Dividend Increases: March 21-27, 2020

This weekly article series covers dividend increase announcements. I monitor dividend increases for stocks in the Dividend Champions List [CCC list].

Last week, only one company in the CCC list announced a dividend increase.

It is almost earnings season again, so we'll see more dividend increases (I hope!) again soon. I'll also write a summary of dividend increases for the first quarter of 2020 soon.

The 30 Dividend Kings Ranked By Quality Score

This article ranks the 30 Dividend Kings by quality score.

Dividend Kings are companies that have increased their dividend payouts for at least 50 consecutive years. This is a remarkable achievement, as these companies have maintained regular dividend increases even in periods of economic recessions, market crashes, technology revolutions, and shifting consumer tastes.

I use DVK Quality Snapshots to assess the quality of the Dividend Kings. The system employs five quality indicators and assigns 0-5 points to each quality indicator, for a maximum of 25 points. To rank stocks, I sort them by quality score and break ties by considering up to three factors, in turn.

The article includes tables presenting quality indicators, key metrics, and fair value estimates.

Dividend Increases: March 14-20, 2020

This weekly article series covers dividend increase announcements. I monitor dividend increases for stocks in the Dividend Champions List [CCC list].

Last week, four companies in the CCC list announced dividend increases, including one of the stocks I own.

Only one stock announced a dividend increase of more than 10%.

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For March 2020

The Dividend Champions [CCC] list contains nearly 900 dividend growth [DG] stocks trading on U.S. exchanges that have paid higher dividends for at least five consecutive calendar years. An accompanying spreadsheet provides valuable data and is updated monthly by SA author Justin Law.

In this article, I rank a subset of the CCC stocks and present the 10 top-ranked stocks for consideration. I now use DVK Quality Snapshots to assess the quality of dividend stocks and rank them by quality score, breaking ties by considering up to three quality metrics, in turn.

This month I decided to rank high-quality CCC stocks trading at least 10% below my fair value estimates. Fear related to the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wreaked havoc in the markets, and economists expect a global recession in the first half of 2020. Many stocks on my watchlist now trade well below fair value and present opportunities for further investment.

Carnage!

On 19 February 2020, the S&P 500 closed at a record high of 3,386.15. Today, just more than a month later, the index closed some 33.9% lower at 2,237.40!

This is the fastest 30%+ sell-off ever, exceeding the pace of declines during the Great Depression. It took just 20 trading days for the Dow Jones Industrial Average to enter bear market territory and just 22 trading days for the S&P 500 to fall 30%.

My DivGro portfolio suffered badly from this carnage and all my capital gains are gone! If it were not for the nearly $100k in dividends I've collected since 2013, DivGro would have been underwater!

Options Update: February 2020

Welcome to another edition of Options Update, a monthly article series in which I summarize options trades and keep track of DivGro's options income.

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has wreaked havoc in the world and on the stock markets. Today, the Dow officially wiped out all the gains of the Trump presidency.

My DivGro portfolio has taken a beating and with soaring volatility, my open options positions are taking it on the chin, too! It seems highly unlikely that I will achieve my 2020 goal to collect at least $24,000 in options income. In fact, I think it will be hard to break even this year!

Dividend Increases: March 7-13, 2020

This article series provides a weekly summary of dividend increase announcements. I monitor dividend increase announcements for stocks in the Dividend Champions List [CCC list].

Last week, seven companies in the CCC list announced dividend increases, including one of the stocks I own.

Three stocks announced dividend increases of more than 10%.

Monthly Review Of DivGro: February 2020

Once a month, I review my portfolio of dividend growth stocks, DivGro. The goal of these reviews is to provide a summary of dividends received and to detail buy and sell transactions. I also look at how DivGro's projected annual dividend income (PADI) has changed.

In January, I closed three positions and added shares to four existing positions. Twelve DivGro stocks announced dividend increases in January. The net result of these changes is that PADI increased by about 0.8% in January. Year over year, PADI increased by 5.7%.

As for dividend income, in January I received dividends totaling $1,899 from 27 stocks in my portfolio, a year over year increase of 8%. So far in 2020, I've collected $1,899 in dividends or about 7% of my 2020 goal of $27,000.

Dividend Increases: February 29-March 6, 2020

This article series provides a weekly summary of dividend increase announcements. I monitor dividend increase announcements for stocks in the Dividend Champions List [CCC list].

After several weeks of a large number of dividend increase announcements, last week only six companies in the CCC list announced dividend increases.

Two stocks in my portfolio announced dividend increases, and I'm happy to see that both increases top notch 7%!

The 64 Dividend Aristocrats Ranked By Quality Score

Dividend Aristocrats are S&P 500 stocks that have increased their dividend payouts for 25 consecutive years or more. In January, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the annual rebalancing of the Dividend Aristocrats, adding seven stocks to the index.

This article ranks the 64 Dividend Aristocrats using DVK Quality Snapshots. Devised by SA author David Van Knapp [DVK], the system employs five quality indicators and assigns 0-5 points to each quality indicator, for a maximum of 25 points. To rank stocks, I sort them by quality score and break ties by considering up to three factors, in turn.

The article presents quality indicators, key metrics, and fair value estimates.

Dividend Increases: February 22-28, 2020 (Part 2)

Last week, another 38 companies in the Dividend Champions List [CCC list] announced dividend increases.

Part 1 covered dividend increases announced by Dividend Champions (stocks with 25 or more consecutive years of higher dividend payments) and Dividend Contenders (10-24 years).

This is Part 2, in which I'm covering the Dividend Challengers (5-9 years). No fewer than ten Dividend Challengers announced double-digit percentage increases, with Popular (BPOP) topping the list with a whopping 33% increase!

Dividend Increases: February 22-28, 2020 (Part 1)

Another 38 companies in the Dividend Champions List [CCC list] announced dividend increases last week. I publish an article every week to summarize these dividend increases and include a table of ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

When so many companies announce dividend increases, I split my summary article into two parts. Part 1 covers the Dividend Champions and Contenders (companies with at least a 10-year streak of higher dividend payments). Part 2 will cover the Challengers (a streak of 5-9 years).

Two of the stocks in my DivGro portfolio announced dividend increases.

I Trimmed AMGN Before The Market Tanked

This year I'm looking to reposition DivGro with the view of producing annualized returns of at least 8%. To do so, I'm using the so-called Chowder Rule to select or favor stocks with favorable Chowder Numbers [CDNs].

In February, I trimmed my Procter & Gamble (PG) and Chubb (CB) positions because it looks unlikely that these stocks will produce the annualized returns I'm looking for.

I've trimmed or closed other positions in February, though I have not yet reported on these transactions. This article covers one of the sells. I'm hoping to cover the others in upcoming articles.