More Popular Dividend Growth Stocks

In my previous post, I presented a portfolio containing 31 of the most popular dividend growth stocks, based on the holdings of 20 different dividend growth portfolios.

To compile the portfolio, I simply counted the number of appearances of each stock in all portfolios and sorted them by decreasing frequency. I arbitrarily made a cutoff at 7 appearances, resulting in a portfolio of 31 stocks. Collectively, the 20 portfolios hold 205 different stocks, which means that 174 stocks were cut.

One of my readers, Passive Income Pursuit, expressed interest in seeing the rest of the stocks. At first, I wondered if there would be value in sharing such a huge list. After all, the 174 stocks are less popular than those that made it into the portfolio of 31...

Popular Dividend Growth Stocks

The Internet hosts dozens of dividend growth investment blogs. You can easily find them using your favorite search engine. Another way to find them is to find one, like the very popular Dividend Mantra, and follow links from that site's blogroll. DivGro similarly hosts a small blogroll, which you can find just below my Blog Archive to the right.

Many of these blogs make their portfolio of holdings public. You can learn a lot by studying the portfolios and by reading posts announcing new buys (or sells). With a little work, it is possible to get an interesting, composite view of dividend growth investing from these portfolios. In this post, I'm sharing what I've learned from 20 different portfolios, listed at the bottom of this post. 

Dividend Increases, February 1-15, 2014

Twice a month, I compile a table of recent dividend increases for stocks in my watch list. I do this to monitor dividend increases for stocks I own in DivGro and to make yield on cost adjustments. For stocks I don't own, monitoring dividend increases is a good way to assess the long-term health of dividend paying companies.

Kilokor

When I was in school in South Africa, my parents, both educators, briefly forayed into the real estate business. I think it was to help a friend get back on his feet. My dad created an interesting logo for the business, based on his background as a geographer.

The logo has a circular core, with radial arms pointing out in different directions. My dad explains that he had based the logo on a map of the Witwatersrand, with Johannesburg at the core, and radial arms reaching out to the neighboring towns of Carltonville and Krugersdorp in the west to Springs and Nigel in the east.

Recent Buy: JNJ

Feb 3, 2014: Bought 30 shares of JNJ at $87.10 per share.

Founded in New Jersey in 1886, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) has grown into one of the largest companies in the world. It employs 128,000 people across 275 operating companies. The company is a leader in the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer products industries.

JNJ is a Dividend Champion with an impressive 51-year streak of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends in March, June, September, and December. My starting Yield on Cost is 3.03%.

10 Dividend Growth Stocks for February, 2014

In shifting focus to balancing my portfolio holdings across all 10 sectors in my watch list, I've changed how I identify candidates for further analysis. I now look for the top performers by sector based on my selection criteria.

Using Dave Fish's CCC list, a spreadsheet providing financial data of companies with 5 or more consecutive years of dividend increases, I apply a series of filters to reduce the number of candidates to 30 stocks. I then score these stocks based on my selection criteria, assigning a star rating to each candidate out of a maximum of 7 stars.

Monthly Review: January 2014

I took some time off in January, celebrating our 28^th wedding anniversary on a Caribbean cruise. This was our first ever cruise together and we had a wonderful time! My favorite time was swimming in the crystal clear water of Trunk beach on the island of St John. My wife and I decided that we're not going to wait another 28 years before going on a cruise again. We hope to go to Alaska next.

Despite my vacation, I managed to write several posts in January, including reviews and the first of a new series of posts in which I'll be identifying 10 dividend growth candidates every month, one for each sector in my watch list.

Dividend Increases, January 16-31, 2014

Unbelievably, the first month of 2014 is over! Time again to report on recent dividend increases for stocks in my watch list. And this month has been a busy one for dividend increase announcements.

I compile this information to monitor dividend increases for stocks I own in DivGro and so I can make yield on cost adjustments. For other stocks in my watch list, monitoring dividend increases is informative and one way to assess the long-term health of dividend paying companies.

Recent Buy: MO

Jan 31, 2014: Bought 75 shares of MO at $35.29 per share.

Altria Group Inc. (MO) was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. MO, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, smokeless products, and wine. One wholly owned subsidiary (Phillip Morris Capital Corporation) maintains a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases. In March 2008, MO spun off the subsidiary Phillip Morris to protect it from litigation in the United States. Later, Phillip Morris became a separate entity called Philip Morris International, legally based in the U.S. and listed on the NYSE under the symbol PM.

MO is a Dividend Champion with an impressive 45-year streak of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends in January, April, July, and October. My starting Yield on Cost is 5.44%.