My last post for 2014 and it happens to the 100th post of the year!
I wanted to finish out this year by reporting on recent dividend increase announcements for stocks in my watch list. Since my last post about dividend increases, only a handful of stocks announced increases. I own only one of these stocks, AT&T Inc (NYSE:T).
I monitor dividend increases for stocks in my watch because it is a convenient way to identify dividend growth candidates. Companies that increase their dividends regularly show confidence in future earnings growth. Another reason is that I track the yield on cost (YoC) of stocks in DivGro. When dividends increase, I make YoC adjustments and update DivGro's projected annual dividend income.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Saturday, December 27, 2014
How Loyal Have You 3 Been?
Last year, I gave my three sons a different kind of Christmas present. I gave each of them seed money to open a Loyal3 account if they would commit to buying $30 in shares every month, for 30 years – about a dollar a day. They accepted the gift and started investing in January, each choosing one stock from the 50 or so offered at Loyal3.
This year, I turned the tables on them by asking for a different kind of Christmas present. I wanted them to e-mail me an update of their accounts and to do a little reflection on their first year as stock owners. I also wanted to nudge them into thinking about next year and their future as investors.
This year, I turned the tables on them by asking for a different kind of Christmas present. I wanted them to e-mail me an update of their accounts and to do a little reflection on their first year as stock owners. I also wanted to nudge them into thinking about next year and their future as investors.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Goals for 2015
Happy Solstice Day! Today, the sun stands still in declination, having reached the highest position for an observer on the South Pole. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, today is Winter Solstice. The day is as short as it will be all year long (9 hours 33 minutes in San Francisco where I live).
Solstice day is a great day to set new goals for DivGro for 2015!
In my previous post, I reviewed my 2014 goals and reported that I've achieved all of them, essentially. The one goal I haven't achieved yet is one that I updated on 11 July 2014, to write 100 posts for DivGro instead of 72. This is my 98th post, so I'm confident that I'll achieve that goal, too.
Before listing my 2015 goals, I'd like to state some assumptions and commitments:
Solstice day is a great day to set new goals for DivGro for 2015!
In my previous post, I reviewed my 2014 goals and reported that I've achieved all of them, essentially. The one goal I haven't achieved yet is one that I updated on 11 July 2014, to write 100 posts for DivGro instead of 72. This is my 98th post, so I'm confident that I'll achieve that goal, too.
Before listing my 2015 goals, I'd like to state some assumptions and commitments:
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Reviewing my 2014 Goals
I've been thinking about setting new goals for 2015. Before doing so, though, I'd like to review my 2014 goals.
I believe in setting stretching yet attainable goals. It is not useful to entertain goals that are impossible or even nearly so. On the other hand, setting goals that are simply attainable will not require special effort, nor would one feel a great sense of satisfaction in accomplishing them
Stretching goals demand extra effort and focus. They require commitment, patience, and constant monitoring. Sometimes, when progress is not sufficient, they require changing your approach entirely.
I believe in setting stretching yet attainable goals. It is not useful to entertain goals that are impossible or even nearly so. On the other hand, setting goals that are simply attainable will not require special effort, nor would one feel a great sense of satisfaction in accomplishing them
Stretching goals demand extra effort and focus. They require commitment, patience, and constant monitoring. Sometimes, when progress is not sufficient, they require changing your approach entirely.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Recent Buy: CVX
Dec 16, 2015: Bought 25 shares of CVX at $102.97 per share.
Founded in 1984 and based in San Ramon, California, CVX is a multinational energy corporation involved in all aspects of the oil and gas industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. CVX is the fifth largest integrated energy company in the world and conducts business in approximately 180 countries.
Chevron is a Dividend Champion with a track record of 27 consecutive years of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends of $1.07 per share in the months of March, June, September and December.
Founded in 1984 and based in San Ramon, California, CVX is a multinational energy corporation involved in all aspects of the oil and gas industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. CVX is the fifth largest integrated energy company in the world and conducts business in approximately 180 countries.
Chevron is a Dividend Champion with a track record of 27 consecutive years of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends of $1.07 per share in the months of March, June, September and December.
Friday, December 12, 2014
10 Dividend Growth Stocks for December 2014
Includes: ARLP • BBL • BDX • CPA • CMS • CVX • HMN • HP • IBM • KKR • NUS • PMT • T • UFS
Every month, I use David Fish's CCC list to search for stocks trading at a discount to fair value. The CCC list is updated monthly and contains all U.S.-listed stocks that have raised their dividends for at least five consecutive years. The accompanying spreadsheet provides key statistics of all CCC stocks and is a wonderful resource for dividend growth investors.
The CCC list is divided into three categories based on the number of consecutive years of increases: Dividend Champions (25 or more years), Dividend Contenders (10-24 years), and Dividend Challengers (5-9 years). The latest list (dated 11/28/14) contains 589 stocks, with 105 Champions, 246 Contenders, and 238 Challengers.
Considering 589 stocks every month would be a daunting task. So, I apply a series of filters to reduce the CCC list to a more manageable number of candidates. With an ongoing goal of balancing my portfolio across all 10 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) sectors, I'm careful to retain a minimum number of stocks per sector.
To see the top 10 stocks and the 10 sector winners, please read this article at Seeking Alpha.
Every month, I use David Fish's CCC list to search for stocks trading at a discount to fair value. The CCC list is updated monthly and contains all U.S.-listed stocks that have raised their dividends for at least five consecutive years. The accompanying spreadsheet provides key statistics of all CCC stocks and is a wonderful resource for dividend growth investors.
The CCC list is divided into three categories based on the number of consecutive years of increases: Dividend Champions (25 or more years), Dividend Contenders (10-24 years), and Dividend Challengers (5-9 years). The latest list (dated 11/28/14) contains 589 stocks, with 105 Champions, 246 Contenders, and 238 Challengers.
Considering 589 stocks every month would be a daunting task. So, I apply a series of filters to reduce the CCC list to a more manageable number of candidates. With an ongoing goal of balancing my portfolio across all 10 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) sectors, I'm careful to retain a minimum number of stocks per sector.
To see the top 10 stocks and the 10 sector winners, please read this article at Seeking Alpha.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Dividend Increases, December 1-5, 2014
My watch list contains a subset of David Fish's CCC list. I use a series of filters to trim down the CCC list to a more manageable number of stocks (currently 288 stocks). I monitor dividend increases for stocks in my watch list to help identify dividend growth candidates worthy of consideration. Companies that increase dividends regularly show confidence in their future earnings growth potential.
In the first week of December, the following stocks in my watch list announced dividend increases. The table is sorted by last column, %Increase, and dividends are annualized:
In the first week of December, the following stocks in my watch list announced dividend increases. The table is sorted by last column, %Increase, and dividends are annualized:
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Monthly Review, November 2014
November was a tough month for DivGro as one of my holdings, Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL) suspended its dividend. Following the dividend suspension announcement, the stock price plunged and has been sliding ever since. I am still contemplating next steps, which most probably would involve selling all or some of my shares.
I've had some good news to counterbalance the SDRL fiasco. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) announced a dividend increase, which justifies my earlier decision to hold onto my shares. Many dividend growth investors got rid of their INTC shares because the company failed to raise its dividend for eleven straight quarters. I'm glad I did not sell my shares! INTC has been doing great since I bought 120 shares in January 2013. The stock price has increased 76% and I've received dividends equaling 7.42%.
I've had some good news to counterbalance the SDRL fiasco. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) announced a dividend increase, which justifies my earlier decision to hold onto my shares. Many dividend growth investors got rid of their INTC shares because the company failed to raise its dividend for eleven straight quarters. I'm glad I did not sell my shares! INTC has been doing great since I bought 120 shares in January 2013. The stock price has increased 76% and I've received dividends equaling 7.42%.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Dividend Increases, November 2014
Last time I reported on dividend increases, I mentioned that I wanted to increase the frequency and format of these posts. My idea is to post dividend increases weekly (on weekends) so information would be timely and potentially actionable. I'm still working on a way to do this effectively, so this post is a catch-up post until I get the process in place.
I monitor dividend increases for stocks in my watch list for two reasons. First, it is a convenient way to identify dividend growth candidates because companies that increase dividends regularly show confidence in future earnings growth. Second, I track the yield on cost (YoC) of stocks I own. When dividends increase, I make YoC adjustments and update DivGro's projected annual dividend income.
I monitor dividend increases for stocks in my watch list for two reasons. First, it is a convenient way to identify dividend growth candidates because companies that increase dividends regularly show confidence in future earnings growth. Second, I track the yield on cost (YoC) of stocks I own. When dividends increase, I make YoC adjustments and update DivGro's projected annual dividend income.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Win Some, Lose Some
My Cousin Vinny is one of my favorite movies. Dale Launer's 1991 screenplay is brought to life by great performances from Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei and Fred Gwynne. Tomei won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. There is some wonderful dialog in the movie, including two passages at different times containing the title of this post. The first takes place between the title character Vinny Gambini (Pesci), who is pretending to be an experienced trial lawyer, and Judge Chamberlain Haller (Gwynn):
Judge: How long have you been practicing?
Vinny: Ooh, about six, uh... almost sixteen years.
Judge: Any murder cases?
Vinny: Quite a few. Yes.
Judge: What was the outcome?
Vinny: Um, you know. Win some, lose some.
Judge: This is not the forum to be cavalier.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Recent Buy: BBL
BHP Billiton is a diversified natural resources company and one of the world's largest producers of major commodities, including aluminum, coal, copper, iron ore, manganese, nickel, silver and uranium. BHP Billiton is a dual listed company comprising of BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) and BHP Billiton Plc (BBL). I'm buying shares in BBL, offered as American Depository Receipt (ADR) shares on the NYSE.
BBL is an existing holding, so I'm adding shares following substantial recent weakness in the stock price. I first initiated a position in June 2013, buying 43 shares at $58.39 per share and with an initial yield on cost (YoC) of 3.90%. With this buy, I'm averaging down to a per share price of $53.72. This time, initial YoC is a very respectable 4.94%.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Stock Analysis: Exxon Mobil Corporation
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) is the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. Founded in 1882 and based in Irving, Texas, XOM is engaged in oil and natural gas exploration and production, petroleum products refining and marketing, chemicals manufacture, and other-energy related businesses. Approximately 83% of Exxon's earnings come from its operations outside the United States.
XOM is a Dividend Champion with 32 consecutive years of dividend increases. The company pays dividends of 69¢ per share in the months of March, June, September, and December. At the current share price of $95.11, XOM yields a respectable 2.9%. The five-year dividend growth rate is 9.68%.
From November 2004 through November 2014, XOM outperformed the S&P 500 by 14%, reaching an all-time high $104.76 on 29 July 2014. Since then, the stock price has dropped about 10%.
Please read the rest of this stock analysis and the conclusion I reach at Seeking Alpha.
XOM is a Dividend Champion with 32 consecutive years of dividend increases. The company pays dividends of 69¢ per share in the months of March, June, September, and December. At the current share price of $95.11, XOM yields a respectable 2.9%. The five-year dividend growth rate is 9.68%.
From November 2004 through November 2014, XOM outperformed the S&P 500 by 14%, reaching an all-time high $104.76 on 29 July 2014. Since then, the stock price has dropped about 10%.
Please read the rest of this stock analysis and the conclusion I reach at Seeking Alpha.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Recent Buy: HP
Nov 11, 2014: Bought 29 shares of HP at $85.57 per share.
Helmerich & Payne (HP) is a contract drilling company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company is engaged in the drilling of oil and gas wells for exploration and production companies. It has a fleet of 328 land rigs in the U.S., 32 international land rigs and nine offshore platform rigs. Another 24 rigs is scheduled to be completed, including HP-designed and operated FlexRigs under long-term contracts with customers.
HP is a Dividend Champion with an impressive 42-yr streak of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends in March, June, September and December. Initial yield on cost is 3.21%.
Helmerich & Payne (HP) is a contract drilling company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company is engaged in the drilling of oil and gas wells for exploration and production companies. It has a fleet of 328 land rigs in the U.S., 32 international land rigs and nine offshore platform rigs. Another 24 rigs is scheduled to be completed, including HP-designed and operated FlexRigs under long-term contracts with customers.
HP is a Dividend Champion with an impressive 42-yr streak of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends in March, June, September and December. Initial yield on cost is 3.21%.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Dividend Increases, October 16-31, 2014
I'm rather late in reporting on dividend increases for the last half of October. My source for dividend information, dividend.com, is experiencing a system issue that is not allowing premium users to filter dividend increases by date. So far, my requests to have the issue fixed have not been addressed, which is rather disappointing. I'll probably cancel my subscription.
Out of necessity, I've developed an alternative method to find and report on dividend increases. This took some time, but I'm happy that I won't be depending on a service that is rather unresponsive to customer's requests and suggestions. (Twice, I've suggested a feature that would be significantly improve functionality and would be trivial to add, yet it remains "under consideration").
Along with this change in process, I'll be changing the frequency and format of these posts. Rather than posting twice a month, I'll report on dividend increases weekly. Doing so will allow me to do the work over weekends, which will be more convenient anyway. I'm still working on the new format, so look out for my next post on dividend increases!
Out of necessity, I've developed an alternative method to find and report on dividend increases. This took some time, but I'm happy that I won't be depending on a service that is rather unresponsive to customer's requests and suggestions. (Twice, I've suggested a feature that would be significantly improve functionality and would be trivial to add, yet it remains "under consideration").
Along with this change in process, I'll be changing the frequency and format of these posts. Rather than posting twice a month, I'll report on dividend increases weekly. Doing so will allow me to do the work over weekends, which will be more convenient anyway. I'm still working on the new format, so look out for my next post on dividend increases!
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Monthly Review, October 2014
Every month, I review the past month's activities relating to DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks. At the same time, I update my blog's Performance page, which provides a central place for reviewing DivGro's status and performance relative to the markets and to prior months.
After selling two stocks in September due to dividend cuts, I had the luxury of having enough funds for three buys. I decided to add to my position in SDRL and I opened new positions in AVA and T. These buys increased DivGro's projected annual dividend income to $5,226. As a consequence, I've achieved one of my 2014 goals, namely to increase DivGro's projected annual dividend income to $4,800.
I'm close to achieving my other goal of reaching $3,600 in dividend income. At the end of October, dividend income totaled $3,163, so I'm only 12% away from achieving that goal.
After selling two stocks in September due to dividend cuts, I had the luxury of having enough funds for three buys. I decided to add to my position in SDRL and I opened new positions in AVA and T. These buys increased DivGro's projected annual dividend income to $5,226. As a consequence, I've achieved one of my 2014 goals, namely to increase DivGro's projected annual dividend income to $4,800.
I'm close to achieving my other goal of reaching $3,600 in dividend income. At the end of October, dividend income totaled $3,163, so I'm only 12% away from achieving that goal.
Monday, November 3, 2014
10 Dividend Growth Stocks for November, 2014
One of my goals for 2014 is to balance DivGro's holdings across all 10 sectors in my watch list. Rather than targeting an equal number of holdings in each sector, I prefer to target a distribution proportional to the number of candidates in each sector of my watch list. The reason for not targeting an equal number of holdings in each sector is that there are many more dividend growth candidates in the Financials and Energy sectors, for example, than in the Materials and Telecommunication Services sectors.I have a dynamic watch list, which means that the ideal sector distribution changes from month-to-month. I update my watch list every month when David Fish's CCC list is updated. The CCC list contains all U.S.-listed stocks that have raised their dividends for at least five consecutive years. David Fish distinguishes between Dividend Champions (25 or more years), Dividend Contenders (10-24 years), and Dividend Challengers (5-9 years).
Thursday, October 30, 2014
A Giant Home Run with General Dynamics Corporation
Last night, the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in game 7 of the World Series, giving the Giants their third World Series championship in five seasons. Apart from Madison Bumgarner's stunning performance, I enjoyed the fact that two of the Wild Card teams ended up playing in the World Series. The Giants scored a total of 30 runs (versus the Royals' 27) in the series, of which only two were home runs.
So what does this have to do with dividend growth investing? Well, on Tuesday, I scored my first home run with DivGro when General Dynamics Corporation (GD) crossed the 100% profit mark!
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Recent Buy: T
Oct 23, 2014: Bought 75 shares of T at $33.64 per share.Incorporated on October 5, 1983 and based in Dallas, Texas, AT&T Inc. (T) is a holding company providing telecommunication services in the United States and worldwide. Services include wireless communications, local exchanges, long-distance services, data/broadband and internet services and many other services. In March 2014, the company completed the acquisition of prepaid wireless provider Leap Wireless International Inc.
T is a Dividend Champion with an impressive 30-yr streak of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends in February, May, August and November. Initial yield on cost is 5.47%.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Recent Buy: AVA
Oct 22, 2014: Bought 75 shares of AVA at $34.12 per share.Incorporated in 1889 and headquartered in Spokane, Washington, Avista Corporation (AVA) is a diversified energy company engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of energy in North America. Avista Utilities is an operating division of AVA that comprises of its regulated utility operations. It serves customers in Washington, Idaho and Oregon and contributes over 90% of earnings. In July 2014, AVA acquired Alaska Energy and Resources Company.
AVA is a Dividend Contender with a 12-yr streak of dividend increases. It pays quarterly dividends in March, June, September and December. Initial yield on cost is 3.72%. For a company in the Utilities sector, AVA has a solid 5-year dividend growth rate of 12.07%.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
The Bloggers' Dividend Growth Portfolio
Includes: AFL • APD • AVA • BAX • BBL • BMS • CAT • CLX • COP • CSX • CVX • DE • DLR • EMR • GIX • HCP • HRS • IBM • ITW • JNJ • KMB
• KMP • KO • LEG • LMT • LO • MAT • MCD • MDT • MO • MSFT • NSC • O • OHI • PEP • PG • PM • PSEC • QCOM • RTN • SO • T • TGT • V
• VZ • WAG • WM • WMT • XOM • YUM
Today, Seeking Alpha published my first premium article! Here is an excerpt of the introduction:
• KMP • KO • LEG • LMT • LO • MAT • MCD • MDT • MO • MSFT • NSC • O • OHI • PEP • PG • PM • PSEC • QCOM • RTN • SO • T • TGT • V
• VZ • WAG • WM • WMT • XOM • YUM
Today, Seeking Alpha published my first premium article! Here is an excerpt of the introduction:
A while ago, I expanded DivGro's blogroll to include nearly 100 blogs. There is a special section highlighting active blogs that are at least one year old. I provide short descriptions to tell readers what each blog is about. Additionally, I include links to the public portfolios of blogs in my blogroll. These links are marked with a ¶.
With a little work it is possible to get an interesting, composite view of dividend growth investing from public DGI portfolios. Earlier this year, I used 20 different portfolios to create a list of popular dividend growth stocks. On that occasion, the four most popular dividend growth stocks were McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO).
The purpose of this article is to repeat the exercise, but this time with the much more comprehensive list of blogs in my blogroll.Please head on over to Seeking Alpha to read The Bloggers' Dividend Growth Portfolio: Popular Dividend Growth Stocks Trading On U.S. Exchanges.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Dividend Increases, October 1-15, 2014
I monitor dividend increase announcements to make Yield on Cost (YoC) adjustments and to update DivGro's projected annual dividend income. Even for stocks I don't own, dividend increases are interesting as they prompt added scrutiny of those stocks. Companies that regularly increase dividends show confidence in their ability to pay those increasing dividends.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Performance Page Updated
Earlier this year, I redesigned my Performance page and included a set of radial charts, which are reminiscent of a logo my dad designed many years ago. The logo has a circular core, with radial arms pointing out in different directions. It is still being used today!Likewise, the radial charts on my Performance page have radial bars representing a data value for each of DivGro's holdings. The holdings are ordered clockwise by purchase date and start with my first buy, CVX, at the 12 o'clock position. I buy stocks for DivGro in chunks of about $2,500 at a time, except for master limited partnerships (MLPs), which I double-up on. Eventually, my goal is to have a weight-balanced portfolio.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Recent Buy: SDRL
Oct 6, 2014: Bought 100 shares of SDRL at $25.00 per share.Established in 2005 as a Bermuda-based company, Seadrill Limited (SDRL) is an offshore deepwater drilling contractor providing worldwide services to the oil and gas industry. The company operates an extensive fleet comprising of drill ships, jack-up rigs, semi-submersible rigs and tender rigs for operations in shallow to ultra-deepwater areas and harsh and benign environments.
In April this year, I bought 72 shares of SDRL at $34.91 per share, so with this buy I'm averaging down to a per share price of $29.15. Yield on Cost (YoC) for this buy is 16%. As I remarked when I bought SDRL in April, the stock is one of my riskier buys, given its relatively short dividend history and erratic earnings history.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Quarterly Review, Q3-2014
I started DivGro in January 2013, so the 7th quarter of DivGro is over. I'd like to report on DivGro's performance and progress made towards meeting my 2014 goals.
Before doing so, just a few words on happenings over the past three months. In July, we travelled to South Africa to visit with family and friends and to hike the Otter Trail. We also visited two national parks, Addo Elephant National Park and Kruger National Park. It was a wonderful trip and good to take break from our usual activities. In August, I created an expanded Blogroll page in which I'm highlighting blogs that include public portfolios. And, in September, I increased DivGro's exposure by posting some articles on Seeking Alpha. The increased exposure created more traffic to this site and page views have since crossed the 100,000 mark.
Before doing so, just a few words on happenings over the past three months. In July, we travelled to South Africa to visit with family and friends and to hike the Otter Trail. We also visited two national parks, Addo Elephant National Park and Kruger National Park. It was a wonderful trip and good to take break from our usual activities. In August, I created an expanded Blogroll page in which I'm highlighting blogs that include public portfolios. And, in September, I increased DivGro's exposure by posting some articles on Seeking Alpha. The increased exposure created more traffic to this site and page views have since crossed the 100,000 mark.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
10 Dividend Growth Stocks for October, 2014
David Fish's CCC list is updated every month and contains all U.S.-listed stocks that have raised their dividends for at least five consecutive years. The accompanying spreadsheet provides key statistics of the CCC stocks and is a great resource for dividend growth investors. Every month, I search the CCC list for stocks trading at a discount to fair value. Since the list contains more than 500 stocks, I use a series of filters to reduce the number of stocks to consider.
This year, one of my goals is to balance DivGro's holdings across all 10 sectors in my watch list. In my view, sector-balanced does not mean an equal number of holdings in each sector. I prefer to target the sector distribution of my watch list. Since there are more candidates in the Energy and Financials sectors, for example, I want more holdings in those sectors than holdings in the Materials and Telecommunication Services sectors, with fewer candidates. Note that I have a dynamic watch list, which means that the ideal sector distribution changes from month-to-month.
This year, one of my goals is to balance DivGro's holdings across all 10 sectors in my watch list. In my view, sector-balanced does not mean an equal number of holdings in each sector. I prefer to target the sector distribution of my watch list. Since there are more candidates in the Energy and Financials sectors, for example, I want more holdings in those sectors than holdings in the Materials and Telecommunication Services sectors, with fewer candidates. Note that I have a dynamic watch list, which means that the ideal sector distribution changes from month-to-month.
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