2020 Annual Review Of DivGro

Welcome to the eighth annual review of DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks! 

I created DivGro in January 2013 to create the proverbial dividend-generating machine. With monthly dividend income approaching $2,800 per month, on average, I can only say I'm very pleased with my DG machine!

In annual reviews, I look at DivGro's performance as measured by dividend income, dividend increases, annualized returns, and rate of return. I also look at some highlights of the past year and share my outlook for the coming year.

Home Run Number 30

I reported DivGro's 29^th home run less than two weeks ago, and here I'm back announcing the 30^th home run stock! 

These are fun article to write because it celebrates the milestone of another stock having produced total returns that exceed my initial capital outlay!

The previous stock that achieved home run status was BlackRock, Inc (BLK),  a publicly owned investment manager. 

Today's home run stock took more nearly six years to achieve home run status, but I'm happy to see it has produced annualized returns of about 31%!  I first opened a position in March 2015 and added more shares on several occasions since then.  

Dividend Changes: December 26, 2020-January 22, 2021

After a short hiatus, we're back with this article series on Dividend Changes. We replaced the section on upcoming ex-dividend dates with a new section highlighting one of the stocks that announced a dividend increase.

In the past four weeks, 28 companies in Dividend Radar decided to increase their dividends, including two of the stocks I own. 

I co-produce this article series with James Marino Sr of Portfolio Insight, who helps with compiling the ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

Quarterly Review Of DivGro: Q4-2020

Welcome to the Q4-2020 review of my portfolio of dividend growth stocks! This is my 32^nd quarterly review, which concludes eight years of dividend growth investing and blogging!

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

This quarter, DivGro generated $8,362 in dividend income and I'm projecting dividend income of at least $8,500 per quarter going forward.

The Dividend Kings Ranked By Quality Score Summary

This article ranks the Dividend Kings by quality score. These are stocks of companies that have increased their dividend payouts for at least 50 consecutive years, even through economic recessions, market crashes, technological revolutions, and shifting consumer tastes.

Unlike the Dividend Aristocrats, membership of the Dividend Kings is not maintained by a specific organization. Rather, membership is defined loosely based on dividend increase streak. Unsurprisingly, there is no consensus on what constitutes the Dividend Kings. Of the eight sources I consulted, only two concur!

For this article, I decided to use Dividend Radar as my source. Dividend Radar is a weekly automatically generated spreadsheet listing stocks with dividend streaks of five years or more. 

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For January 2021

Welcome to another edition of my monthly series of 10 Dividend Growth Stocks. In this series, I rank a selection of dividend growth stocks in Dividend Radar and present the 10 top-ranked stocks for consideration. 

To rank stocks, I use DVK Quality Snapshots to get quality scores and sort them in descending order, breaking ties with additional metrics.

This month, I screened for discounted stocks yielding at least 3%. I also required stocks to have a Chowder Number (CDN) that indicates some likelihood of annualized returns of 8% or higher. 

Monthly Review Of DivGro: December 2020

Every month, I write a review of my portfolio of dividend growth stocks, DivGro. I provide a summary of transactions and dividends received in the past month. Additionally, I look at how the month's activities have impacted DivGro's projected annual dividend income (PADI).

In December, I executed a tax-loss harvesting strategy, closing five positions, and reducing another three positions. I use some of those proceeds to increase my holdings in eleven existing positions. Additionally, twelve DivGro stocks announced dividend increases in December. The net result of these changes is that PADI decreased by about 0.1% in December. Year over year, PADI increased by 24.3%.

Home Run Number 29

On Tuesday, I reported DivGro's 28^th home run, a designation I give to any stock when its total returns exceed my initial capital outlay. 

The stock that achieved home run status is NextEra Energy, Inc (NEE), an electric power company with operations in the United States and Canada.

Today's home run stock took only two years and one month to achieve home run status! I first opened a position in December 2018, and added more shares in February 2019 at a higher cost basis. 

Home Run Number 28

Last week, I recorded my 28^th home run in my DivGro portfolio. A stock gets home run status when its total returns exceed my initial capital outlay. For dividend growth or dividend-paying stocks, total returns include both unrealized gains and dividends received. 

I announced my previous home run, Cummins Inc (CMI), on 13 November 2020, after I'd owned the stock for 5 years and 6 months. 

Today's home run stock took only 2 years and 7 months to achieve that feat! 

Options Update: December 2020 (Part 3)

In Part 2 of my final Options Update article of 2020, I'm presenting two assignments, fifteen expired options, and my usual list of upcoming expiring options. Part 1 covered 23 trades in which I rolled forward options and Part 2 presented some closing trades as well as new covered calls and put contracts. 

December was a very busy month for options trading. After having failed to achieve my 2020 goal of collecting at least $24,000 in options income, I decided to reposition my options portfolio for the upcoming year. The net effect is that my options income decreased by about $889 and I ended with options income totaling $14,120 for 2020. 

Options Update: December 2020 (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of my final Options Update article of 2020. In these updates, I keep track of options trades and provide a running tally of DivGro's options income to date.

After failing to achieve my 2020 goal of collecting at least $24,000 in options income, in December, I executed several trades to improve my options portfolio for the coming year. I'm setting the same options income goal for 2021.

Part 1 covered 23 trades in which I rolled forward options. In Part 2, I'm presenting some closing trades as well as new covered calls and put contracts. Finally, Part 3 will present assignments, expired options,  and a list of upcoming expiring options. 

Options Update: December 2020 (Part 1)

Welcome to my final Options Update article of 2020. With these updates, I keep track of my options income, summarize trades, and provide a running tally of DivGro's options income to date.

I failed to achieve my 2020 goal of collecting at least $24,000 in options income. This year turned out to be a much more challenging year for options trading than 2019! 

In December, I executed many trades, many of them defensive trades to avoid assignments and to improve my options portfolio for the coming year. In Part 1, I'll cover trades in which I rolled forward options. Part 2 will present new covered calls and put contracts, as well as closing trades. Finally, Part 3 will present assignments, expired options,  and a list of upcoming expiring options. 

DivGro's Best and Worst Performers in 2020

Now that 2020 is in the rearview mirror, I wanted to review the best and worst performers in my DivGro portfolio in 2020. 

In this review, I considered only positions I owned throughout 2020. These include dividend growth stocks, dividend-paying stocks, growth stocks, and one closed-end fund. 

Of the 72 positions I've owned throughout the year, 18 stocks had negative returns for the year. On average, these positions are up 15.6% for the year, though if I use a weighted average instead of an arithmetic average, the return is a more impressive 20.4%! These returns exclude dividends. 

My worst performer was Valero Energy Corporation (VLO), down 40% since 1 January 2020. This year's best performer is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM), whose stock price increased by 85% in 2020!