Dividend Increases: August 12-16, 2019

This article series provides a weekly summary of dividend increase announcements and a summary of ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

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

Two of this week's dividend increases are double-digit percentage increases!

High-Quality Dividend Stocks

I've been using a slightly modified version of David Van Knapp's quality scoring system to assess the quality of dividend growth [DG] stocks.

The quality scoring system employs five widely used quality indicators from independent sources and assigns 0-5 points to each quality indicator, for a maximum of 25 points. I call the total score a stock's quality score.

It occurred to me that I could use the quality scoring system to find high-quality stocks. I simply screen for stocks that match predetermined levels for each quality indicator. This article presents a ranked list of 36 stocks with quality scores of 24-25.

Dividend Increases: August 5-9, 2019

This article series provides a weekly summary of dividend increase announcements and a summary of ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

One way to identify dividend growth stocks for further analysis is to monitor dividend increases. I like monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list. Companies that regularly raise dividends show confidence in the potential growth of future earnings.

Three of this week's dividend increases are double-digit percentage increases!

Recent Sells (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of my article on recent sells.

I've been using a slightly modified version of David Van Knapp's quality scoring system to assess the quality of my DivGro stocks. The system is simple and does a great job identifying high-quality stocks, and also lower quality positions that may be candidates for the chopping block.

In Part 1 of this article, I discussed four lower quality positions and decided to close one of them, EPR Properties (EPR). In Part 2, I'm covering three additional lower quality stocks and my decision to close out two of them.

Recent Sells (Part 1)

Lately, I've been using David Van Knapp's quality scoring system presented in this article on high-quality, high yield DG stocks. I love the simplicity of the system and it appears to do a remarkable job identifying high-quality stocks. Also, there appears to be a positive correlation between quality scores and my recent ranking of the top holdings of dividend ETFs (presented here and here).

So I decided to rank the dividend growth [DG] stocks in my DivGro portfolio by quality score with the objective to identify and potentially close weaker positions. The results of this ranking can be found here.

Seven of my DG stocks got quality scores below 15. For reference, only DG stocks with quality scores of 15 and above are considered to be high-quality stocks.

Home Run Number 19

More than a year has passed since I last celebrated a home run.

Recall that I use the term home run to identify a stock in my portfolio that crosses the 100% mark in total returns.

My last home run was Apple (AAPL), which became the first $1T publicly-traded company shortly after it became my eighteenth home run stock.

This article presents my 19^th home run stock, a list of previous home runs, and shortlist of home run contenders.

Dividend Increases: July 29-August 2, 2019 (Part 2: Remaining Sectors)

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

Part 1 of this article covered dividend increases announced for stocks in the Industrials, Materials, and Financials Sectors.

This is Part 2, which covers the remaining sectors.

Dividend Increases: July 29-August 2, 2019 (Part 1: Industrials, Materials, 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 increase their dividends show confidence in future earnings growth potential.

In this two-part article, I provide a summary of recent dividend increases. Part 1 covers dividend increases announced for stocks in the Industrials, Materials, and Financials sectors. Part 2 will cover dividend increases from stocks in the remaining sectors.

Monthly Review of DivGro: July 2019

Welcome to another monthly review of DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks. My goal with these reviews is to share updates of my portfolio and to detail the dividends I received during the month. Additionally, I look at how the month's activities have impacted DivGro's projected annual dividend income (PADI).

In July, I added shares to four existing positions. Eight DivGro stocks announced dividend increases in July. The net result of these changes is that PADI increased by about 2.4% in July. Year over year, PADI increased by 17.9%.

As for dividend income, in July I received dividends totaling $1,556 from 23 stocks in my portfolio, a year over year increase of about 26%. So far in 2019, I've collected $14,626 in dividends or about 58% of my 2019 goal of $25,200.

Options Update: July 2019

Welcome to another options update article!

I write these monthly updates to summarize options trades and to keep track of options income. Each update also serves as a status report on open options and the obligations I potentially have.

My monthly target for options income in 2019 is $1,750. I'm happy to report that July's total exceeded my monthly target, although I'm still a little behind the pace needed to collect $21,000 in options income this year.

This month I'm reporting several expirations, as well as a multitude of income-generating trades.

Dividend Increases: July 22-26, 2019 (Part 3: Remaining Sectors)

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

Last week, 30 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases. Part 1 covered stocks in the Utilities and Energy sectors, while Part 2 covered the Financials sectors. This is Part 3, which covers the remaining sectors.

Dividend Increases: July 22-26, 2019 (Part 2: Financials Sector)

Last week, 30 companies in the CCC List announced dividend increases. When so many companies increasing their dividends, I  break up my summary articles into two or more parts. That way, the articles aren't too long and I can include more FASTgraphs charts of stocks with compelling earnings growth.

Part 1 of this three-part article dividend increases announced for stocks in the Utilities and Energy sectors. This is Part 2, which covers dividend increases of stocks in the Financials sector. In Part 3, I'll report on dividend increases for the remaining sectors.

Dividend Increases: July 22-26, 2019 (Part 1: Utilities and Energy Sector Stocks)

Last week, 30 of the companies I track announced dividend increases. This three-part article provides a summary of these increases and provides several FASTGraph charts of stocks that exhibit impressive earnings growth.

I like monitoring dividend increases because I consider companies that regularly increase their dividends to be candidates for further analysis and possible investment.

Part 1 of this article covers dividend increases announced for stocks in the Utilities and Energy sectors. Part 2 and Part 3 will cover dividend increases of stocks in the remaining sectors.

DivGro Stocks Ranked By Quality Score

My DivGro Pulse articles focus on the strategy of dividend growth [DG] investment.

Generally, I want to buy the highest quality DG stocks at the deepest possible discounts. Ideally, those stocks would offer the highest dividend yields and double-digit percentage dividend growth rates. I would prefer a fully-diversified and equally-weighted portfolio with very little risk and exceptional, market-beating returns.

If only all of this were possible!

10 Dividend Growth Stocks July 2019

The CCC list is an excellent resource for dividend growth investors. It contains nearly 900 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, courtesy of Justin Law.

In this article, I rank a subset of the CCC stocks and present the 10 top-ranked stocks for consideration. I use a ranking system that assigns letter grades to stocks relative to their performance among sector peers. Using a sector-oriented ranking system avoids the problems associated with ranking dissimilar stocks.

This month I decided to rank CCC stocks in the Materials sector.

Expired Options (July 2019)

Last Friday was July's main options expiration day. I had several options slated for expiration and this short article explains what happened.

I usually write monthly options update articles to summarize my options trades and also to keep track of options income. Each update serves as a status report on open options and potential obligations.

When options expire, I no longer have any associated obligations. The options premium collected become free and clear, also known as secured. Since I started options trading to boost DivGro's dividend income, I've secured options income totaling $28,018.

Dividend Increases: July 15-19, 2019

One way to identify dividend growth stocks for further analysis is to monitor dividend increases. I like monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list. Companies that regularly raise dividends show confidence in the potential growth of future earnings.

This article summarizes dividend increase announcements in the past week. Two stocks in my portfolio announced increases.

Five of this week's dividend increases are double-digit percentage increases!

Quarterly Review of DivGro: Q2-2019

Welcome to the Q2-2019 review of my portfolio of dividend growth stocks, DivGro! 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.

I started DivGro in 2013 to focus on dividend growth investing, growing the portfolio into a powerful dividend-generating machine. DivGro now generates dividend income averaging $2,026 per month.

My portfolio generated dividend income totaling $6,340 this quarter and I'm projecting dividend income of at least $6,078 per quarter going forward.

Dividend Increases: July 1-12, 2019

I like monitoring dividend increase announcements as it helps me identify candidates for further analysis.

In the past two weeks, several companies declared dividend increases. I'm happy to say I own stock in two of these companies.

Four increases are double-digit percentage increases!

High-Quality Dividend Growth Stocks With Higher Yields

In a recent article, I ranked the Dividend Aristocrats using a modified version of David Van Knapp's quality scoring system. The system employs five widely used quality indicators from independent sources and assigns 0-5 points to each quality indicator, for a maximum of 25 points.

While there are exceptions, the highest quality Dividend Aristocrats are low yielding stocks with yields less than 3%. In this article, I'm presenting high-quality dividend growth [DG] stocks yielding at least 3%. Note that David Van Knapp's original article presented high-quality DG stocks yielding 4% or more.

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

Monthly Review Of DivGro: June 2019

Once a month, I review my DivGro portfolio of dividend growth stocks and provide a summary of dividends collected. Additionally, I detail buy and sell transactions and how those transactions impacted my portfolio's projected annual dividend income (PADI).

In June, I opened one new position due to an options assignment. Additionally, I reduced my holdings in two positions, also due to options assignments. Five of my stocks announced dividend increases. The net result of these transactions is that PADI decreased by about 5.4% in June. Year over year, PADI increased by 16%.

As for dividend income, in June I received dividends totaling $3,529 from 42 stocks in my portfolio, a year over year increase of 37%. So far in 2019, I've collected $13,070 in dividends or about 52% of my 2019 goal of $25,200.

Summary Of Dividend Increases In Q2-2019

In this article, I summarize the dividend increases announced in the second quarter of 2019 (Q2-2019), as summarized in my weekly Dividend Increases article series.

My weekly articles cover dividend increases for a selection of dividend growth stocks in the CCC list. The following screens determine the selection:

     • Dividend Yield ≥ 1.0%
     • Market cap ≥ $1 billion
     • No stocks that are being acquired
     • No Over-The-Counter or Pink Sheet stocks

Options Update: June 2019

I write monthly options update articles to summarize options trades and to keep track of options income. The updates serve as a status report on open options and potential obligations.

My monthly target for options income is $1,750 and I'm happy to report that June's total exceeded that target. However, I'm still a little behind the pace needed to collect $21,000 in options income in 2019.

This month I'm reporting on now fewer than three assignments, plus a couple of expirations and several income-generating trades.

The Dividend Kings Ranked By Quality Score

Dividend Kings are companies that have increased their dividend payouts for at least 50 consecutive years.

In this companion article to one ranking Dividend Aristocrats, I use a slightly modified version of David Van Knapp's quality ranking system to rank the Dividend Kings. The system employs five widely used quality indicators from independent sources and assigns 0-5 points to each quality indicator, for a maximum of 25 points.

Of the 26 Dividend Kings, 13 have quality scores in the 20-25 range, and five of the remaining stocks have quality scores below 15 points. There are some high-quality Dividend Kings!

Dividend Increases: June 24-28, 2019

I write a weekly report summarizing dividend increases of dividend growth stocks. Monitoring dividend increases is one way to identify candidates for further analysis.

Last week, several companies announced dividend increases, including one of the stocks I hold in my portfolio.

Two stocks will increase their dividends by more than 10%!