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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Monthly Review: March 2014

March was another busy month for DivGro, with two buys and a sell (my first since starting DivGro in January 2013). Also, I reported on recent milestones, including 100+ posts and 40k page views. More importantly, though, March was an incredible month as far as dividend income is concerned – I earned $359 in dividend income!

I invested in AmeriGas Parnters, L.P. (APU) and Meredith Corporation (MDP) this month, adding to DivGro's holdings in the Utilities and Consumer Discretionary sectors, respectively.

All sectors in my watch list now are multiply covered, except for the Materials sector. I'll look an opportunity to add a holding in the Materials sector this month.

I sold Shaw Communications Inc (SJR) for the simple reason that my online brokerage was charging a trading expense fee to process SJR's monthly dividend. Although the fee is small in monetary terms (about $2 per month), it works out to 25% of the $8 monthly dividend!

DivGro now has a $88,820 market value and projected annual dividend income of $3,508, which represents a simple yield of 3.94%. As mentioned earlier, I received $359 in dividends, an increase of 725% over my March 2013 dividend income. Projected monthly dividend income increased from $259 last month to $292 this month:

Transactions:

  • Purchases
  • Sales
  • Dividends
    • 2014-03-03: Cash Dividend Receipt INTC:  $27.00
    • 2014-03-03: Cash Dividend Receipt AFL:  $18.50 
    • 2014-03-03: Cash Dividend Receipt COP:  $26.22
    • 2014-03-04: Cash Dividend Receipt TGH:  $35.25
    • 2014-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt XOM:  $18.90
    • 2014-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt TGT:  $10.20
    • 2014-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt CVX:  $25.00
    • 2014-03-11: Cash Dividend Receipt JNJ:  $19.80
    • 2014-03-12: Cash Dividend Receipt WAG:  $13.86
    • 2014-03-13: Cash Dividend Receipt MSFT:  $22.40
    • 2014-03-17: Cash Dividend Receipt VNR:  $37.35
    • 2014-03-26: Cash Dividend Receipt BBL:  $50.74
    • 2014-03-28: Cash Dividend Receipt SJR:  $8.70
    • 2014-03-31: Cash Dividend Receipt TRV:  $14.50
    • 2014-03-31: Cash Dividend Receipt NU:  $23.55
  • Deposits

New Dividends and Dividend Increases:
  • The purchase of APU added $403.20 of projected annual dividend income.
  • The purchase of MDP added $95.15 of projected annual dividend income.
  • The sale of SJR removed $115.50 of projected annual dividend income.
  • GD's dividend increase added $8.40 of projected annual dividend income.
  • VNR's dividend increase added $5.40 of projected annual dividend income.
  • Projected annual dividend income: $3,508.43

Dividend Summary:
  • Dividend income last month: $101.05
  • Dividend income this month: $358.97
  • Total dividend income year-to-date: $580.67

Markets:
Feb 28, 2014
DOW: 16,321.71 S&P 500: 1,859.45 10-YR BOND: 2.66%
Mar 31, 2014
DOW: 16,457.66 S&P 500: 1,872.34 10-YR BOND: 2.72%


Portfolio: The following spreadsheet shows the state of DivGro on March 31, 2014:

Looking Ahead: This month is Tax Month, so I will need to shift focus away from DivGro in order to prepare our taxes. Before digging in, I'd like to complete my Q1-2014 quarterly review post, as well as another installment of my monthly series in which I identify 10 new dividend growth candidates, one for each sector in my watch list. I have enough funds for two non-MLP purchases, or one MLP purchase.

More than half of DivGro's holdings pay dividends in March, so I had an incredible month! How did you do in March?

13 comments :

  1. Great month for dividends, DivGro. Congrats on all the income you didnt have to work for :)

    Why does your brokerage charge for monthly dividends? Is that just for SJR or for all monthly paying dividends? That seems really shady on the brokerage's part.

    Best wishes
    R2R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi R2R --

      Fortunately, my brokerage does not charge for all monthly dividends. That would be grounds for changing my brokerage!

      I think the issue is that SJR is a foreign stock, although I haven't verified that THAT is the reason. I do notice a similar, small, fee being charged for dividend income on my other foreign (ADR) holdings. For me, the issue with SJR is that it is a monthly dividend payer, so the small fee is being charged monthly rather than semi-annually.

      I'm happy with my brokerage despite this fee. I can trade for FREE in so-called window trades, which happens twice a day at 8am and 11am PT. Nothing beats free trades!

      Delete
  2. Hi FerdiS

    Congratulations for the excellent growth in dividend income.

    Regards
    DH

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, DividendHawk -- I really like the look of that graph! With more than half of DivGro's holdings paying in March, I expect April and May to be leaner income-wise. But then June will be big again!

      Delete
  3. Congrats on a great month! $359 is awesome and even better is that YoY increase! Unfortunately I'll be working on taxes as well once I get home again. I think we'll end up owing a little because of all the extra dividends and selling off some ESPP shares. Congrats again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Passive IncomePursuit! Yes, preparing taxes is NOT my favorite activity. One benefit is that it gives a good picture of how things are evolving income-wise. I have dividend paying stocks in another (Income) portfolio, too, so it would be interesting to see how DivGro stacks up. Take care!

      Delete
  4. Awesome job DivGro! Your forward dividend total has exploded this year given the extra capital and higher yielding purchases. And forget the YOY grow, your quarter over quarter growth shows the tremendous power consistent investing can provide. Best of luck with investing the remaining capital (and your taxes!).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, writing2reality! With two of my stretching 2014 goals directly related to projected and actual dividend income, those numbers had better explode, otherwise I won't make it...

      I'm not terribly excited to do taxes -- would much rather tinker with DivGro! Nevertheless, got to do it...

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. Ferdi,

    Wow. Very nice month right there. Congrats on the success.

    And a yield across your portfolio of 3.94% is very nice. That sure makes it easy to generate enough income to live off of one day.

    Your portfolio has been climbing at a substantial rate. Keep up the great work!

    Best regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jason (see what you started...)

      The 3.94% is a little conservative, since I'm taking projected annual dividend income and dividing it by current market value -- and there's cash that hasn't been deployed yet...

      DivGro's current YoC is 4.66%, which, needless to say, supports your point even better.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. Good looking month DivGro. Nicely diversified income which has a huge potential in the future.

    Wanted to know your thoughts on INTC, since their declining YOY earnings and still no dividend increase in sight. I am leaning towards selling it soon on a peak. What are your thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi DividendVet

      Technically, INTC can still retain status as a Dividend Contender by raising their dividend payment this year. They're cutting it close, though. The increased dividend would have to be paid in this calendar year.

      I haven't done an analysis of INTC recently. I still believe in the company, though, and so does at least two writers of newsletters covering Value Investing, that I'm subscribed to. Of course, we're dividend growth investors and if the dividends do not grow, there's reason to look for alternatives.

      I'm going to hang in there, hoping that INTC will rise to the occasion just in time...

      Delete
  7. The graph is a beautiful presentation of the money that is made in the business as well as a comparison over recent months. Compilations of money made and money spent make it easy to see where the profits go and areas where you might need to save on funds for the business.

    Wanda Hanson @ Tax-Tiger

    ReplyDelete

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