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Monday, July 6, 2015

Quarterly Review, Q2-2015

Unbelievably, we're at the midway point of 2015! Its time again for a quarterly review, my 10th since starting on this journey in January 2013. In this article, I'll give an overview of my investments and dividend income in Q2-2015 and I'll report on DivGro's recent performance.

The second quarterly review each year is important, since it represents the halfway mark of goals you've set for the year. I have some fairly challenging goals for 2015 and I'll review my progress towards achieving them.

In my previous quarterly review (Q1-2015), I mentioned reaching 200,000 page views on DivGro and 150,000 page views on Seeking Alpha. Well, I'm happy to say that those numbers are now 260,000 and 200,000, respectively. I'd like to thank all my readers for their continued support and engaging conversations... I've learned a tremendous amount from your comments and questions!

Now onto my quarterly review!

Dividend Income


DivGro's dividend income in Q2-2015 totaled $1,781, which is 33% higher than last quarter's total of $1,338 and just about double the amount received in the year-ago quarter, Q2-2014 ($892).


DivGro's average percentage payback is 5.83%, up from 5.15% at the end of Q1-2015. Percentage payback relates dividend income to the total amount of capital invested.

Transactions


I've deposited capital funds in the amount of $9,323 to DivGro this past quarter, including three regular monthly deposits of $2,500 each and passive income deposits totaling $1,823. Along with reinvested dividend income, these deposits allowed me to initiate several new positions in DivGro:

Company
 Ticker
 Date 
Transaction
Cummins Inc
 CMI
 17 Apr 
bought 19 shares at $134.62 per share 
Qualcomm Inc
 QCOM
 17 Apr 
bought 37 shares at $68.01 per share
Omega Healthcare Investors Inc
 OHI
 22 Apr 
bought 65 shares at $38.46 per share
Omega Healthcare Investors Inc
 OHI
 15 May 
bought 75 shares at $36.36 per share
Macquarie Infrastructure Company
 MIC
 19 May 
bought 30 shares at $85.98 per share
Reliance Steel & Aluminum
 RS
 12 Jun 
bought 40 shares at $63.98 per share

Additionally, I sold 40 shares of South32 Ltd ADR (OTCMKTS:SOUHY) after having received them in a spin-off from BHP Billiton plc (NYSE:BBL). DivGro now contains 46 stocks.

Dividend Adjustments


Eleven of DivGro's holdings announced dividend increases in Q2-2015:

Company
 Ticker
IncreaseAnnual
Div
New 
YoC
International Business Machines
 (IBM)
18.18%
$5.20
2.77% and 3.38%
Walt Disney Company
 (DIS)
14.78%
$1.32
1.40%
Travelers Companies Inc
 (TRV)
10.91%
$2.44
2.83%
Caterpillar Inc
 (CAT)
10.00%
$3.08
3.68% and 3.87%
Target Corporation
 (TGT
7.69%
$2.24
3.56%
Johnson & Johnson
 (JNJ)
7.14%
$3.00
3.44%
Exxon Mobil Corporation
 (XOM)
5.80%
$2.92
3.43%
AmeriGas Partners, LP
 (APU)
4.55%
$3.68
8.70%
ACE Limited
 (ACE)
4.55%
$2.68
2.61%
Energy Transfer Partners, LP
 (ETP)
2.01%
$4.06
8.56%
Realty Income Corp
 (O)
0.16%
$2.28
4.50%

The net result of these transactions is that DivGro's projected annual dividend income increased by $729 to $6,338, an increase of 13.0% over Q1-2015. Average yield on cost (YoC) is 4.39%, up from 4.35% at the end of Q1-2015.

Market Value


At the end of Q2-2015, DivGro's market value of $152,143 represented a simple return of 8.5% on $140,173 invested. Of course, simple return does not take into account the timing and size of cash deposits as IRR does. DivGro's IRR since inception is 30.13%.


Other Highlights


DivGro's projected monthly dividend income crossed the $500 mark in Q2-2015. Assuming no dividend cuts for stocks in my portfolio, this means I can expect to generate $500, on average, in perpetuity!

Page Views

On 30 June 2015, DivGro crossed the 260,000 page view mark, adding about 60,000 page views in Q2-2015. The daily average page views continues to steadily climb:

 25 March 2015
 daily average page views since inception: 246
 11 April 2015
 daily average page views since inception: 254
 23 April 2015
 daily average page views since inception: 261
 10 May 2015
 daily average page views since inception: 268
 30 May 2015
 daily average page views since inception: 273
 13 June 2015
 daily average page views since inception: 280
 30 June 2015
 daily average page views since inception: 286 

Currently, DivGro averages about 667 page views per day.

Popular Posts

In Q2-2015, I wrote 25 articles, including 13 premium articles for Seeking Alpha and 2 articles for The DIV-Net.

My Seeking Alpha premium articles have been quite successful, receiving many more page views than those posted on my blog. Here are links to the 3 most popular premium articles published in Q2-2015:
The 3 most popular articles posted exclusively on my blog are:

I'm quite happy with the increased traffic generated by Seeking Alpha (and The Div-Net) readers. 

Goals Update


Here is a chart from my June monthly review that visualizes progress towards achieving my 2015 goals:
My projected annual dividend income goal is ahead of schedule, as is my goal of earning $6,000 in dividend income in 2015.  As far as blogging is concerned, I'm just about on track to write 104 articles in 2015 and well ahead of my goal of writing 36 Seeking Alpha articles. On the other hand, I have some catching up to do writing articles for The DIV-Net.

As for my health goals, I've hiked 742 miles and have 68 miles to go to downtown Seattle. So I'm not quite halfway yet, but I should be in Seattle (virtually) in about a week. The hike back to San Francisco would need to be done at a slightly faster pace if I want to reach my goal by New Year's Eve.

I'm far ahead on my climbing goal, which is to climb the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, 30 times. That's a total of 4,890 floors, of which I've completed 3,524 floors (or 22 times up the Burj Khalifa).

I've not even lost one stone so far, so my weight loss goal is a big fail so far! But I haven't given up on it yet!

Outlook For Q3-2015


In Q3-2015, I'd like to focus on fine-tuning my selection criteria, including developing a set of criteria specifically for real estate investment trusts (REITs). Also, as DivGro now contains 46 different stocks, I want to shift focus to adding more shares to my current holdings. This doesn't mean I won't be opening any new positions, only that I'll be slowing down DivGro's expansion to new stocks. Of course, I'll continue to let discount to fair value guide my investment decisions, so if that favors new candidates over current holdings, I'd happily expand DivGro to more holdings.

Thanks for reading!

16 comments :

  1. Awesome progress, DivGro. Really like your Monthly Balance Breakdown chart. Looks like some awesome purchases during the quarter as well...keep up the great work adn thanks for sharing

    R2R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Roadmap2Retire! Thanks for your kind words. I wanted to create the monthly balance breakdown because it gives a good indication of dividend income and capital gains in relation to total invested funds. Puts things in perspective... and over time, I'm hoping the dividend income portion would grow to be a significant component...

      Take care!
      FerdiS

      Delete
  2. Great report! I love the quarterly graph. I have one that looks similar (though smaller amounts) and that is exciting to see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mike -- yes, this is the first time I included a quarterly graph. With 10 quarters behind me now, I felt it was time to do that!

      Cheers
      FerdiS

      Delete
  3. That's a fantastic set of numbers you've got up there. Love all the charts and tables! You are putting yourself in a great position in the future.

    Keep up the great work
    ADD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, ADD -- I like to communicate through charts and tables, 'cause, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words! When I look back over 10 quarters, it is hard to believe how far I've come in a relatively short time!

      Take care!
      FerdiS

      Delete
  4. Congrats on an excellent quarter. A growing portfolio, blog, and publications on Seeking Alpha, not to mention great health!

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, FI Fighter! I'm glad that I can return the favor -- you've been inspiring me!

      Cheers
      FerdiS

      Delete
  5. Great stuff. I love the way you put theses together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, FFdividend -- Personally, I like charts, too. They tell a story visually.

      Delete
  6. Fantastic numbers, both dividend income and for the blog. Loving these breakdown charts, making it easy to see your progress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tawcan -- thanks for commenting! Things are going pretty well even though several stocks are currently in the red. Most of those are opportunities to cost-average down. As mentioned above, I like charts 'cause they tell a story visually...

      Cheers
      FerdiS

      Delete
  7. Great job Ferdi! You made some great progress in Q2 and when you compare where you were to Q2 2014 it's absolutely amazing. Looking forward to seeing how much better Q3 is for you. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks PIP -- its been quite a ride the last year or so. I'm thoroughly enjoying dividend growth investing, especially collecting the dividends every month! This year, I'm working to earn $600 per month, on average. Making good progress!

      Cheers
      FerdiS

      Delete
  8. You have a very good list of stocks in your portfolio man! And the dividend income for Q1 is really something. Did I read it correctly that you collected good amount in this mentioned months?
    It is really something I am still to reach. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading and commenting... it takes time and patience to build up a portfolio of dividend growth stocks that pay good dividends. But it is doable, as many dividend growth bloggers have proved (see my blog roll for evidence!)

      Take care!

      Delete

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