Options Update: November 2018

DivGro's focus continues to be dividend growth investing, and most of my articles discuss the management of my dividend growth portfolio. But I also do options trades, so I write monthly options updates to keep track my options income.

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.

I added options trading to DivGro to leverage the equity in my portfolio and to generate extra income. Options trading allows me to buy more dividend growth stocks that 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.

8 Dividend Increases: November 26-30, 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.

This past week, eight companies announced dividend increases, including one of the stocks I own.

Two of these increases are double-digit percentage increases!

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For November 2018

In a recent article, I presented the top 10 holdings of Dividend ETFs in each GICS sector along with F.A.S.T. Graph charts of a selection of stocks I consider worthy of further analysis and possible investment.

For this month's top 10 list, I decided to rank these stocks and present the top 10 stocks along with my fair value estimates and other key metrics.

I'm still tweaking the new ranking system and I hope to return to ranking an entire GICs sector next month.

In time, I want to use the sector averages to calibrate the ranking system so it does a better job ranking stocks from different sectors.

Top Holdings Of Dividend ETFs (Part 2: The Top 10 By Sector)

In Part 1 of this article, I presented a virtual portfolio of the top holdings of 47 dividend ETFs. Using a proportional scoring system that favors larger investments and larger ETFs, I calculate dan aggregate score for each ticker in the top 25 holdings of the dividend ETFs. Sorting the aggregate scores in descending order determined the rank of each stock (ticker).

The top 50 holdings are not distributed evenly among the 11 GICS sectors. For example, not a single Materials sector stock is present in the top 50 holdings. For dividend growth investors interested in diversifying their portfolios, this is not very helpful.

So in Part 2, I'm showcasing the top 10 stocks in each GICS sector. Seeing the top 10 stocks in each sector, along with key ratings and metrics, is quite useful, in my view, and should give readers additional insight into the holdings of dividend ETFs.

20 Dividend Increases: November 12-23, 2018 (Part 2: Remaining Sectors)

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

Recently, 20 companies announced dividend increases, including 3 of my DivGro holdings. Part 1 of this article covered increases from the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, and Utilities sectors. This is Part 2, which covers the remaining sectors.

Two of the 9 stocks covered in Part 2 announced double-digit percentage increases and the top increase is a spectacular 29%!

20 Dividend Increases: November 12-23, 2018 (Part 1: Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, And Utilities)

I monitor dividend increases for stocks on my watch list to identify candidates for further analysis and possible investment. Recently, 20 companies announced dividend increases, including 3 of my DivGro holdings.

Part 1 of this article covers dividend increases from stocks in the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, and Utilities sectors.  Part 2 will cover the remaining sectors.

Of the 11 stocks covered in Part 1, three announced double-digit percentage increases and the top increase is 25%! I'm happy to say two of my dividend increases are double-digit increases, too!

Top Holdings Of Dividend ETFs (Part 1: The Top 50)

From time to time, I compile a virtual portfolio consisting of the top 50 holdings of dividend ETFs. To compile the portfolio, I analyze the top 25 holdings in each ETF and assign scores proportional to the size of each holding. Summing the scores of individual holdings allow me to rank them by popularity, and so to find the top holdings of these dividend ETFs.

For this edition, I analyzed 47 dividend ETFs. Of the 1,154 tickers found in the top 25 holdings of these ETFs, 389 are unique. Pfizer (PFE) and Verizon Communications (VZ) appear in 25 of the 47 dividend ETFs, the most of any stocks. However, Exxon Mobil (XOM) tops the list by aggregate score and Apple (AAPL) is the  runner-up, replacing Microsoft (MSFT) which drops to third place.

Dividend growth investors can compare their own portfolios to the top 50 and identify candidates for analysis and possible investment.

22 Dividend Increases: November 5-9, 2018 (Part 2: Remaining Sectors)

Companies that regularly increase their dividends show confidence in future earnings growth potential. I monitor dividend increases for stocks on my watch list of dividend growth stocks to identify candidates for further analysis.

Last week, 22 companies announced dividend increases. Part 1 of this article covered increases from the Industrials, Health Care, and Utilities sectors. This is Part 2, which covers the remaining sectors.

Four of the 11 stocks covered in Part 2 announced double-digit percentage increases!

22 Dividend Increases: November 5-9, 2018 (Part 1: Industrials, Health Care, And Utilities

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

This week, 22 companies declared dividend increases. Part 1 of this article covers increases from the Industrials, Health Care, and Utilities sectors. Part 2 will cover the remaining sectors.

Of the 11 stocks covered in Part 1, three announced double-digit percentage increases and the top increase is 30%!

Monthly Review of DivGro: October 2018

The stock market had a spooky month in October, with volatility as measured by the CBOE VIX increasing by about 75%, from 12 to 21. The DOW 30 dropped 5.1%, the S&P 500 dropped 6.9%, and the NASDAQ dropped 9.2%.

When stock prices fall like that, dividend growth investors get a chance to buy stocks at lower prices and higher yields. I took the opportunity to add several positions and simultaneously to improve my portfolio's risk profile.

In this article, I'll present details of these buys (and a few sells) and the resulting impact on DivGro's projected annual dividend income (PADI). Also, I'll present details of dividends received and dividend increases announced in October.

Why Diversification Matters!

By James Pattersenn Jr

Regardless of whether you consider yourself a value investor, dividend investor (income), growth investor, or dividend growth investor, diversification should be an integral part of your investment program because it does matter.

Here’s why.

16 Dividend Increases: October 29-November 2, 2018

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

Recently, 16 companies announced dividend increases, including one of the stocks I own.

Six of these increases are double-digit percentage increases!

Options Update: October 2018 (Part 2)

Part 1 of my monthly options update presented October's assigned, expired, closed and rolled options. Also, I reviewed options that expire in the next two months and discussed the progress I've made related to my secured options income goal.

In Part 2, I'm providing details on covered calls and put contracts sold in October, as well as a spread trade I executed. I'm also providing the usual snapshot of recent options trades showing a running tally of options income and secured options income.

Options Update: October 2018 (Part 1)

DivGro's focus is dividend growth investing and most of my articles discuss how I use the strategy of dividend growth investing to manage my portfolio.

I added options trading to leverage the equity in my portfolio and to generate more income. Through monthly options update articles, I report on these options trades and I track the options income so generated.

With lots of trading activity in October, I decided to split this update into two parts. Part 1 provides the usual recap and a snapshot of October's trades. I report on expired, closed, and rolled options, and review a list of options expiring soon. Part 1 concludes with a look at how I'm doing with regards to my secured options income goal.

Part 2 will provide details on new covered call and put contracts, as well as a spread trade I executed last month. I'll also provide the usual snapshot of recent options trades.

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.