April brought a respite from plunging stock prices and declining Portfolio value.  This was certainly good to see.

However, dividend suspensions and cuts appear to be on the rise as companies continue to deal with the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.  Thus, one can’t say we are ‘out of the woods’ yet.

I haven’t experienced any reductions in dividend income just yet, but with a couple of dividend freezes already, a loss of dividend income may not be too far away.  Of course, some companies in my Portfolio are in worse shape than others when it comes to dividend safety, so I’ll be watching them more closely.

As I continue to add to my Portfolio over the coming months, it’s now more important than ever to ensure I invest in companies with strong balance sheets, with a history of persevering through tough times, and with prospects that aren’t too diminished by the business shutdowns.

Thankfully, April dividends rolled in as expected.  It’s nice to be able to count on the dividends for the most part.  Of course, extreme circumstances can impact this.

In April, I registered healthy dividend income with very good YoY growth.  Dividend raises were a mixed bag though.  The raises I did get were better than expected, but I did encounter a couple of dividend freezes as well.  As for new purchases, those cooled off compared to the first 3 months of the year, but I did sneak in a couple during the month.

My forward dividend income continued to climb higher, so I was happy to see that.  Yet, the future income advance was the slowest of the year.

As usual, there’s a good deal to cover, so let’s get to it, starting with April dividends for my Portfolio…

 

Dividend Income

 

In April, I collected $740.31 in dividend income.  While this was nowhere near a monthly record, it was a welcomed sum without a doubt.

YoY growth nearly touched the 20% mark, but was a bit short at 19.79% when compared to the $617.99 from April 2019.  This growth percentage will most likely be greater than my monthly average for the year, so I’m happy with the growth for sure.

A total of 17 companies paid me a dividend this month.  None of them reached a three-digit level, but a couple of stocks are creeping up on that threshold.

Altria Group (MO) led my list of dividend payers this month, sending me $91.69.  RPM International (RPM) wasn’t too far behind at $86.60.

One of my newest Portfolio holdings, Sysco (SYY), delivered my smallest April dividend, which was $11.25.  In fact, this was my first SYY dividend.

The increased dividend amounts from JPMorgan Chase and Co. (JPM), Air Lease (AL) and Comcast (CMCSA) were helped by 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 organic increase from MO stands out this month… over $10 in extra income in one year thanks to their last dividend raise and reinvesting those substantial dividends they pay.

I had two dividend payout reductions this month, and both were due to the trimming of my REITs over the last quarter.  There were reductions from W.P. Carey (WPC) and Realty Income (O), with the O trim being more significant.

You’ll see 5 new dividend payers compared to last year.  Eastman Chemical (EMN) led this group of dividend payers with a $40.45 dividend.  Other new payers compared to last April included Cisco Systems (CSCO), Iron Mountain (IRM), Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and the aforementioned SYY.  Similar to SYY, the ADP dividend was my first from that company.

A couple of stocks no longer paid me a dividend this April.  Those stocks are Bank OZK (OZK) and Cardinal Health (CAH), which were removed for performance issues.  Both of these were sold last year.  OZK will drop off the list by next quarter, but I’ll mention CAH one final time in July.

As usual, I reinvested all dividends into the stocks that paid them, resulting in an additional forward dividend income boost of $32.56.  This total was helped by the lower stock prices we’ve seen recently, and it’s the first time I’ve crossed $30 outside of a quarter-ending month.

As a result of the reinvested dividends, I purchased exactly 16.000 new shares of stock in April.  (Wow… a 1 in 1000 shot of hitting such a round number).  I added over 2 shares of MO and AL (and almost 2 from Gentex (GNTX) as well) from reinvesting their dividends.

 

Dividend Raises

My quantity of April dividend raises was small compared to each of the first 3 months of 2020.  However, the April raises were good enough to keep the resulting forward dividend income increase from being the lowest.

In April, I had only 2 companies announce a dividend raise.  In the first 3 months of the year I had no less than 5 raise announcements in any month.

I was expecting to hear of 3 raises in April, but one of my companies chose to freeze their dividend for the time being.

On the bright side, I will say that the 2 dividend raises I did receive exceeded expectations considering the current economic environment.

The raises came from two of my largest dividend payers, which also happen to be two of my long-term holdings, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Procter & Gamble (PG).

The raise percentages and resulting forward dividend income boost from each was rather similar.  JNJ announced a 6.32% raise that boosted by income by $22.14, while PG announced a 6.01% raise that boosted by income by $23.08.  Both of these raises were better than what each offered last year.

Given all the current issues in the energy sector (namely astonishingly low oil prices due to a supply glut and storage issues), it was no surprise that I did not hear a raise announcement from Exxon Mobil (XOM).  Actually, in this case I was rather happy to just see a dividend freeze, as it was much better than the entirely possible dividend suspension or cut.

 

 

All totaled, these dividend raises contributed $45.22 to my additional forward dividend income.  This beat out my March total by less than $1.

I’d have to invest $1,449.36 at my Portfolio’s current average yield of 3.12% in order to equal the same boost to my annual forward dividend income that these dividend raises provided.

Looking forward to May, it’s typically one of my slower months for raise announcements.  I was only expecting to hear from Lowe’s Companies (LOW) and Main Street Capital (MAIN).  However, MAIN issued a statement in mid-April saying that they expected to keep their regular dividend at the same level (so a dividend freeze), while suspending the semi-annual special dividend.  Since I don’t include special dividends in my forward dividend income projections, the suspension of this special dividend does not impact my annual forward dividend income total.  However, I will miss the income.

This means that if LOW doesn’t come through with a raise announcement in May, I’ll post a goose egg in the dividend raise category for the first time since I started keeping track at the start of 2017.  I don’t want to see that!

 

Dividends Due To New Investment

My transaction activity slowed considerably compared to the what I had in the first quarter of the year.  In April, I ‘only’ had 3 transactions… I trimmed one stock and added to two existing positions.

The companies involved were TCF Financial (TCF), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and General Dynamics (GD).  You can read all about these transactions in this pair of posts:

 

Recent Transactions – Bank Share Swap

Recent Buy – GD

 

All totaled for April, I made a net investment of $561.29.  With this investment I increased my additional forward dividend income by $33.60.

 

Tallying Up The Additional Forward Dividend Income

In 2020, I continue tracking my additional forward dividend income generated each month from the trifecta of sources: reinvested dividends, dividend raises, and new capital investment.

I’ll be showing 2019’s totals, too, so that we can compare as the year progresses.

 

 

The additional forward dividend income generated in April was $111.38.  This was my lowest monthly total for the year, but I managed to cross the $100 level, and still demonstrated good progress in growing the annual number.

My ‘Dividend Raises’ continue to pace the group, but can they hold off ‘Investment of Capital’ by year’s end given the possibility those raises might slow over the coming months?

For the 2nd straight month, due to lower stock prices overall, my ‘Reinvested Dividends’ delivered an above average total.  Right now I’m on pace to reach $400 of additional forward dividend income due to ‘Reinvested Dividends’ by the end of the year.  This would easily outpace the total from 2019.

Unfortunately, my 3-month streak of showing YoY improvements from all 3 dividend income sources came to an end.  Only ‘Reinvested Dividends’ delivered a higher total compared to April 2019.

 

Progress Charts

The following are progress charts, also available on my Dividends page.  It was yet another YoY dividend income gain in April… just what the doctor ordered.

 

 

On an annual basis, here’s what the dividend totals look like.  Good progress for sure, but $12K for the year is looking more iffy by the month.

 

Summary

April showered me with dividend income.  No record amounts, but healthy totals instead.  I rang the register with over $740 in dividends from 17 different dividend payers, showing about 19.8% YoY growth.  This sounds good to me!

My reinvested dividends are generating stellar amounts of new forward dividend income thanks to low stock prices.  I recorded over $32 in new income from reinvestments in April.

Dividend raise announcements were muted in April (only 2 for me), but the boost they provided was quite respectable.  The raises resulted in over $45 of new forward dividend income, with JNJ and PG each delivering about half of that total.

My transaction level came way down in April, as I had only 3 transactions… 1 sale and 2 purchases.  It was a net investment of about $561, resulting in over $33 of new forward dividend income.

Counting all 3 income sources, I saw my total additional forward dividend income increase over $111.

My Portfolio value rebounded in April (down and up it goes), but my dividends rolled in as expected.  However, will my dividends eventually succumb to a Portfolio company hitting me with a dividend suspension or cut?  Time will tell.

 

How has your portfolio been affected by all the price and dividend changes?  Has all the market turmoil shined a light on some of your weaker holdings?  Please share in the Comments!

I have updated the Portfolio & Dividends pages in conjunction with this monthly update.