DivGro Pulse: March 2018

Welcome to another edition of DivGro Pulse, a series of articles that focus on the strategy of dividend growth investing. I monitor the health of my DivGro portfolio, update fair value estimates, and determine undervalued stocks suitable for further investment.

After founding DivGro in January 2013, I've focused almost exclusively on dividend growth (DG) investing. I say "almost exclusively", because my portfolio includes some closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds, and stocks that do not pay or regularly increase dividends.

Pulse articles exclusively focus on the DG stocks in my portfolio. I hope to reduce DivGro's overall risk profile, continue to increase diversification, and improve the balance of my holdings.

3 Dividend Increases: March 19-23, 2018

I like monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list of dividend growth stocks because I consider such stocks to be candidates for further analysis. Companies that regularly raise their dividends show confidence in the potential growth of future earnings.

I monitor a selection of the CCC stocks using several screens to limit the number of stocks to monitor. For example, I consider only stocks with market caps greater than $500M.

Only three stocks on my watch list announced increases last week. One of these is a DivGro stock.

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For March 2018

David Fish maintains a list of dividend growth stocks with at least five consecutive years of paying higher dividends. Colloquially called the CCC list, it contains more than 800 dividend growth stocks trading on U.S. exchanges. The CCC list and the accompanying spreadsheet is a wonderful source for dividend growth investors and I've been using it for years.

In my monthly 10 Dividend Growth Stocks series, I identify 10 CCC stocks worthy of further research. To create the list, I trim the CCC list using various screens. I rank the remaining stocks and assign a 7-star rating to each stock. Stocks rated 5 stars or better are worthy of further analysis.

This month I added the top “wealth creators” of all time (at least those still on the CCC list) to my DivGro DG stocks, forming a combined list of 63 candidate stocks.

7 Dividend Increases: March 12-16, 2018

I like monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list of dividend growth stocks because I consider such stocks to be candidates for further analysis. Companies that regularly raise their dividends show confidence in the potential growth of future earnings.

I monitor the CCC stocks but I use several screens to limit the number of stocks I monitor. For example, I require yields greater than 1% for Dividend Champions and greater than 1.5% for Dividend Contenders and Dividend Challengers.

After an exciting earnings season with lots of dividend increases, the number of dividend increases is down significantly from recent weeks. Last week, only seven companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends. I own two of these stocks.

7 Dividend Increases: March 5-9, 2018

I like monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list of dividend growth stocks because I consider such stocks to be candidates for further analysis. Companies that regularly raise their dividends show confidence in the potential growth of future earnings.

I look for announcements from stocks in the CCC list, but I use several screens to limit the number of stocks I monitor. For example, I require yields greater than 1% for Dividend Champions and greater than 1.5% for Dividend Contenders and Dividend Challengers.

After an exciting earnings season with lots of dividend increases, the number of dividend increases is down significantly from recent weeks. Last week, only seven companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends. I own two of these stocks.

Monthly Review of DivGro: February 2018

Welcome to the February review of DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks. I present details of any buys or sells, and I provide a summary of dividends collected. Additionally, I look at how the month's activities have impacted DivGro's projected annual dividend income (PADI).

In February, I opened two new positions and added shares to five existing positions. Nine DivGro stocks announced dividend increases in February. The net result of these changes is that PADI increased by about 6.7% in February. Year over year, PADI increased by 40.1%.

As for dividend income, in February I received dividends totaling $1,127 from 16 stocks in my portfolio, a year over year decrease of 23%. So far in 2018, I've collected $2,055 in dividends or about 11% of my 2018 goal of $18,000.

Options Update: February 2018

I write monthly options update articles to keep track of options trades in my DivGro portfolio. I mostly sell covered calls on dividend growth stocks I own or secured puts on stocks I would like to own. Sometimes, I execute more speculative options trades, too.

Each update serves as a status report on the open options and obligations I have. I also report new trades and provide a running tally of DivGro's options income to date.

While DivGro remains focused on dividend growth investing, I added options trading in June 2016 to leverage the equity in my portfolio and to generate more income. In turn, this allows me to buy more dividend growth stocks and boost my dividend income.

20 Dividend Increases: February 26-March 2, 2018 (Part 2: Remaining Sectors)

Monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch is one way to identify candidates for further analysis. I look for announcements from stocks in the CCC list, but I use several screens to limit the number of stocks to monitor.

For example, I require a dividend yield of at least 1.5% for Dividend Challengers and a dividend yield of at least 1.0% for Dividend Contenders and Dividend Champions.

In the past week, 20 companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends, including one of the stocks I hold in my portfolio. Part 1 presented dividend increases of stocks in the Consumer Discretionary and Financials sectors. This is Part 2, which covers dividend increase announcements from the remaining sectors.

20 Dividend Increases: February 26-March 2, 2018 (Part 1: Consumer Discretionary And Financials Sectors)

I monitor dividend increases for stocks on my watch list of dividend growth stocks to identify candidates for further analysis. Companies that regularly raise their dividends show confidence in the potential growth of future earnings. I look for announcements from stocks in the CCC list, but I use several screens to limit the number of stocks to monitor. For example, I only monitor companies with market caps greater than $500M.

In the past week, 20 companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends. I own one of these stocks. Part 1 of this article presents dividend increases from stocks in the Consumer Discretionary and Financials sectors. See the upcoming Part 2 for dividend increase announcements from the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

Home Run Number 14

In June last year I opened positions in four stocks that don't pay dividends. For fun, I call these stocks my future dividend payers.

The stocks are the most popular and best performing technology stocks in the market and have generated rather spectacular returns for investors.

One of these stocks just became DivGro's fourteenth home run stock. I use the term home run to describe any position in DivGro that crosses the 100% mark in total returns.

In this article, I recap DivGro's previous home runs, announce the 14^th home run, and list the positions that are closing in on home run status.

33 Dividend Increases: February 19-23, 2018 (Part 3: Remaining Sectors)

Monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch is one way to identify candidates for further analysis. Last week, 33 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases. I own two of these stocks in my DivGro portfolio.

Part 1 presented dividend increases from stocks in the Financials and Real Estate sectors, while Part 2 covered Consumer Discretionary and Materials sector stocks.

This is Part 3, which covers the remaining sectors.

33 Dividend Increases: February 19-23, 2018 (Part 2: Consumer Discretionary and Materials Sectors)

Monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list helps me identify candidates for further analysis. I look for announcements from stocks in the CCC list, but I use several screens to limit the number of stocks to monitor.

In the past week, 33 companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends, including two of the stocks I hold in my portfolio.

Part 1 presented dividend increases of stocks in the Real Estate and Financials sectors. This is Part 2, which covers dividend increase announcements from Consumer Discretionary and Materials sector stocks. The upcoming Part 3 will provide a summary of dividend increases from stocks in the remaining sectors.

Seven out of ten increases from the Consumer Discretionary and Materials sectors are double digit increases! In fact, three stocks announced increases topping 20%!

33 Dividend Increases: February 19-23, 2018 (Part 1: Real Estate and Financials Sectors)

Companies that regularly raise their dividends show confidence in potential growth of future earnings. Monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch is one way I identify candidates for further analysis.

In the past week, 33 companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends, including two of the stocks I hold in my portfolio.

Part 1 provides a summary of dividend increases announced by stocks in the Real Estate and Financials sectors. Part 2 will cover dividend increases from Consumer Discretionary and Materials sector stocks, while Part 3 will cover the remaining sectors.

Four stocks in the Real Estate and Financials sectors announced double digit percentage increases and two more are within a rounding error of a 10% raise!