Dividend Increases, Aug/Sep 2013

Regular dividend increases are one of the important factors to consider when evaluating dividend growth stocks. Every month I provide a summary of recent dividend increases for stocks in my watch list. When a stock's dividend payment is decreased, I'll generally remove it from my watch list. And if I happen to own shares in a stock that decreases its dividend payment, I'll consider selling my shares.

Recent Buy: PNNT

Sep 10, 2013: Bought 215 shares of PNNT at $11.63 per share.

PennantPark Investment Corp. (PNNT), incorporated in January 2007 in Maryland, is a business development company focused on generating current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments. PNNT invests primarily in middle-market companies in the United States, through senior secured loans, mezzanine debt, and equity investments. 

PNNT is a Dividend Challenger with a 6-year streak of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends of $0.28 per share in January, April, July and October. Initial Yield on Cost is 9.63%.

7 Dividend Growth Candidates for September, 2013

Once a month I score stocks in my watch list based on several selection criteria. I assign star ratings out of a maximum of 7 stars and compile a dashboard of the best candidates. This month, the ten stocks at the top of the list are CHL, INTC, NTT, MSFT, PNNT, SNP, DCM, COP, SXL and BHP. The first 4 earned 7 stars; the rest earned 6 stars each.

I already own shares of the highlighted stocks. In order to diversify my portfolio, I look further down the list and select 7 candidates for further analysis. The 7 candidates for September are:

Fruits of my Labor Day Labor

As a dividend growth investor, I find Dave Fish's list of Dividend Champions invaluable. The accompanying spreadsheet provides extensive financial data of companies with long track records of consecutive years of dividend increases. I use the spreadsheet as a basis for compiling a watch list of dividend growth stocks as well as when writing monthly posts identifying dividend growth stock candidates worth consideration. 

This weekend, while reviewing changes to the spreadsheet, a recent change listed in the Revisions tab of the spreadsheet caught my eye: