Recent Buy: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

24 June 2016: Bought 35 shares of WMT at $72.15 per share.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) is the world's largest retailer. Based in Bentonville, Arkansas and founded in 1945, WMT is a multinational retailer consisting of more than 11,000 stores under 72 banners in 28 countries. It is the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees.

WMT is a Dividend Champion with an impressive streak of 43 consecutive years of dividend increases. The company pays quarterly dividends in January, April, July and October.

At my buy price of $72.15 the stock yields 2.77%. Adding 35 shares of WMT to DivGro increases projected annual dividend income by $70 to $11,464.

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For June 2016

Includes: ADP • HFC • HRL • LAZ • NKE • ROST • TGT • TRV • VFC • VLO 

Summary

• Every month, I rank a selection of the CCC dividend growth stocks to identify top candidates worthy of further analysis. 
• I trim the CCC list of more than 750 stocks by using a series of screens, then rank the remaining stocks based on fundamental analysis.
• This article reveals the top 10 ranked stocks for June. Each stock is assigned a 7-star rating, with only the best stocks earning 7 stars.

Would You Buy Target For Less Than $62?

2016-06-09: Sold to Open 1 Contract of Option TGT JAN 20 2017 65.00 P

Last week I wrote about my first options trade for DivGro. As mentioned in that article, one of my goals this year is to find opportunities to boost dividend income. I don't want to do this by chasing yield. Rather, I'd like to use options to generate a little extra income in addition to the dividend income I already receive.

One way to boost income is to sell covered calls against stocks I own in my DivGro portfolio. I can sell one call for every 100 shares I own and collect the option premium in return.

Another way to boost my income is to sell a cash-secured put on a stock I would like to own at a strike price I'm willing to pay. The put buyer will have the right to sell me 100 shares of the stock at the strike price before the option's expiration date.

7 Dividend Increases: May 30-June 10, 2016

Includes: AMT • AVGO • CBRL • HP • TGT • UHT • UNH 

Summary

• Companies that regularly raise dividends show confidence in the potential growth of future earnings.
• One way to identify dividend growth stocks for further analysis is to monitor dividend increases.
• In the past few weeks, 7 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases, including 2 of the stocks I hold in my portfolio.

Monthly Review: May 2016

May was a busy month for me as I completed a project at work that I've been working on for almost a year. Trading in DivGro was light. I added shares to 2 positions and initiated a new position, increasing the number of positions in DivGro to 64.

I expect to focus more on adding shares to existing holdings rather than increasing the number of new positions. That said, there are a few candidates that I'm considering, but they're trading at levels I'm just not comfortable buying!

As usual, this monthly review gives a snapshot of DivGro and my trading activities in the past month. I'm well on my way to this year's goal of $12,000 in projected annual dividend income. When that target is reached, it means that the portfolio will be generating $1,000 per month of dividend income, on average, in perpetuity!

Recent Buy: United Parcel Service

12 May 2016: Bought 25 shares of UPS at $101.84 per share. United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including the transportation of packages and freight; the facilitation of international trade, and the deployment of advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 220 countries and territories worldwide.

UPS is a Dividend Challenger with a track record of 7 consecutive years of dividend increases and a 5-year dividend growth rate of 9.2%. The company pays quarterly dividends of 78¢ per share in the months of March, June, September and December.

At my buy price of $101.84 the stock yields 3.06%. Adding 25 shares of UPS to DivGro increases projected annual dividend income by $78.

My First Option Trade

2016-06-01: Sold to Open 6 Contracts of Option F AUG 19 2016 13.00 C

One of my goals this year is to find opportunities to generate extra income by writing covered calls  against DivGro positions in my Scottrade account.

Writing or selling covered calls is a safe way to earn extra income on top of the dividend income you already receive just for owning dividend paying stocks. You can sell one contract for every 100 shares you own and collect an option premium in return.

When selling covered calls involving dividend paying stocks, you hope to keep the shares in order to continue collecting dividends.