Recent Buy: Ford Motor Company

2016-01-26: Bought 280 shares of F at $12.24 per share. 2016-01-29: Bought 150 shares of F at $11.77 per share.

Founded in 1903 and based in Dearborn, Michigan, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) manufactures and distributes automobiles worldwide. The company has around 62 plants across the world and offers vehicles primarily under the Ford and Lincoln brand names. Ford sells its products through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to fleet customers. The company provides vehicle financing products through a wholly owned subsidiary, Ford Motor Credit Company LLC.

I already own 170 shares of Ford, which I bought in November 2014 at an initial yield on cost (YoC) of 3.96%. YoC for the 2 buys is 4.9% and 5.1%, respectively, and the average YoC of my Ford holding is 4.64%.

17 Dividend Increases, January 25-January 29, 2016

Includes: AIT • AJG • BKH • CINF • CNI • CPT • ETH • GMT • HCN • HCP • NP • NWBI • PAG • PII • PX • SXL • TMP  

Summary

• I monitor dividend increases for stocks in my watch list of dividend growth stocks to identify candidates for further analysis.
• Another reason I monitor dividend increases is to make yield on cost adjustments for stocks in DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks.
• This week, 17 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases, including one of the stocks I own.

12 Dividend Increases: January 18 To January 22, 2016

Includes: ATR • BRO • CMS • CNP • D • FAF • FIBK • INTC • LLTC • TLLP • WAFD • WES 

Summary

• Companies that regularly increase dividends show confidence in the potential growth of future earnings.
• I monitor dividend increases for stocks in my watch list to identify candidates for further analysis and to make yield on cost adjustments for stocks I own.
• In the past week, 12 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases, including two of the stocks I hold in my DivGro portfolio.

10 Dividend Growth Stocks for January 2016

Includes: CMI • EMR • HP • IBM • LAZ • LOW • PII • TROW • VIAB • VLO 

Summary

• After several months on hiatus, I'm restarting my monthly 10 Dividend Growth Stocks series.
• Every month, I'll rank a selection of the CCC stocks to identify top candidates worthy of further analysis.
• This article explains the selection process, which trims the CCC list of more than 750 dividend growth stocks to a more manageable number of candidates.
• I rank the remaining stocks based on fundamental analysis and a multi-stage dividend discount model and assign a 7-star rating to each of the top ranked stocks.
• The article reveals January's top 10 ranked stocks.

12 Dividend Increases: December 20, 2015-January 15, 2016

Includes: ATR • BRO • CMS • CNP • D • FAF • FIBK • INTC • LLTC • TLLP • WAFD • WES 

Summary

• 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.
• Recently, 12 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases, including 3 of the stocks I hold in my DivGro portfolio. 
• Companies that regularly increase dividends show confidence in future earnings growth potential.

Quarterly Review, Q4-2015

This is the 12^th quarterly review of DivGro, concluding 3 years of dividend growth investing and blogging. Soon I'll post an annual review of my portfolio's performance in 2015.

In my previous quarterly review (Q3-2015) I talked about big plans for Q4-2015, including selling stocks I no longer believe should be in my portfolio and merging the holdings of my Scottrade portfolio with those in DivGro. So I'll be reporting on those moves as well as DivGro's performance in Q4-2015.

Monthly Review, December 2015

The new year started with increased volatility in the stock market. The first week of trading ended with a wave of late selling, pushing the market to its worst weekly performance since 2011. The dismal start to 2016 follows on concerns about China's economy slowing down. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones are down by 6% for the week, while the Nasdaq declined more than 7%.

For dividend growth investors, the declining market should offer some great buying opportunities. I'm looking forward to deploying some of the cash available in my DivGro portfolio. In January and February, I'll continue to transfer holdings from my Scottrade account to DivGro. In the process, I'm adding some solid dividend paying stocks and increasing DivGro's projected annual dividend income.

In this post, I'd like to review DivGro's performance in the month of December 2015. Later this month, I'll write quarterly and annual reviews as well. I'll be updating DivGro's Performance page so
readers can review DivGro's status and performance relative to the market and to prior months.

Recent Transfer: The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), more commonly known as Disney, is a diversified international family entertainment company based in Burbank, California. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, the company established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and theme parks. Today, Disney operates in five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media.

DIS pays dividends semi-annually in the months of January and July. The company has a 6-year streak of dividend increases. At the current price of $105.07 the stock yields 1.35%.

Recent Transfer: Ford Motor Company

Founded in 1903 and based in Dearborn, Michigan, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) manufactures and distributes automobiles worldwide. The company has around 62 plants across the world and offers vehicles primarily under the Ford and Lincoln brand names. Ford sells its products through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to fleet customers. The company provides vehicle financing products through a wholly owned subsidiary, Ford Motor Credit Company LLC.

Ford started paying dividends again in 2012 after suspending them in 2006 when the company was close to bankruptcy. At the hight of the global financial crises, Ford famously supported competitors General Motors and Chrysler as they requested government bailout loans. Ford declined the same, but requested a $9 billion credit line. The company returned to profitability in 2009 and Ford's corporate bonds were upgraded from junk to investment grade in 2012.

The company pays quarterly dividends of 15¢ per share in the months of January, April, July and October. At the current price of $14.09, the stock yields 4.26%.

Recent Transfer: Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.

Incorporated in 2007 and headquartered in Plano, Texas, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE:DPS) is one of the largest beverage companies in the Americas. DPS has a diverse portfolio of flavored carbonated soft drinks, including brands such as Dr Pepper, Sunkist, and 7-UP, as well as non-carbonated beverages such as Snapple, Hawaiin Punch and Rose's.

DPS is a Dividend Challenger with a 6-year streak of annual dividend increases. The company pays quarterly dividends of 48¢ per share in the months of January, April, July and October. At the current price of $93.20, the stock yields 2.06%.

DPS is the 13^th stock that I'm transferring from my portfolio at Scottrade to DivGro.

Recent Transfer: Reynolds American, Inc.

Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE:RAI) is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, RAI manufactures and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products in the United States. The company also provides electronic cigarettes. It distributes its products primarily through direct wholesale deliveries from a local distribution center and public warehouses. RAI was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

RAI is a Dividend Contender with an 11-year streak of annual dividend increases. The company pays quarterly dividends of 36¢ per share in the months of January, April, July and October. At the current price of $46.17, the stock yields 3.12%.

RAI is the 12^th stock that I'm transferring from my portfolio at Scottrade to DivGro.

So Long, Seadrill

Yesterday, I closed all my MLPs (master limited partnerships).

I no longer want to own MLPs because I don't like dealing with the somewhat complicated tax reporting requirements. I'm not in a particularly good mood when I'm filing taxes, so dealing with obscure details and confusing variations in Schedule K-1's is not my idea of fun.

Today is the third anniversary of DivGro's founding, although my first post announcing the blog appeared on 10 January 2013. It has been an exciting 3 years!

I created DivGro to generate a reliable and growing dividend income stream. By keeping track of the portfolio and interacting with like-minded investors, I've become a better dividend growth investor. I've learned a tremendous amount about dividend growth investing. Some of the lessons have been painful, but looking at the bright side: