Out With The Old

Earlier, I reported closing a tax harvest trade on Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM). Because I still like QCOM, I decided to double down in November and wait 31 days before selling my original shares. In doing so, I took a loss on QCOM for the sake of tax-loss harvesting, but I also grabbed a larger dividend in December and managed to reduce QCOM's cost basis!

In November, I wrote about some big changes coming to DivGro. One change I mentioned was selling stocks I no longer believe should be in my portfolio. I sold PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) and Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH) after both companies cut their dividends. I also mentioned that several other stocks were in my crosshairs but that I'm waiting for one last dividend payment before selling my shares.

With this post, I'm reporting on these trades. I've decided to reduce DivGro's exposure to Energy sector stocks and to get rid of all master limited partnership (MLP) holdings. The losses I'm booking with these trades hurt a lot. On the bright side, though, I've learned a valuable lesson and renewal is liberating!

Completing QCOM Tax-loss Harvesting

In November, I wrote about the other way to harvest tax losses. Instead of selling a losing position
in December to offset capital gains and so limit your tax liability, you could double down by buying an equivalent number of shares in November, wait 31 days and then sell the original position in December before year's end.

I mentioned potentially benefiting from doubling down, including the so-called Santa Clause rally when stock prices generally increase over the final week of trading. Should the market rally, you'll end up with a smaller loss on your original position and gain on the new position.

While reviewing my portfolio, I identified Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) as a candidate for tax-loss harvesting. At the time, QCOM was trading at $49.10 for an unrealized loss of nearly 25%. One added benefit of doubling down on my QCOM position was that I would have received a larger dividend payment in December.

The Blogger's Dividend Growth Portfolio, 2015 Edition

This article originally appeared on The DIV-Net on Wednesday, 23 December 2015.

In January 2013, I joined a growing number of dividend growth investment (DGI) bloggers when I created DivGro. As a starting DGI blogger, I learned a lot by reading other DGI blogs and mimicking what seemed to be good ideas. For me, the best learning came from reviewing the portfolios of DGI bloggers who chose to make their portfolios public.

My blogroll contains over 100 DGI blogs and I include links to public portfolios. Having direct access to public portfolios gives me a quick overview of a blogger's investment philosophy. By now, I know most of the tickers usually found in DGI portfolios, so a quick glance at a public portfolio tells me a lot. Of course, if bloggers choose to include more details than just a list of tickers, that is most useful.

Recently, I updated my blogroll by separating blogs into different categories based on date and activity. New Blogs are blogs that are less than one year old. More established blogs are either Active Blogs (blogs with at least 50 posts in the past year) or Steady Blogs (blogs with fewer than 50 posts in the past year). I also have an Honor Roll containing well-known and popular blogs that contain high quality or inspirational articles.

Recent Transfer: Gilead Sciences, Inc.

Gilead Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ:GILD) is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines. The company’s primary areas of focus include human immunodeficiency virus, liver diseases such as chronic hepatitis C virus infection and chronic hepatitis B virus infection, oncology and inflammation, and serious cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. GILD markets its products through commercial teams and in conjunction with third-party distributors and corporate partners. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.

GILD only recently started paying dividends. So far, the company has paid 3 quarterly dividends of 43¢ per share. At the current price of about $103.58, the stock yields 1.66%.

7 Dividend Increases, December 7 To December 18, 2015

Includes: BEN • O • PFE • PNR • THG • UBA • WPC 

Summary

• I monitor dividend increases for stocks on my watch list to identify candidates for further analysis and to make yield on cost adjustments for stocks I own.
• Companies that regularly increase dividends show confidence in future earnings growth potential. 
• In the past 2 weeks, 7 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases, including 3 holdings in my DivGro portfolio.

Goals for 2016

With a week to go before Christmas, I think it is a good time to set new goals for DivGro for 2016!

2015 has been a busy year for DivGro and I've achieved some challenging goals. I increased projected annual dividend income from $4,900 to about $8,000, some $500 above my 2015 goal. Also, 2015 dividend income stands at $7,700, which easily beats my goal of $6,000 for the year.

I'm on track to achieve several of the other goals I set for 2015, which is great news! Although I'll miss out on a couple of my goals, I consider that as inspiration to try harder next year. Of course, if you easily achieve all the goal you've set, perhaps they were not challenging enough!

Before listing my 2016 goals, I'd like to state some assumptions and commitments:

Recent Transfer: Union Pacific Corporation

Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) operates through its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad Company. The company operates the largest public railroad in North America, with 32,000 miles of track linking 23 states in the western two-thirds of the United States. UNP hauls coal, industrial products, intermodal containers, agricultural goods, chemicals, and automotive products. UNP owns a quarter of Mexican railroad Ferromex. The company was founded in 1862.

UNP is a Dividend Challenger with a 9-year streak of annual dividend increases. The company pays quarterly dividends of 55¢ per share in the months of March, June, September and December. At the current price of about $78.10, the stock yields 2.82%.

Recent Transfer: Texas Instruments, Inc.

Texas Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN) designs, makes and sells semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers worldwide. The company operates mainly through two segments, Analog and Embedded Processing. It markets and sells products through a direct sales force and through distributors. TXN was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

TXN is a Dividend Contender with a 12-year streak of annual dividend increases. The company pays quarterly dividends of 38¢ per share in the months of February, May, August and November. At the current price of about $58, the stock yields 2.62%.

Recent Transfer: Pfizer Inc

Headquartered in New York and founded in 1849, Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms, with annual sales of about $50 billion. The company is engaged in discovering, developing and manufacturing of healthcare products. Prescription drugs and vaccines account for almost 90% of PFE's sales. Top sellers include the meningitis vaccine Prevnar 13, the impotence drug Viagra, and Lyrica for epilepsy and some forms of neuropathic pain. The company sells products globally with international sales accounting for about 60% of total sales.

PFE just recently made a comeback to the CCC-list, a list of dividend growth stocks with at least 5 consecutive years of dividend increases. PFE was dropped from the CCC list in 2009 following a dividend cut. At the time, the company was a Dividend Champion with a 41-year streak of dividend increases. Of course, now PFE is a Dividend Challenger.

15 Dividend Increases, November 23 To December 4, 2015

Includes: BDX • CHRW • DFT • DIS • EMN • ENB • ERIE • GGG • HRL • LG • MKC • MRK • SJI • VAL • WEC

Summary

• Companies that regularly increase dividends show confidence in future earnings growth potential. 
• I monitor dividend increases for stocks in my watch list of dividend growth stocks to identify candidates for further analysis and to make yield on cost adjustments for stocks I own.
• This week, 15 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases, including one of the stocks I hold in my DivGro portfolio.

Recent Transfer: Toronto-Dominion Bank

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) is a Canadian chartered bank that provides a wide range of financial and banking services in North America and internationally. Services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgage and student loans, trusts, wills, estate planning, investment management services and financial and advisory services. In October 2015, TD had more than 24 million customers and assets totaling C$1.1 trillion. TD was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto.

TD is the 7^th stock that I'm transferring from my portfolio at Scottrade to DivGro. So far, I've transferred Coca Cola (NYSE:KO), Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB), AbbView (NYSE:ABBV), Dominion Resources (NYSE:D) and W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC).

In the process, I've added $597.33 to DivGro's projected annual dividend income and $686.09 in past dividends to DivGro's total dividend tally.

Monthly Review, November 2015

In my Q3-2015 quarterly review, I wrote that I have some big plans for the coming months.

Foremost, I started merging the holdings in my Scottrade account with my DivGro holdings, an ongoing process that will continue throughout December and into the new year. This is an exciting endeavor, as I'm adding some solid dividend paying stocks and increasing DivGro's projected annual dividend income in the process.

Also, I got rid of some stocks that no longer belong in my portfolio. I sold all my shares of PennyMac (PMT) and Textainer (TGH) after both companies announced dividend cuts. In December, I plan to sell more stocks that I believe no longer should be in my portfolio.

Recent Transfer: W.P. Carey, Inc.

Founded in 1973 and based in New York, W.P. Carey, Inc. (NYSE:WPC) is an independent equity REIT (real estate investment trust) engaged in providing long-term sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing for companies. WPC primarily invests in commercial properties that are generally triple-net leased to single corporate tenants including office, warehouse, industrial, logistics, retail, hotel, R&D, and self-storage properties.

I'm proceeding with the transfer of stocks from my portfolio at Scottrade to DivGro. So far, I've transferred Coca Cola (NYSE:KO), Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB), AbbView (NYSE:ABBV) and Dominion Resources (NYSE:D).

So far, these transfers have added $444.53 to DivGro's projected annual dividend income.