Dividend Increases: December 31, 2018-January 11, 2019

This article provides a summary of recent dividend increases. It also provides a summary of upcoming ex-dividend dates.

I monitor dividend increases of dividend growth stocks in the CCC List, but I apply several screens to reduce the number of stocks to track. The main screens are stocks with a market cap of at least $1 billion, and stocks with dividend yields of at least 1.0%.

In the last week, four companies I track announced dividend increases. Two of these stocks have double-digit percentage year-over-year dividend increases.

Quarterly Review: Q4-2018

Welcome to the 24^th quarterly review of DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks.

I started DivGro in 2013 to focus on dividend growth investing, growing the portfolio into a powerful dividend-generating machine. DivGro now generates dividend income averaging $1,930 per month.

My quarterly reviews summarize the transactions executed in the past quarter and provide a summary of dividend income and dividend changes. Additionally, I include charts showing various portfolio statistics. The reviews are mostly informational and help me to track progress over time.

I collected dividend income of $5,486 this quarter and $20,320 in 2018, easily exceeding my goal of collecting $18,000 in 2018. DivGro's all-time dividend income now totals $65,445.

Selling Cash Secured Puts for Additional Income

By Nero Nguyen of www.financeoholic.com

There has been a rise in the use of options to complement traditional portfolio strategies. As an investor, one can use options to enhance and amplify portfolio returns.

As a seller of options, one can use the power of having time on your side while reducing the overall risk of investing.

Here is a description of how to use put options to enhance the strategy of dividend investment.

Monthly Review of DivGro: December 2018

Welcome to this final monthly review of 2018 of my portfolio, DivGro! I write monthly reviews is to share updates to my portfolio and to provide a summary of dividends collected. I also look at how DivGro's projected annual dividend income (PADI) has changed.

December was a busy trading month for me, as I looked to take advantage of discounted prices on high-quality dividend growth stocks. I opened six new positions and added shares to twelve existing positions. Additionally, I closed three positions and reduced my holdings in five positions.

Along with eight DivGro stocks announcing dividend increases in December, the net result is that DivGro's PADI increased by about 3.0% in December. Year over year, PADI increased by 45.8%.

Options Update: December 2018 (Part 3)

December turned out to be a busy month for options trading, so I decided to break this update into three parts.

Part 1 presented new covered calls and Part 2 presented new put contracts and one options assignment. It also presented a listing of options expiring soon.

In Part 3, I'm wrapping up my December Options Update article with some protective trades, and I'm reviewing how I faired with my 2018 options goal. I'll conclude with a quick update of my 2019 options goal.

Options Update: December 2018 (Part 2)

December was a busy month for options trading, so my December Options Update article is split into three parts.

Part 1 presented new covered calls. Given increased volatility in the markets and with stock selling off, in December I decided to sell covered calls on most of my DivGro positions. In all, there were 32 covered call trades, which added options income of just more than $5,000 to my options income tally.

In Part 2, I'm covering new put contracts and one options assignment. I'm also taking a look at options expiring soon, mainly to see if I need to take any action before the 18 January expiration date. Part 3 will wrap things up with some protective trades and I'll review my 2018 options goal.

Options Update: December 2018 (Part 1)

Welcome to my final Options Update article of 2018. With these updates, I keep track of my options income, summarize trades, and provide a running tally of DivGro's options income to date.

December turned out to be a busy month for options trading. I sold many covered calls and also made some defensive trades, like closing options early and rolling some options forward.

With so many transactions to cover, I'm presenting the article in three parts. In Part 1, I'll cover new covered calls. In Part 2, I'll cover new put contracts and look at options expiring soon. Finally, Part 3 will present an options assignment,  some closing trades, and a few rolled options trades. In Part 3, I'll also review my 2018 options goal.

DivGro's High and Low Performers in 2018

On this last day of 2018, I wanted to review DivGro's best and worst performers of the year. Unlike last year, when DivGro contained lots of winners, this year is a mixed bag.

Of the 49 positions I owned throughout the year, 18 are trading up and 31 are trading down. With more positions down than up, it is unsurprising that these positions are down 5.6%, on average.

The largest losses are from Ford Motor (F), down 39.6% since January 2018, and Altria Group (MO), down 30.2% since January 2018. On the other hand, Netflix (NFLX) returned 33.1% this year, and Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI) returned 28.1% in 2018.

Summary Of Dividend Increases In 2018

I like monitoring dividend increases for a selection of stocks in the CCC list because I consider such stocks to be worthy candidates for further analysis. The following screens determine the selection:

     • Dividend Yield ≥ 1.0%
     • Market cap ≥ $1 billion
     • No stocks that are being acquired
     • No Over-The-Counter or Pink Sheet stocks

This article provides a summary of 2018's dividend increases, as summarized in my weekly Dividend Increases articles. In preparing for this article, I excluded dividend increases of stocks not in the latest available CCC list (dated 11/30/18) and those that no longer pass the above screens.

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For December 2018

With my monthly 10 Dividend Growth Stocks series, I rank a subset of CCC stocks and present the 10 top-ranked stocks for further research.

In the October edition, I debuted a new ranking system. The ranking system assigns letter grades to stocks relative to their performance among sector peers. Having a sector-oriented ranking system avoids the problems associated with ranking unlike stocks.

This month I decided to rank CCC stocks in one of the defensive sectors, Consumer Staples. Given the increase in market volatility since October, perhaps it is prudent to start considering defensive stocks. Defensive stocks tend to outperform the broader market during market downturns.