Monthly Review, March 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.

In March 2015, dividend income totaled $648, which is a new all-time record for monthly dividend income! In comparison, dividend income last March was $359. That represents an 81% year-over-year increase!

At the end of March, DivGro's market value was $144,151 and the portfolio is delivering an average yield on cost (YoC) of 4.35%. Projected monthly dividend income increased to $467 from $447 last month.

I added 3 stocks to DivGro in March: I initiated a position in T. Rowe Price Group Inc (NASDAQ:TROW), a financial services holding company that provides global investment management services to individual and institutional investors. I also initiated a position in Realty Income Corporation (NYSE:O), an equity real estate investment trust dedicated to providing shareholders with dependable monthly income. Finally, I initiated a position in Gap Inc. (NYSE: GAP), a global apparel retail company that offers apparel, accessories, and personal care products under various well-known brand names.

Transactions:

• Purchases
• 2015-03-16: Buy 30 shares of TROW @ $83.40
• 2015-03-16: Buy 50 shares of O @ $50.67
• 2015-03-16: Buy 60 shares of GPS @ $41.42
• Dividends
• 2015-03-02: Cash Dividend Receipt AFL: $19.50
• 2015-03-02: Cash Dividend Receipt HP: $48.13
• 2015-03-02: Cash Dividend Receipt COP: $27.74
• 2015-03-02: Cash Dividend Receipt INTC: $28.80
• 2015-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt TGT: $20.80
• 2015-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt TGH: $35.25
• 2015-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt IBM: $33.00
• 2015-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt XOM: $20.70
• 2015-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt CVX: $53.50
• 2015-03-10: Cash Dividend Receipt JNJ: $21.00
• 2015-03-12: Cash Dividend Receipt WBA: $14.85
• 2015-03-12: Cash Dividend Receipt MSFT: $24.80
• 2015-03-13: Cash Dividend Receipt MDP: $25.16
• 2015-03-13: Cash Dividend Receipt AVA: $24.75
• 2015-03-16: Cash Dividend Receipt MCD: $22.95
• 2015-03-17: Cash Dividend Receipt VNR: $21.15
• 2015-03-31: Cash Dividend Receipt BBL: $124.00
• 2015-03-31: Cash Dividend Receipt ES: $25.05
• 2015-03-31: Cash Dividend Receipt TRV: $15.95
• 2015-03-31: Cash Dividend Receipt DLR: $40.80
• Deposits
• 2015-02-27: April Cash Deposit: $2,500.00

Changes in Projected Annual Dividend Income:

• The purchase of 60 GPS shares added $55.20.
• The purchase of 30 TROW shares added $62.40.
• The purchase of 50 O shares added $113.70.
• GD's dividend increase added $9.80.
• ES's dividend increase added $6.00.
• Projected annual dividend income (31 March 2015): $5,609.09.

Dividend Summary:

• Dividend income last month: $357.75
• Dividend income this month: $647.88
• Total dividend income year-to-date: $1,337.83

Markets:

Feb 28, 2015	DOW: 18,132.70 S&P 500: 2,104.50 10-YR BOND: 2.00%
Mar 31, 2015	DOW: 17,776.12 S&P 500: 2,067.89 10-YR BOND: 1.93%

March was a down month across the board, with the Dow dropping 1.97% and the S&P 500 dropping 1.74%. In comparison, DivGro was down 1.77%.

Portfolio: See my Performance page for a spreadsheet showing the state of DivGro on 31 March 2015.

Goals Progress: Below is a chart showing progress on my 2015 goals. I'm happy to report that I wrote my first article for The DIV-Net. Of course, I'm behind on my goal of writing one such article per month and I hope to be doing some catching-up in the next few months. As expected, March was a stellar month for dividend income, so I made great progress on my goal of earning $6,000 in dividend income this year. I'm also happy to report that I'm back on track with my weight loss goal, even though there's more catching up to do...

Looking Ahead: I have enough cash for three new buys in April. Look for another quarterly review soon...

Thanks for reading!