Recent Buy: Realty Income Corp

Mar 16, 2015: Bought 50 shares of O at $50.67 per share.

Known as The Monthly Dividend Company®, Realty Income Corporation (NYSE:O) is an equity real estate investment trust dedicated to providing shareholders with dependable monthly income. The company earns income from more than 4,300 properties owned under long-term lease agreements with regional and national retail chains and other commercial tenants. Realty Income was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Realty Income is a Dividend Contender with a streak of 22 years of consecutive dividend increases. In fact, as of 03/16/2015, the company has a track record of 70 consecutive quarterly increases with a compound average annual dividend growth rate of about 5%. Shareholders of record on 04/01/15 will receive a dividend of 18.95¢ per share. Annualized, the monthly dividends equate to $2.274 per share. At my buy price of $50.67, Realty Income yields 4.49%.

To see my reasons for buying Realty Income, please read this Seeking Alpha article.

More Milestones

About a year ago, I wrote a milestones post in which I reported reaching 40,000 page views and 100 posts in DivGro. I also reported crossing $200 in projected monthly dividend income and having published my first 1,000 page view post. Today, I'd like to give updates on these milestones and show what a difference one year makes...

I wrote my first DivGro post on 10 January 2013. The post you're reading is number 201! It has been quite a journey for me, committing to writing a blog about something I knew very little about – and then sticking to it for 27 months. I've learned a tremendous amount in this time, not only in the preparation needed to write posts, but also in reading the blogs of fellow dividend growth investors.

Dividend Increases, March 8-20, 2015

Includes: APD • GIS • IBOC • O • RTN • WPC • XLNX

I report on dividend increases for stocks in my watch list to identify candidates for further analysis and for possible inclusion in DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks. Companies pay increasing dividends if they are confident about future earnings growth potential.

As a dividend growth investor, I'm interested in companies that not only pay dividends, but those that pay growing dividends. The dividend growth rate is important. If the annualized dividend growth rate fails to match (or exceed) the rate of inflation, your investment would effectively shrink. I find it interesting to consider the percentage increase of each dividend increase. It tells me a lot about a company's commitment and ability to reward shareholders.

In the past two weeks, 7 of the companies on my watch list announced dividend increases. Increases vary from less than 1% to over 10%. Please read this Seeking Alpha article for details.

Recent Buy: T. Rowe Price Group Inc

Mar 16, 2015: Bought 30 shares of TROW at $83.40 per share.

Founded in 1937 and based in Baltimore, Maryland, T. Rowe Price Group Inc (NASDAQ:TROW) is a financial services holding company that provides global investment management services to individual and institutional investors in the sponsored T. Rowe Price mutual funds and other investment portfolios, as well as through variable annuity life insurance plans.

TROW is a Dividend Champion with an impressive 29-year streak of consecutive dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends of 44¢ per share in the months of January, April, July and October.

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For March 2015

Includes: ADM • ARLP • BBL • GPS • JNJ • MIC • MSFT • NJR • NOV • PFG • QCOM • RS • TU

David Fish's CCC list is a wonderful resource for dividend growth investors. The list is updated monthly and contains all U.S.-listed stocks that have raised their dividends for at least 5 consecutive years. The latest list (dated 2/27/15) contains 663 stocks, with 105 Dividend Champions (25 or more years), 249 Dividend Contenders (10-24 years), and 309 Dividend Challengers (5-9 years).

Ranking all the stocks in the CCC list would be a daunting task. To simplify things, I apply a series of filters to reduce the CCC list to a more manageable number. Because I have an ongoing goal of balancing my DivGro portfolio across all 10 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) sectors, I'm careful to retain a minimum number of stocks per sector.

This month, I ranked 66 stocks using my proprietary ranking system based on fundamental analysis and the dividend discount model. To see this month's top 10 stocks by rank and the 10 sector winners, please read this Seeking Alpha article. 

Dividend Increases, February 23-March 6, 2015

Includes: ALB • AVIV • BNS • CNQ • ETN • GD • HMN • IPCC • NATL • OHI • PNY • ROIC • RY • SWX • UFS • WR

Companies that regularly increase their dividends show confidence in future earnings growth potential. I monitor dividend increases for stocks on my watch list to identify candidates for further analysis and for possible inclusion in DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks.

Another reason I monitor dividend increases is that I track the yield on cost (YoC) of stocks in my portfolio. When dividends increase, I make YoC adjustments and update DivGro's projected annual dividend income, a measure of the income potential of the portfolio over the next 12 months.

In the past two weeks, 15 companies on my watch list announced divided increases, which vary from 20% to as low as 2%. Please read this Seeking Alpha article for details.

Monthly Review, February 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 February, DivGro's market value was $145,167. Projected monthly dividend income increased to $447 from $434 last month. The portfolio is delivering an average yield on cost (YoC) of 4.58%. I collected $358 in dividend income, which represents an increase of 254% over last February's dividend income of $101.

Recent Buy: AT&T

Feb 2, 2015: Bought 75 shares of T at $33.21 per share.

Incorporated on October 5, 1983 and based in Dallas, Texas, AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) is a holding company providing telecommunications services in the United States and internationally. Services include wireless communications, local exchanges, long-distance services, data/broadband and internet services and many other services.

AT&T is a Dividend Champion with a track record of 31 consecutive years of dividend increases. The company pays quarterly dividends of 47¢ per share in the months of February, May, August and November.

Recent Buy: Caterpillar

Feb 2, 2015: Bought 30 shares of CAT at $79.64 per share.

Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, IL. CAT manufactures construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. It provides technology for construction, transportation, mining, forestry, energy, logistics, electronics, financing and electric power generation.

CAT is a Dividend Contender with a track record of 21 consecutive years of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends of 70¢ per share in the months of February, May, August and November.