Another month is in the books, which means it’s time for another dividend income report.
After a record-breaking June where I crossed $1K in dividend income for the first time ever, one would expect July to deliver dividends with much less fanfare.
That may be the case, however, any income is good income. It all helps to build up my Portfolio. My progress this year has been better than expected, and I’m on pace to achieve most of my 2018 Portfolio goals. July’s dividend income will keep my goals in sight.
Let’s see how I did…
Dividend Income
July’s dividend income came in at $508.67. This looks small compared to last month, but it’s actually a very good number.
Compared to the $430.83 from July 2017, this was a very respectable 18.07% YoY increase.
This month’s dividend total also extended my streak of $500+ months to eight! It was close, but I did it – my closest margin yet. My SCANA (SCG) sale in early June put the streak in jeopardy. It’s great to see the streak remain alive!
A total of 13 companies paid me a dividend this month. The largest amount came from longtime holding RPM International (RPM), delivering $74.12. The lowest amount came from Comcast (CMCSA), at $19.11. CMCSA is on my watchlist, so it may not bring up the rear much longer.
The dividend amounts from Cardinal Health (CAH), Realty Income (O) and Nike (NKE) mainly increased as a result of additional purchases over the past year.
Increased amounts for the other companies were a result of dividend increases and reinvested dividends over the past year.
The less-than-exciting increased dividend from Air Lease (AL) was mainly a result of a partial sale nearly one year ago. Happily, AL’s dividend raise and my reinvested dividends outweighed the lost income due to the partial sale.
Two new dividend payers arrived this July compared to last, Altria (MO) and CMCSA. I’m always happy to welcome new dividend payers into the Portfolio. 🙂
Unfortunately, July saw two dividend sources leave: SCG and Ensign Group (ENSG). I sold SCG as I felt the dividend was at risk, and other opportunities looked better. I sold ENSG once I thought it became overvalued.
In the “Add’l Fwd Inc” column, I show the amount of additional annual forward dividend income that resulted from reinvesting each of this month’s paid dividends. July saw an addition of $13.58 from this category.
This was my smallest amount this year, and a few things contributed to this. First, my Bank OZK (OZK) dividend did not get reinvested. I suspect his was a result of the ticker symbol change from OZRK to OZK, and it didn’t get handled appropriately/on-time at my broker. Second, my MO dividend did not get reinvested either. However, this was entirely my fault, as I forgot to change the dividend setting for this new Portfolio stock to “reinvest” at my broker. Lastly, the sale of SCG hurt my totals, as SCG was one of my larger dividend payers and higher yielding stocks, too.
On the bright side, reinvesting my WPC dividend generated over $4 of additional forward dividend income all by itself.
Dividend Raises
July brought multiple dividend raises, including three unexpected ones!
In total, I had 6 Portfolio companies raise their dividend. On an annualized basis, none of the raises were less than 8%…. Oh yeah!
Newly named Bank OZK (OZK) led things off with a raise of a little over 2.5%. OZK has been raising their dividend quarterly, one half penny each time, so in effect, this would translate to an annual raise of over 10%.
This was followed by both Fastenal (FAST) and Blackrock (BLK) unexpectedly delivering their 2nd raise of 2018, each over 8%.
The biggest raise came from Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), which raised their dividend nearly 19%. Woohoo!
I was pleasantly surprised that Hershey (HSY) provided a raise of 10%. This was a nice bump to the raise percentages that had been delivered in recent years.
Finally, Union Pacific (UNP) announced their 2nd raise of 2018, and 3rd in the last 9 months! This month’s raise was nearly 10%, bringing the total for all 3 raises over 32%!
These raises contributed $97.69 to my annual forward dividend income, which now stands at about $8,568. I was oh so close to reaching the $100 mark for the month. It would have been the 3rd time ever, and all in this year. It apparently wasn’t meant to be, but the total helps catapult me even closer to my forward dividend income goal of $8,700 for 2018.
I’d have to invest $3,686.42 at my portfolio’s average yield of 2.65% in order to equal the same boost to my annual forward dividend income that these dividend raises provided.
Next month I expect to see a dividend raise from Illinois Tool Works. (ITW)… which would make it a quiet month if it’s the only one.
Dividends Due To New Investment
Speaking of quiet, I had no Portfolio purchases or sales in July.
Thus, there was no change to my forward dividend income as a result of investment activity.
While I would have liked to put a positive number on the board in July (instead of $0), it beats the negative total I had in June. So, I guess I could say I had an improvement from last month!
Summary
I would say the 2nd half of 2018 got off to a good start with regard to dividend income.
I collected dividends from a baker’s dozen of companies (13). The YoY growth of the dividend income was solid at 18%, too. Lastly, I stayed above the $500 mark for dividend income for an 8th consecutive month.
Dividend raises continue to be a major contributor to my increasing forward dividend income. July saw 6 dividend raises, including 3 unexpected ones from companies that already provided a raise earlier in 2018. Outstanding!
My forward dividend income totals are usually boosted by the combination of reinvested dividends, dividend raises, and investment of new capital. Unfortunately, the investment of new capital took a month off in July. Nevertheless, I continue to track this trifecta of income boosters each month this year, in the table below.
As I mentioned last month, I don’t foresee a bunch of new capital investment for the remainder of the year, and that was certainly true for July. However, ‘Dividend Raises’ delivered a tidy sum, and kept my forward dividend income moving up at a good clip.
July’s results have left me needing only $132 (or $26.40/mo.) of new forward dividend income to reach my goal of $8,700 by year’s end. It’s possible I could do this with reinvested dividends alone, and no dividend raises or investment of new capital. Needless to say, I’m feeling confident about reaching the $8,700 target I set.
How did the first month of the second half of the year treat you? Do your dividend raises continue to amaze in 2018? I look forward to reading your comments!
I have updated the Portfolio & Dividends pages in conjunction with this monthly update.
ITW and HSY are at the top of my watchlist. Glad to see HSY deliver for you. Your dividend raises were amazing this month! It’s great that they can passively carry you through the last two months. Very inspiring!
ITW – 28.2%!! Congrats!
Oh yeah! ITW does it again! Last year’s raise was outstanding as well. They’ve got some serious dividend growth going on.
Hi Dozer. The dividend raises have definitely been strong this year. February was amazing for me in that regard with well over $200 of annual forward dividend income added… all for doing nothing!
Nice month in what is typically a fairly quiet month (definitely was for me other than the new capital that I added) and a solid double-digit YoY increase! Well done ED!
I still need to improve on my tracking of dividend raises, and your update shows just how awesome those can be even when not adding fresh capital. Your goal is within striking distance!
Thanks, DivvyDad. With your recent capital additions you can look forward to some nice dividend income growth in the very near future.
The dividend raises have been spectacular in 2018. As Dividend Dozer just pointed out… I received another massive raise today from ITW. If these awesome raises continue through the end of the year, I have a chance to blow away my 2018 goal of $8700 in forward dividend income by year’s end.
I highly recommend keeping track of where the forward dividend income is being generated. It provides an interesting insight into what’s powering the portfolio. Plus, years from now it will be incredible to look back and see how the income sources have changed over time.
Agree, I need to tweak my process as my current portfolio spreadsheet updates automatically and pulls in the new dividend amounts so I will probably have to manually track those. You’re spot on too with being able to look back and see how the sources have changed to really see the power of dividend increases and reinvesting dividends.
Looking at your table above, the $630 in dividend increases would be equivalent of investing about $23k at your current average yield. That’s amazing! And you didn’t have to do a thing to get that other than make the original purchases and reinvest dividends.
I’ll be working on a better way to track my raises, as well as what the dividends received are adding in forward income like you have done.
Thanks for sharing your July income numbers, Engineering Dividends! $508.67 does not seem like a small dividend income amount to me. Congrats on the 18.07% yoy increase. And 8 straight $500 + months is awesome! $500 per month has become your new norm. Those are some nice dividend raises as well that will help contribute to higher income in the future. An extra $97.69 to your forward dividend income is a lot. That’s like investing another $3500 approximately at a 3% rate ( I wrote this before reading your next line where you calculated the amount at 2.5%). That’s the best way to view the value of dividend growth. Thanks again for sharing. Your reports always get me so inspired to analyze dividend investing in different ways.
Love to share the numbers, RTC… and glad to inspire some new analysis for you. You’ve got a good plan in place and staying the course will yield big numbers in the not too distant future.
It was a little close in terms of crossing $500 this month, but now that it’s done, I’m hoping I won’t get so close again, and that every month from here on out is comfortably over $500. I’ll probably keep track of the steak through the end of the year, but then I’ll have to set my sites higher. I am quite happy with YoY growth of 18%, but I’d have to imagine that will take a nosedive in the coming year, as I don’t foresee the same level of new capital investment.
Almost $100 for me due to dividend increases was awesome… it certainly was a great month in that regard.
Engineering Dividends,
I’m so pumped for you. When you told me how many dividend increase you received this month on my article, I had to run over and see it for myself. $97 in additional dividend income! That’s freaking amazing. Congratulations on the additional income and yet another strong month. Oh yeah, enjoy that 28% increase from ITW too. Thanks for the extra motivation this morning.
Bert
Hey Bert! Over $97 from dividend raises was terrific… If only I could do that every month. August is already off to a good start with two raises, including that blowout number from ITW. The Portfolio is doing lots of work for me this year! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
You had a solid number of dividend increases this month, awesome! I love the added forward income column, I would like to add something similiar but in The Netherlands we can’t reinvest our dividends into fractional shares so it’s a bit more complicated. All in all you are looking solid with your 8 months of +€500 of income, it looks like a nice place to be and I hope to reach it too!
DI
Thanks DI! I’m sure you’ll reach your goals, no matter what level you set. Time will work its magic for you. Starting is usually the hard part and you already accomplished that. Just keep investing what you can.
Yes, those dividend increases were awesome. They are really powering my Portfolio this year.
Nice month. I had similar growth numbers even though they are smaller dividend numbers. Always a good thing seeing so many dividend increases. Few new positions on the list pulling their weight as well.
The growth was great. I’d be happy to keep up an 18% rate, especially as the totals get bigger.
Dividend increases have been amazing this year… I was happy to collect another handful in July.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Daze.
Hi ED,
As always, a thorough summary of the month from you! And again a great example of a well established dividend snowball – it’s amazing how much forward dividend income was added without investing any additional capital – got to love it! 🙂
I received a tiny amount from O and also some from CSCO this month. I haven’t received any dividend increases from my companies, unfortunately, maybe next month 🙂
-BI
Hey BI. Yeah, over $100 in new forward dividend income without investing anything… I agree, gotta love it!
I seem to recall you had a dividend raise streak going just a while back, no? Time to start another one in August.
Keep at it!
Hey ED,
Nice that you got a 2nd bump from BLK. I don’t own BLK, but I was just over at Dividend Diplomats and found out NSC (which I do own) just raised for a 2nd time this year. I was happily surprised with that. I don’t own HSY, but I am equally impressed as you with the 10% hike. The solid economy plus the drop in corporate tax rates is really making this a good year for dividend increases. One of the better years I can remember. Tom
Hi Tom. Those 2nd dividend raises, from 3 companies of mine, were awesome. Railroads (such as NSC for you) seem to be sharing the wealth, as UNP raised for the 2nd time this year, and 3rd time in 9 months.
It always nice to find out about a dividend raise, especially one that you aren’t expecting. I’m hoping the strong raises continue while they can. Eventually, they’ll have to slow down.
Good job. You have some great dividend raises not only this month but over the year. Plus the streak of $500 plus months. I’m hoping to eventually over the next couple of months to hit over $400 consistently. Keep it up
Hey Doug! Over $400 each month is a tremendous accomplishment. I’ll be on the lookout for that with you.
Yes, dividend raises have been stellar this year. Looking forward, I don’t think I have many companies left that are still slated to offer an increase this year. However, there’s always the unexpected ones – like the 3 I got in July… a terrific surprise to say the least.
Congrats on the dividend increases ED, it’s a beautiful thing to see! I must admit though, even though I focus on Fully Franked dividends, I’m still a value investor first and foremost, and get more excited when I see assets for sale at bargain prices. I also have an engineering background, and can’t help but feel that returns can be further optimized in the long run by buying good assets at cheap prices – all with the long-term goal of generating greater capital to pay those beautiful fully franked dividends!
Cheers, Frankie
Thanks, Frankie. Those dividend increases are a beautiful thing alright.
I agree completely with your thought that it’s not enough to just buy the dividend, but it should be obtained by purchasing the stock at a fair or bargain price. Don’t overlook the total return.
Appreciate you stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
What a nice list of quality names which paid you a dividend in July. Your progress is amazing. The raise of UNP was indeed unexpected. Your positions in HSY, ITW and O make me jealous ☺️
I like the tables in your blog posts. Very insightful analysis.
Good luck woth maintaining the 18% growth rate. Congratulations with a fantastic month! 🥂
Hi DC. You have some O already, but perhaps you mean more. There are stocks in your portfolio I wouldn’t mind adding as well. How about AAPL, CMI and DIS. Is trading stocks allowed? 🙂 It should be, but I’d imagine it might get complicated with the cost basis and tax implications to deal with.
2018 has been good to my Portfolio so far. I hope to keep it going.
Glad you like the tables. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Strong again ED! We share CAH and O this month. Dang you’re monthly is my yearly forward income. Lol. It will take me a while to get where you are!
Whoa… sorry about the delay in this reply Mr. Robot. Somehow I lost track of your comment!
Don’t worry about a slow start… the dividends will start off slowly and then get rolling. Just stay focused on the investing.
O is looking strong again after a pullback earlier this year. CAH is still mired in uncertainty, but hopefully that won’t persist much longer.
Hi,
I can see a great process of your dividend income. You can be really proud of it that you are already that far with your monthly dividend income 508 USD is a nice number :).
Keep on investing!
Welcome, DI… and thanks! $500+ is awesome. It’s been a few years of work to get here and now I’m hoping my Portfolio can start doing more of the work as I potentially scale back my capital investments.
Any income is good income is so true… especially if it comes in a passive manner. Looks like your portfolio is rocking on with your income and increases too. Nice to see a couple names in common paying us. Keep up the good work.
It’s been a good year so far, DivHut. I know ITW is one of our common companies. The stellar dividend raise from ITW this month helps make up for some of this year’s downturn in stock price. Could be time to add a few shares!