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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Monthly Review, January 2015

Every month, I review the past month's activities relating to DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks. At the same time, I update my blog's Performance page, which provides a central place for reviewing DivGro's status and performance relative to the markets and to prior months.

At the end of January, DivGro's market value was $120,827. Projected monthly dividend income increased to $434 from $407 last month. The portfolio is delivering an average yield on cost (YoC) of 4.57%. I collected $332 in dividend income, representing an increase of 174% over last January's dividend income of $121.

Another bonus deposit afforded the luxury of three buys in January.

initiated a position in Starwood Property Trust Inc (NYSE:STWD), a real estate investment trust yielding 8.13%.

I also initiated a position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), fortuitously a week before exceptional first quarter earnings results inspired an 8% hike in the share price.

Finally, I added to my position in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM), averaging down to a per share cost basis of $169.85.

Transactions:
  • Purchases
  • Dividends
    • 2015-01-02: Cash Dividend Receipt BAX: $19.24
    • 2015-01-02: Cash Dividend Receipt PNNT: $60.20
    • 2015-01-05: Cash Dividend Receipt WMT: $16.32
    • 2015-01-05: Cash Dividend Receipt ACE: $15.60
    • 2015-01-09: Cash Dividend Receipt PM: $31.00
    • 2015-01-09: Cash Dividend Receipt MO: $39.00
    • 2015-01-14: Cash Dividend Receipt VNR: $37.80
    • 2015-01-15: Cash Dividend Receipt DLR: $17.61
    • 2015-01-16: Cash Dividend Receipt PMT: $73.20
  • Deposits

Changes in Projected Annual Dividend Income:
  • The purchase of 110 STWD shares added $211.20.
  • The purchase of 16 IBM shares added $70.40.
  • The purchase of 27 DIS shares added $31.05.
  • ETP's dividend increase added $8.00.
  • Projected annual dividend income (31 January 2015): $5,206.35.

Dividend Summary:
  • Dividend income last month: $480.02
  • Dividend income this month: $332.20
  • Total dividend income year-to-date: $332.20

Markets:
Dec 31, 2014
DOW: 17,823.07S&P 500: 2,058.90 10-YR BOND: 2.17%
Jan 31, 2015
DOW: 17,164.95S&P 500: 1,994.99 10-YR BOND: 1.67%

In January, the Dow dropped -3.69% and the S&P 500 dropped -3.10%. In comparison, DivGro dropped -2.15%.

Portfolio: See my Performance page for a spreadsheet showing the state of DivGro on 31 January 2015.

Goals Progress: I'm off to a good start on my 2015 goals. Dividend income is lagging, but that is to be expected. It will accelerate throughout the year as I deploy fresh cash and reinvest dividends. I have yet to write my first DivNet article. I'm planning on doing that soon. I'm doing reasonably well with my health and fitness goals, although the increased exercising has not yet translated in significant weight loss. I'll have to work harder on that!
Looking Ahead: Having deposited more bonus cash, I'm looking forward to reporting on several new buys in February. Also, I have yet to report on some early February buys and I still need to write my first DivNet article. Things are busier at work, so I'm finding it increasingly hard to stay up-to-date with my blog...

Thanks for reading! 

14 comments :

  1. Nice progress, FerdiS. Congrats on the bonus and I look forward to see where you put that money to work. Some interesting purchases there in Jan.
    I really like the visual of your 2015 goals. It gives a good overview of where you are ahead and where you are lagging.

    Best wishes
    R2R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks R2R. It'll be fun to invest in multiple stocks in February -- though its getting harder to find great value. I'll be looking into a few of the top 10 stocks in my February dashboard for inspiration.

      Take care!

      Delete
  2. DivGro,
    Very nice update on your monthly review. Starwoods resorts is an interesting buy. There is one next to where I went to school. I'll have to look into the company a little more. That's a very nice dividend at 8.13%

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Dividend Mongrel. Note that the shares I bought are of STWD (Starwood Property Trust), not HOT (Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide). And I'm not sure how strong the relationship between the company and the REIT is. The dividend is really nice, yes!

      Delete
  3. Great month and congrats on the progress. Coincidentally, Starwood is my favorite hotel! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cool -- thanks FI Fighter. I like the dividend a lot :-)

      Delete
  4. Congrats on the progress. I'm curious, why did you buy IBM? It's not exactly a growth stock, and it doesn't yield a super high dividend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting, Investing On Track!

      Although IBM has a modest 2.7% yield, it has a 5-yr dividend growth rate of 14.6%. In 5 years, that would deliver a YoC of 5.34%. IBM's dividend payout ratio is 26%, so they can afford maintaining and continuing to raise the dividend for a while yet.

      So from a dividend growth perspective, it makes sense to me to own shares of IBM. Then, the question is can IBM reinvent itself in the "new" age of cloud computing? I believe it can. As I point out in my article, IBM has secured the most U.S. patents for 21 years in a row, with 6,809 patents being awarded in 2014, which is a new annual record. The company generates about $1 billion a year in licensing revenue from its patents portfolio.

      Delete
  5. Nice work DivGro. I really like the three stocks you added this month. I am watching all three for potential additions to my portfolio next month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Dividend Dreams -- hope you have good luck with your purchases! Looking forward to seeing at what price you can get in!

      Delete
  6. Good start indeed! ;-) That's a nice portfolio you've got, liking many of your stocks! You seem to be on the right path to beat your expectations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, DivGuy! Some of my goals would need more attention to ensure that I don't fall behind to far. But I'm happy with the progress so far.

      Delete
  7. Great month, that $10,000 bonus will come in handy for further investment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it will, Tawcan. Looking forward to reporting on new buys soon!

      Delete

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