As the months roll by, I continue to collect stock dividends. Those dividends sometimes seem to ring the register faster than I count them, but that’s a nice problem to have. August didn’t disappoint me in terms of delivering dividends, as you’ll learn.
With this August dividend report we are two-thirds of the way through the year. Time to get focused on the home stretch for 2019! Two of my 2019 Portfolio Goals appear well in hand, but I may only have a remote possibility of achieving the third.
With all the volatility in August, my Portfolio declined in value a bit, but it held up better than I expected. In the past few months, I appear to be providing some distance between my Portfolio return and that of the S&P 500. We’ll see if I can maintain this lead through year’s end (when I actually record my performance), but I’m encouraged by my Portfolio thus far in 2019 given that I’ve lagged behind the S&P in each of the past two years.
I didn’t invest much cash in August to help with increasing my future dividend income, but I did reshuffle my Portfolio a bit, and the transactions netted an increase in my forward dividend income. Add in the fact that I’m reinvesting my monthly dividends, and receiving a few dividend raises each month, and my future dividend income just keeps increasing. So beautiful to witness.
August turned out to be another rung in my ladder to financial independence. I’ll keep climbing, but before then, let’s check out August’s dividend details!
Dividend Income
In August, I received a dividend total of $751.30. Three quarters of the way to $1K… sweet. In addition, I was able to post a healthy 17.38% YoY increase compared to the $640.07 from August 2018. Progress like this will always put a smile on my face.
A total of 17 companies paid me a dividend this month. Abbvie (ABBV) delivered the largest amount with $119.08. Procter & Gamble (PG) wasn’t too far behind. By this time next year PG should be sending me $100+ on a quarterly basis, too. The smallest dividend amount came from D.R. Horton (DHI) at $15.17. A different company will be the smallest next quarter as DHI recently exited my Portfolio.
The increased dividend amounts from ABBV, Lowe’s Companies (LOW), and Texas Instruments (TXN) were primarily the 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.
A couple of stocks saw a reduced payout for me compared to last year due to partial sales of their stock. Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI) was trimmed in stages over the past year as I wanted to reduce its dividend income weight. Meanwhile, Hormel Foods (HRL) was trimmed last November due to valuation.
August brought three new dividend payers compared to last year. General Dynamics (GD) arrived in my Portfolio this past April – it’s been a great performer thus far. Zions Bancorp. (ZION) is a more recent addition. This is my first ZION dividend payout. Lastly, I have DHI. This will be my last DHI dividend, as it recently departed my Portfolio as part of an assigned option.
There was only one dividend from last year that disappeared this time around. It belongs to Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) which paid in August last year, but is paying in September this year. So, a hit to my August totals, but a nice boost coming for September.
I recorded an additional forward dividend income boost of $26.08 thanks to reinvesting my dividends in August. This exceeds my unofficial target of $25 for a month.
Starting this year, I introduced another column in the dividend income table to show the actual number of “New Shares” that were purchased with the reinvested dividends. In August, my reinvested dividends resulted in the purchase of nearly 11.5 new shares of stock.
All dividends got reinvested in August except the one from DHI, as the position was closed out prior to the dividend payment (so nothing to reinvest in).
Dividend Raises
It was another good month with regard to dividend raises. My streak of 3 or more each month continues.
In August, I had 4 companies announce a dividend raise. All raises were expected for the most part.
The month was kicked off with a raise announcement from newly formed TCF Financial (TCF), arising from a merger of existing regional banks TCF and Chemical Financial (CHFC). I owned shares of CHFC prior to the merger and was expecting a raise in July. However, any dividend raise was delayed due to the pending merger at the time. The merger closed on August 1st, and a one penny raise (2.94%) accompanied the merger completion. This was certainly less than I was hoping for, but I’m sure there’s some uncertainty surrounding the financials at the beginning of the merger, so I’ll provide TCF a pass this time around. Hopefully, I’ll see something more impressive next year.
The next day, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) announced a 7% raise. This was a major step down from last year’s 28% raise for ITW, but I’d hazard to guess it’s above the average I’m seeing this year for my Portfolio stocks. Thus, no complaints here.
Needless to say then, SWKS came in well above the average when they announced a 15.79% raise. SWKS is one of my lower-yielding, lower payout ratio stocks that I look to for significant dividend growth… and they did not disappoint.
Lastly, Altria (MO) announced a 5% dividend raise in the latter half of the month. Considering all the issues MO is currently dealing with, and it’s already significant yield, a 5% raise exceeded my expectations.
These dividend raises contributed $67.46 to my additional forward dividend income. This was my best total from raises since February.
I’d have to invest $2,480.15 at my Portfolio’s current average yield of 2.72% in order to equal the same boost to my annual forward dividend income that these dividend raises provided.
Looking forward to September, I expect to see at least 3 dividend raise announcements. I’m expecting to see annual increases from TXN, as well as small quarterly ones from REITs Realty Income (O) and W.P. Carey (WPC). I have some expectation for a raise announcement from Starbucks (SBUX) soon, after 5 consecutive quarters with no increase. SBUX is difficult to predict though, as they’ve chosen a different announcement month in each of the last 4 years.
Dividends Due To New Investment
I had a net investment of $87.57 after a couple of stock sales and a few purchases (to re-deploy the sale proceeds). All totaled, there were 7 stocks involved.
An investment of less than $100 doesn’t seem like it would help much with generating significant additional forward dividend income, but it did.
In fact, my forward dividend income increased by $50.13 after all the transactions.
You can find out how by reading all the details in these recent posts: Recent Sell – DHI & CAH and Recent Buy – EMN, JPM, UNH, CAT, AL.
Tallying Up The Additional Forward Dividend Income
This year I continue with tracking the additional forward dividend income generated each month from the trifecta of sources: reinvested dividends, dividend raises, and new capital investment.
I’m also showing 2018’s totals so that that we can compare as the year goes along.
As noted in previous 2019 reports, I anticipate that my Reinvested Dividends total will move higher in 2019, but that I’ll see a reduction in the total from the Dividend Raises and the Investment of Capital.
No record numbers to report here, but steady progress was made. It remains a tight race between ‘Dividend Raises’ and ‘Investment of Capital’ right now, but I still expect Dividend Raises to prevail by the end of the year. I’m hoping I can reach $325 in the ‘Reinvested Dividends’ category.
For 2019, my average monthly amount of additional forward dividend income being generated has crept up to a bit over $137/mo. I’m not sure I’ll have much new ‘Investment of Capital’ from now through year’s end, so expect that average to come down a bit over the next 4 months.
Progress Charts
The following are progress charts, also available on my Dividends page.
On an annual basis, here’s what the dividend totals look like.
I now believe that $10K in actual annual dividends is going to happen in 2019! Given my existing total through August, and my projections for the remaining 4 months of 2019, I just need to stay on the course I’m on and it will happen.
Summary
August proved to be another outstanding month for dividend income. Over $751 came in, resulting in over 17% YoY growth.
Four dividend raises were announced for various stocks in my Portfolio, leading to the largest forward dividend income addition due to raises that I’ve had in a month since February.
There were several transactions that occurred in my Portfolio in August, involving 7 different stocks. It was mainly a reshuffle within the Portfolio, as the net investment was small.
As the end of August arrived, my Portfolio’s forward dividend income stood at $10,373.60. This is an average of $864.47/mo. I continue my journey toward reaching $12K in annual forward dividend income (or $1K/mo.) sometime in 2020.
With an end-of-quarter month just ahead, dividend totals will climb even faster with next month’s report… so exciting! See you then…
Is your portfolio making the dividend income progress you want in 2019? If so, what’s been the key to your success? If not, what’s holding back the income generation you desire? I’d love to hear about it in the Comments!
I have updated the Portfolio & Dividends pages in conjunction with this monthly update.
Wow that’s awesome. That looks like an excellent month for you. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, BHL. The dividend total was great, as was the YoY growth. Bigger and better things are ahead!
ED,
17% YoY growth…dang son that is down right respectable and one that I would love to achieve, Who doesn’t love to see double digit growth?
Now that your 10K goal is well in hand $12K looks very achievable. Looking forward to seeing next months growth,
Regards,
Ken
I’m with you… I love the double digit growth, Ken.
Next month is shaping up to provide a record dividend total, so I’m looking forward to that. I can’t wait to share the details.
That’s a great month! Congrats on crossing 750 in August, very cool. Those are some solid companies you have paying out this month. Keep it up!
-Divcome
I’ll keep working it, for sure, Divcome. $750 for now… $1K in the future.
It will take some effort to reach $1K in these non quarter-ending months, but it will be awesome when it happens. Maybe it will happen sooner than I think. 🙂
Congrats on a $750+ month ED! You had some nice dividend raises as well. Keep it up! 🙂
Thanks, MDD. $750 for the month is a nice threshold to cross.
Those dividend raises are the key to my future dividend income. As you can see from my additional forward dividend income table, the 2018 raises generated more future income for me than my 2018 investments. It appears the same will happen in 2019. So terrific to see!
Congrats on the awesome month! Always inspiring. $750 is a bit of a magic number for me as that’s what I would hope to get if I rented out rooms in my house. No roommate headaches with dividends!
I revisited and added a bit to my PG holdings and have to give you some credit. Your PG performance check has been stuck in my mind since I read it way back whenever.
However that income arrives is all good, Dozer. However, I hear you with regards to the roommate headaches… quite the unknown.
PG has certainly been a long-term winner for me. They’ve had some rough stretches for sure, but still quite consistent over the years. I’ve recorded over a 10% annualized return since my first purchase in 1995. I think any of us would be stoked with such a return over such a long period of time. Too bad I didn’t invest more way back then.
Great stuff ED! Over $750 and solid YoY growth. And man seeing that you’re going to cross $10k in dividends has me a bit jealous! Although we did cross $10k in forward dividends for all of our portfolios and are inching closer to $7.5k for the main FI Portfolio. All the best and looking forward to September’s haul!
Sadly, I haven’t been investing as much this year, so I expect the YoY growth to cool down moving forward. But, if I can crack double digits for growth on a regular basis, I’ll be satisfied.
Yes, I’m on my way to registering $10K in actual dividends this year. I wasn’t sure it was going to be on the table for me just a few months ago, but my projections show it’s going to happen. Sweet!
If I’m not mistaken, I recall in some of your comments that you are getting ready to escalate your investing. If that’s the case, $10K will be yours before you know it.
Sept. is looking like it will be a record dividend month for me. I hope it will be the same for you. Appreciate you stopping by and commenting!
Great month as always. Looks to me like you got $10k easy, maybe close to 11k.
I don’t think I’ll make $11K for actual dividend income… maybe $11K for forward dividend income, although I’m not too sure on that.
But hey, I’m stoked about being on track for $10K in actual dividend income, PC. I’ve just got to stay the course.
What’s not to like ED, you are firing on all cylinders and you’ve got $751 to show for it. Awesome results all around. We share no less then 7 companies this month so I must be doing something right. 🙂
I hear you on a monster september dividend month, I just found out I’m going to receive my first special dividend so I’m definitely breaking €100 for the first time. Hopefully I’ll be able to make that every month somewhere at the end of the year.
Let’s keep pushing!
Nice… 7 companies? That’s a fair amount… almost half of my total. That’s some pretty good overlap.
Oooo, a special dividend. I like those. I hope it’s a big one.
$100/mo. will be a common occurrence for you in no time, Mr. Robot. I agree… let’s keep pushing to invest.
What a great month ED! YoY increase of more than $100 is impressive as well!
You are at least the third blogger I see with ABBV being the top dividend payer this month. Maybe I should also add to this company? 🙂 I’m just a bit worried about their debt.
Anyway, all is looking very nice for you. Hopefully, you will hit the $10k mark. Looking forward to see if you manage to do it! 🙂
Thanks, BI. ABBV certainly has a high yield, so it makes it easier for it to claim the top dividend payer spot. With it already having a decent dividend weight in my Portfolio, I haven’t been adding any of it recently. That plus some of the uncertainly surrounding the stock is enough for me to feel like my position is just fine as it is.
I think $10K is looking very good, BI. It should make these next few months to close out 2019 very exciting.
It’s impressive to see that PG is paying you almost $100 in quarterly dividends. I always say that my biggest regrets are linked to trades I didn’t make rather the ones I did make. PG is one of those regrets for me. I’ve missed the opportunity to invest back in spring 2018, when its yield was above 4%. PG is one of the strongest consumer staple companies out there and the odds are high that I will own it eventually.
-SF
Consumer Staples have certainly had a good run this year, SF. Waiting for a better entry point with regards to PG sounds like a good idea. I’m sure another opportunity will arise, and you’ll be a PG owner then.
I anticipate that it will be in May of next year when I crack $100 quarterly dividend payments from PG.
Fun facts: My first PG dividend was $1.96 back on 11/15/1995, and to date I’ve collected $3,250.80 in dividends from PG.
Nice all around numbers. you kicked it with that dividend then the dividend growth then the added shares almost 12 that rocks and last but probably not least that dividend increases you got. We shared 4 companies this month. Looking at your reply above about the dividends from PG wow thats a nice job.
It was definitely a good month on the dividend front, Doug. All those items you noted add up so quickly… it’s amazing to see.
Regarding my PG dividends… that’s a testament to what reinvesting dividends can do for us over a long period of time. Of course, the company has to continue to grow sales/earnings as well. In about 3 more quarters, I will have more in reinvested dividends from PG than I’ve had in capital investment in PG. With soon-to-be $100 quarterly payments from PG continuing to be reinvested, reinvested dividends will quickly outgrow my capital investment.
As always, thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Another fantastic month, Engineering Dividends! Congrats on outpacing the S&P 500 so far this year, and on the nice haul of dividend income. $751.30 in one month is amazing. Congrats on the 17.38% YoY growth too. And finally, your forward dividend income is looking outstanding. You have a 5 digit cash flow machine here.
As for my dividend income, I would say that I’m satisfied with my year’s results, considering all the changes that I’ve made in my career. I recently started a new job which has impacted my savings, and that triggered me to sell off my company shares. But overall, I should be close to my goal for 2019. September and December should be the highest months for dividend income yet.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Graham. It’s been a good run, especially of late, as that seems to be when most of the differentiation with the S&P 500 has occurred. The pops from TGT and LOW certainly helped.
August’s dividend income and YoY growth was terrific… the totals keep climbing! With 5-digit forward dividend income under my belt, that $12K number is slated as my next milestone.
As for you portfolio and income, you appear to have weathered the career changes and its impact quite well. The growth is there. I know you will continue to stay motivated. A record dividend income month every now and then will help with that.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ED – This is just some amazing, amazing progress. To be honest, I love your report and all the great information you provide. Over $1,000 in new dividend income from DRIP, increases, and investment is awesome. I love how you display it as well. You also received a damn large amount of additional dividends from dividend increases. Your snowball is starting to roll faster and faster. I love it!
Bert
Thank you for the kind words, Bert. I like time keeping track of the numbers, and I’m glad readers such as yourself appreciate seeing the details.
It has been a good year in terms of adding to my additional forward dividend income. Not quite as good as last year, but like you, I look at my numbers and think over $1,000 is awesome, too.
Just reinvesting my dividends and receiving those dividend raises should keep me above that level in perpetuity. That’s a terrific thought, for sure.
What a month, ED! Look at those graphs and figures. They’re all makimg it clear that you’re going to crush that number of 12k in 2020.
I can only dream of those numbers.
Congrats with a fantastic month! 👍
I love seeing the progress detailed in the graphs and figures. I’m fairly confident I can reach $12K in forward dividend income by the end of 2020. The question will be… can I reach $12K in actual dividend income?
Your numbers are looking good to me, DC. Stay on the current course and you’ll be hitting $12K before you know it.
Here’s hoping we finish the year on a strong note.