca-Cola were $4.40 lower within my Robinhood account. This was due to the timing of the dividend payment.

I collected an extra $0.12 in net dividends from T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) in my Robinhood portfolio, which was the result of the recent 1.7% dividend increase announced in February.

My net dividends received were $0.04 higher within my M1 Finance account. This was due to the timing of Fastenal's (FAST) $0.03 dividend payment and the $0.01 dividend from the recently spun-off Brookfield Corp (BN).

Concluding Thoughts:

Given that my typical capital deployment each month is in the neighborhood of $3,000 to $3,500, this should be my final end of quarter month with net dividends under $400.

Discussion:

How was your dividend income last month?

Did you receive any first-time dividends last month like I did with TSCO and BN?

Thanks for your readership. Please leave your comments below!

March 2023 Dividend Stock Purchases

As I'm writing this blog post on March 31, the temperatures here in Central Wisconsin remain frigid for this time of the year. The high is expected to reach just 41 degrees Fahrenheit later today.

With that aside, the end of the month means now would be a good time to look at the stock purchases that I made during March 2023.

Starting with my retirement account, I reinvested $80.24 in net dividends received from my mutual fund named Capital Income Builder (CAIBX). This purchased 1.293 shares of CAIBX, which boosted my net annual forward dividends by $2.75 at an annualized dividend per share of $2.13. That's equivalent to a 3.43% weighted average dividend yield.

My first dividend stock purchase in my taxable accounts during the month was three shares of Lowe's (LOW) at an average cost per share of $196.69. Readers interested in my buying rationale can refer to my March 2023 Dividend Stock Watch List blog post. This transaction boosted my net annual forward dividends by $12.60, which equates to a 2.14% net dividend yield.

The next dividend stock buy that I made in March was one share of Mastercard (MA) at a share price of $353.89. Again, readers can check out my aforementioned blog post for the basic investment thesis. This dividend stock purchase lifted my net annual forward dividends by $2.28, which works out to a 0.64% dividend yield.

My third dividend stock purchase during the month was four shares of AbbVie (ABBV) at an average cost per share of $156.09. Readers can once again view my aforementioned blog post for further explanation as to why I executed this transaction. My net annual forward dividends surged higher by $23.68, which is equivalent to a 3.79% net dividend yield.

The first non-dividend stock buy that I completed in March was 1.5 shares of Amazon (AMZN) at an average cost of $98.14 a share. My reasons for buying the tech juggernaut remain the same as when I opened a position in the stock nearly a year ago.

The other non-dividend stock that I purchased last month was one share of Alphabet (GOOGL) at a share price of $105.53. Like AMZN, the investment thesis guiding my purchase decision remains unchanged from when I started my position in the stock last July.

The fourth dividend stock that I added to in March was one share of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) at a total cost of $465.88. Readers wanting to know the investment thesis behind this transaction can check out my Motley Fool article from January. This dividend stock purchase added $6.60 to my net annual forward dividends, which equates to a 1.42% dividend yield.

The next dividend stock that I purchased last month was two shares of Tractor Supply (TSCO) at an average price per share of $230.33. Interested readers can take a look at my Motley Fool article from February for more detail on why I like the stock. This transaction raised my net annual forward dividends by $8.24, which works out to a 1.79% net dividend yield.

The sixth dividend stock that I added to in March was a share of Dollar General (DG) at a total cost of $207.02. Readers can check out my recent Motley Fool article for why I'm bullish toward the stock. This dividend stock purchase helped my net annual forward dividends to edge higher by $2.36, which is equivalent to a 1.14% dividend yield.

The final dividend stock purchase that I executed last month was a share of Automatic Data Processing (ADP) at a price per share of $219.94. Curious readers can skim the previous post in the series for my investment thesis. My net annual forward dividends increased by $5.00, which equates to a 2.42% net dividend yield.

Concluding Thoughts:

I deployed $3,254.78 in capital during the month of March. These dividend stock purchases boosted my net annual forward dividends by $63.51, which works out to a weighted-average dividend yield of 1.95%.

Along with $6.678 in dividend increases that I received for the month, my net annual forward dividends rose from nearly $3,585 heading into the month to almost $3,655 to end the month.

Discussion:

How was your capital deployment during March 2023?

Did you start any new positions in the month?

I appreciate your readership and look forward to your comments below.

Expected Dividend Increases for April 2023

As I'm writing this blog post, it's the last few days of March. The high temperature is expected to reach 44 degrees Fahrenheit today (March 25) here in Central Wisconsin, which is a bit below the average high for this time of year.

With that aside, now would be a good time to discuss dividend increases that I received in March. I am not expecting any additional payout bumps in the next few days, but will update this post if needed. I'll also look ahead to the dividend raises that I am forecasting for next month.

Actual Dividend Increases for March 2023

Dividend Increase #1: General Dynamics (GD)

General Dynamics declared a 4.8% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $1.32. This came in a bit below the 7.1% raise that I was expecting.

My net annual forward dividends edged $0.96 higher across my four shares of GD due to the payout raise.

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

W.P. Carey announced a 0.2% bump in its quarterly payout per share to $1.067, which was less than the 0.4% increase that I predicted.

Across my seven shares of WPC, my net annual forward dividends inched upward by $0.056 as a result of the dividend announcement.

Dividend Increase #3: Realty Income (O)

Realty Income declared a 0.2% increase in its monthly dividend per share to $0.255. That was precisely as I projected.

My net annual forward dividends were lifted by $0.102 across my 17 shares of O due to the payout bump.

Dividend Increase #4: Dollar General (DG)

Dollar General announced a 7.3% hike in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.59, which wasn't the 10.9% boost that I was anticipating.

Across my three shares of DG, my net annual forward dividends increased by $0.48 as a result of the dividend announcement.

Dividend Increase #5: Williams-Sonoma (WSM)

Williams-Sonoma declared a 15.4% lift in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.90. This was more than double the 6.4% raise that I was predicting.

My net annual forward dividends were boosted by $4.80 across my 10 shares of WSM due to the payout increase.

Dividend Increase #6: Medifast (MED)

Medifast announced a 0.6% bump in its quarterly dividend per share to $1.65.

Across my seven shares of MED, my net annual forward dividends inched $0.28 higher as a result of the dividend announcement.

Dividend Freeze #1: American Tower (AMT)

American Tower kept its quarterly dividend per share in line with the previous at $1.56, which was below my expectation of a 1.3% increase.

Dividend Freeze #2: Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR)

Innovative Industrial Properties held its quarterly dividend per share in line with the prior of $1.80, which was less than the 1.1% raise I was projecting.

Expected Dividend Increases for April 2023

Expected Dividend Increase #1: Southern Company (SO)

The first dividend increase that I'm expecting for next month is from Southern Company. I believe SO will announce a 2.9% bump in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.70.

My net annual forward dividends would increase by $0.40 across my five shares of SO if this raise were to play out as expected.

Expected Dividend Increase #2: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

The next payout hike that I am projecting in April will be from Johnson & Johnson. My best guess is that JNJ will declare a 6.2% increase in its quarterly dividend per share to $1.20.

Across my five shares, my net annual forward dividends would be lifted by $1.40 from such a dividend declaration.

Expected Dividend Increase #3: Raytheon Technologies (RTX)

The third dividend increase that I'm forecasting for next month is from Raytheon Technologies. I predict that RTX will announce a 7.3% hike in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.59.

My net annual forward dividends would increase by $1.12 across my seven shares of RTX due to such a dividend announcement.

Expected Dividend Increase #4: International Business Machines (IBM)

The next payout hike that I am forecasting in April will be from International Business Machines. My forecast is for a 3% bump in the quarterly dividend per share to $1.70.

Across my six shares of IBM, my net annual forward dividends would rise by $1.20 from such a dividend declaration.

Expected Dividend Increase #5: American Water Works (AWK)

The fifth dividend increase that I'm projecting for next month is from American Water Works. I believe that AWK will announce a 9.1% hike in its quarterly dividend per share to $0.72.

My net annual forward dividends would be lifted by $0.96 across my four shares of AWK from such an announcement.

Concluding Thoughts:

The six dividend increases that I received during March boosted my net annual forward dividends by $6.678. That's equivalent to investing $190.80 at a 3.5% dividend yield.

If I receive five dividend raises in the amount of $5.08 as I expect in April, this would be like investing $145.14 at a 3.5% net dividend yield.

Discussion:

How many dividend increases did you receive in March?

Did you receive any first-time payout hikes as I did with DG?

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment below!