DivGro Pulse: October 2018

DivGro is my portfolio of dividend growth stocks and I write monthly pulse articles that monitor DivGro's health. These articles are strategy-focused and my overall aim is to reduce portfolio risk and to further diversify my holdings.

In the third quarter of 2018, I focused specifically on strengthening DivGro's risk profile by closing or trimming riskier positions and adding higher quality stocks.

In this month's edition, I'm reporting several additions to my portfolio. These are high-quality stocks with either Safe or Very Safe dividend safety scores (as assessed by Simply Safe Dividends).

23 Dividend Increases: October 22-26, 2018 (Part 2: Remaining Sectors)

One way to identify dividend growth stocks for further analysis is to monitor dividend increases. I look for companies that regularly increase their dividends.

This past week, 23 companies on the CCC list announced dividend increases. Part 1 covered dividend increase announcements of stocks in the Financials and Real Estate sectors. This is Part 2, which covers the remaining sectors.

Two of the 11 stocks in Part 2 announced double-digit percentage increases.

23 Dividend Increases: October 22-26, 2018 (Part 1: Financials and Real Estate Sectors)

Earnings season is in full swing—no fewer than 23 companies announced dividend increases in the past week.

I monitor dividend increases for stocks on my watch list of dividend growth stocks to identify candidates for further analysis. Companies can only raise their dividends regularly and sustainably if they grow earnings sufficiently.

Part 1 covers dividend increases from the Financials and Real Estate Sectors. Part 2 will cover dividend increases for the remaining sectors.

Of the 12 stocks I'm covering in Part 1, five announced double-digit percentage increases!

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For October 2018

The CCC list is a wonderful resource for Dividend Growth Investors. Created by the late Dave Fish and now maintained by Justin Law, The CCC list contains nearly 900 stocks trading on U.S. exchanges with the distinction of having paid higher dividends for at least 5 consecutive years.

With my monthly 10 Dividend Growth Stocks series, I rank a subset of stocks from the CCC list and present the 10 top-ranked stocks for further research.

Last month I noted that my ranking system does a poor job of ranking REITs relative to other stocks. I decided to rework my ranking system to address this shortcoming. Today I'm debuting my new ranking system. While it is still in development, I wanted to test it out on stocks in the Utilities Sector.

19 Dividend Increases: October 15-19, 2018 (Part 2: Remaining Sectors)

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

This week, 19 companies decided to increase their dividends, including 2 of the stocks I own.

Part 1 covered stocks in the Energy, Industrials, and Materials sectors. This is Part 2, which covers the remaining sectors.

No fewer than 5 of the 11 stocks in Part 2 announced double-digit percentage increases!

19 Dividend Increases: October 15-19, 2018 (Part 1: Energy, Industrials, and Materials)

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

This week, 19 companies decided to increase their dividends, including 2 of the stocks I own.

Part 1 covers stocks in the Energy, Industrials, and Materials sectors. Part 2 will cover the remaining sectors.

Of the 8 stocks I'm covering in Part 1, the top increase is 21%!

9 Dividend Increases: October 8-12, 2018

Companies that regularly raise their dividend payments show confidence in future earnings growth potential. One way to identify dividend growth stocks for further analysis is to monitor dividend increases.

In the past week, 9 companies announced dividend increases.

Four of these increases are double-digit percentage increases!

Quarterly Review of DivGro: Q3-2018

Welcome to the Q3-2018 review of DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks.

My quarterly reviews provide a summary of dividend income, dividend changes, and transactions executed in the past quarter. I also provide some charts showing various portfolio statistics. While these reviews are mostly informational, they help me to track progress over time.

My portfolio generated more than $5,370 of dividend income this quarter and I'm projecting dividend income of at least $5,600 per quarter going forward.

5 Dividend Increases: October 1-5, 2018

Companies that regularly increase dividends show confidence in future earnings growth potential. Monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list helps me identify candidates for further analysis.

In the last week, 5 companies decided to increase their dividends. One of these increases is a double-digit percentage increase!

Monthly Review of DivGro: September 2018

Welcome to the September review of DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks. I present details of buys and 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 September, I opened five new positions and added shares to four existing positions. Additionally, I closed two positions. Seven DivGro stocks announced dividend increases in September.

The net result of all these changes is that PADI increased by about 1.2% in September. Year over year, PADI increased by 29.5%.

As for dividend income, September was another record-setting month! I received dividends totaling $2,713 from 33 stocks in my portfolio, for a year over year increase of 21%. So far in 2018, I've collected $14,660 in dividends or about 81% of my 2018 goal of $18,000.

Options Update: September 2018

I write monthly options updates to report on my options trades and to keep track of the options income so generated. 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's focus continues to be dividend growth investing, I leverage the equity in my portfolio to trade options and generate extra income. This allows me to buy more dividend growth stocks than otherwise would have been possible.

I mostly sell puts on stocks I would like to own and covered calls on stocks I already own. Occasionally, I execute more speculative options trades, too, such as bull put spreads and other combo trades.