Monthly Review of DivGro: January 2018

Welcome to the first monthly review in 2018 of DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks.

This review is quite late as my investment blogging activities are being impacted by a very busy work schedule. In fact, I find it quite difficult to get around to doing some much-needed administration, let alone write a review article!

Well, I finally had some time to prepare and write this review for January!

Options Update: January 2018 (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of my January 2018 options update.

Part 1 presented the regular options trades I executed in January. But I also executed a new strategy for DivGro, which I'll explain in this article. Specifically, I executed three bull put spreads, which combines the selling of a put option with the simultaneous buying of another put option at a lower strike price.

This update will also report on the open options and obligations I have and I'll conclude with a running tally of DivGro's options income to date.

Options Update: January 2018 (Part 1)

Welcome to my first options update article of 2018!

I write monthly options update articles to keep track of options trades in my DivGro portfolio. I mostly sell covered calls on dividend growth stocks I own or secured puts on stocks I would like to own. Sometimes, I execute more speculative options trades, too.

DivGro is focused on investing in dividend growth stocks, but I added options trading to the mix in June 2016 to boost dividend income. Collecting options income allows me to buy more dividend growth stocks.

Each options update serves as a status report on open options and obligations I have. I also report new trades and provide a running tally of DivGro's options income to date.

27 Dividend Increases: February 12-16, 2018 (Part 3: Remaining Sectors)

Monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch is one way to identify candidates for further analysis. Last week, 27 companies on my watch list declared dividend increases, including four stocks I own.

Part 1 presented dividend increases of stocks in the Industrials and Information Technology sectors. Part 2 covered dividend increase announcements from stocks in the Financials, Consumer Discretionary, and Real Estate sectors. Here, I cover increases from stocks in the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

27 Dividend Increases: February 12-16, 2018 (Part 2: Financials, Consumer Discretionary, & Real Estate Stocks)

Monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch is one way to identify candidates for further analysis. I look for announcements from stocks in the CCC list, but I use several screens to limit the number of stocks to monitor.

In the past week, 27 companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends, including four of the stocks I hold in my portfolio.

Part 1 presented dividend increases of stocks in the Industrials and Information Technology sectors. This is Part 2, which covers dividend increase announcements from stocks in the Financials, Consumer Discretionary, and Real Estate sectors. See the upcoming Part 3 for a summary of dividend increases from stocks in the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

27 Dividend Increases: February 12-16, 2018 (Part 1: Industrials and Information Technology Stocks)

I like monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list of dividend growth stocks because I consider such stocks to be candidates for further analysis. Companies that regularly raise their dividend payments show confidence in future earnings growth potential.

In the past week, 27 companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends, including four of the stocks I hold in my portfolio. Part 1 provides a summary of dividend increases announced by stocks in the Industrials and Information Technology sectors. Part 2 will cover dividend increases from stocks in the Financials, Consumer Discretionary, and Real Estate sectors, while Part 3 will cover the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

26 Dividend Increases: February 5-9, 2018 (Part 3: Remaining Sectors)

Companies that regularly increase their dividends show confidence in their ability to grow earnings. I monitor dividend increase announcements from stocks in the CCC list.

Last week, 26 companies on my watch list declared dividend increases, including 3 stocks I own. Part 1 presented dividend increases from stocks in the Industrials and Information Technology sectors. Part 2 covered dividend increase announcements from stocks in the Financials and Consumer Discretionary sectors. Here, I cover dividend increases from stocks in the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

26 Dividend Increases: February 5-9, 2018 (Part 2: Financials and Consumer Discretionary Stocks)

One way to identify dividend growth stocks for further analysis is to monitor dividend increases. I monitor dividend increase announcements from stocks in the CCC list.

Last week, 26 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases, including three of the stocks I own.

Part 1 presented dividend increases of stocks in the Industrials and Information Technology sectors. This is Part 2, which covers dividend increase announcements from stocks in the Financials and Consumer Discretionary sectors. See the upcoming Part 3 for a summary of dividend increases for stocks in the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

26 Dividend Increases: February 5-9, 2018 (Part 1: Industrials and Information Technology Stocks)

Companies can only increase their dividends regularly if they grow earnings sufficiently. I like monitoring dividend increase announcements because I consider stocks that regularly increase their dividends to be candidates for further analysis. 

Last week, 26 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases, including three stock I own. Part 1 provides a summary of dividend increases announced by stocks in the Industrials and Information Technology sectors. Part 2 will cover dividend increases from stocks in the Financials and Consumer Discretionary sectors, while Part 3 will cover the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For February 2018

David Fish's CCC list is an excellent source for dividend growth investors. Compiled and updated every month, the CCC list contains U.S. companies with at least 5 consecutive years of increasing dividends. The accompanying spreadsheet provides key statistics of the CCC stocks.

In my monthly 10 Dividend Growth Stocks series, I identify 10 CCC stocks worthy of further research. To create the list, I trim the CCC list using various screens and rank the remaining stocks using a proprietary ranking system. I also assign a 7-star rating to each stock. Stocks rated 5 stars or better are worthy of further analysis.

24 Dividend Increases: January 29-February 2, 2018 (Part 2: Remaining Sectors)

I monitor dividend increase announcements for stocks on my watch list. It is one way I look for candidates for my DivGro portfolio. Companies can only raise their dividends regularly if earnings grow sufficiently.

This past week, 24 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases. One of these increases is from a stock I own.

Part 1 covered dividend increases from the Energy and Real Estate sectors. This is Part 2, which covers dividend increases from the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

24 Dividend Increases: January 29-February 2, 2018 (Part 1: Energy and Real Estate)

Companies can only raise their dividends regularly if they grow earnings sufficiently. One way to identify dividend growth stocks for further analysis is to monitor dividend increases.

This past week, 24 companies on my watch list announced dividend increases. One of these increases is from a stock I own.

Part 1 of this two-part article covers dividend increases from the Energy and Real Estate sectors. Part 2 will cover dividend increases from the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

Three More Home Runs!

Well, the markets are going nuts and volatility is back big time! As I write this, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is at 42.84, way up from the sub-15 levels it has been at for most of 2017.

Stock prices are see-sawing furiously, so I'm questioning the value of writing this article while things are so volatile. But I'm doing it anyway to keep up-to-date with DivGro's home runs.

Recall that I use the term home run to describe any position in DivGro that has crossed the 100% mark in total returns. Once a position reaches home run status, it retains that status, even if the share price drops. And that's the case with the home runs I'm reporting today. All three of them reached home run status on Friday, 26 January, but now they're trading below the 100% level.

Annual Review, 2017

Welcome to the 5^th annual review of DivGro, my portfolio of dividend growth stocks. I created DivGro in January 2013 to generate a reliable and growing dividend income stream.

Keeping track of DivGro in a public forum helps me to learn and grow as a dividend growth investor. Much of my learning comes from the research I do while writing articles, but I've also learned a lot from interacting with like-minded investors. So, I want to say Thank You! to all my readers for your encouragement, questions, and comments. Please keep it coming!

In my 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.

32 Dividend Increases: January 22-26, 2018 (Part 3: Remaining Sectors)

I monitor dividend increases to find suitable candidates for further analysis.

In the past week, 32 companies on my watch list declared dividend increases, including 5 of my DivGro holdings.

Part 1 covered dividend increases for the Financials sector, while Part 2 presented dividend increases for the Energy and Utilities sectors. This is Part 3, which presents raises from the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

32 Dividend Increases: January 22-26, 2018 (Part 2: Energy and Utilities)

Companies that regularly raise their dividends show confidence in their ability to grow earnings. In the past week, 32 companies on my watch list declared dividend increases, including 5 of my DivGro holdings.

Part 1 covered dividend increases for the Financials sector. This is Part 2, which presents dividend increases for the Energy and Utilities sectors. Part 3 will present raises from the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I'm including a summary of ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks. Scan the list of stocks to see if there's a stock you want to pick up before the ex-dividend date so you can grab the next dividend.

32 Dividend Increases: January 22-26, 2018 (Part 1: Financials Sector)

I like monitoring dividend increases for stock son my watch list of dividend growth stocks because I consider such stocks to be candidates for further analysis.

Recently, 32 companies on my watch list decided to increases their dividends, including 5 of the stocks I own.

Part 1 covers dividend increases for the Financials sector, while Part 2 and Part 3 will cover dividend increases for the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I'm including a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

Relieving the Pain of Dividend Growth Investors

By Torsten Tiedt

Dividend growth investing is a pain, because it is much more difficult to find solid dividend growth stocks than it should be.

In this guest article, I'll explain why I think finding solid dividend growth stocks is harder than it should be and how I tackled this problem for me (and for you!).

DivGro Pulse: January 2018

This month I'm celebrating the 5^th anniversary of DivGro!

I founded DivGro in January 2013 to focus on dividend growth (DG) investing. Since then, my portfolio steadily has grown well beyond what I could have imagined!

Just this week, I hit my 10^th home run with DivGro, when my position McDonald's (MCD) crossed 100% in total returns. And, without giving everything away, on Friday three more positions earned home run status after some extraordinary price action! This market sure looks toppy now...

Once a month, I write a pulse article that focuses on strategy and monitors the health of my portfolio. I update the fair value estimates of DG stocks in my portfolio and use the information to identify undervalued DG stocks suitable for further investment. Finding undervalued stocks is quite challenging these days!

20 Dividend Increases: January 15-19, 2018 (Part 2: The Remaining Sectors)

Companies that regularly raise their dividend payments show confidence in future earnings growth potential. In the past week, 20 companies on my watch list declared dividend increases, including two of my DivGro holdings.

Part 1 covered dividend increases for the Energy and Real Estate. This is Part 2, which presents dividend increases for the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

20 Dividend Increases: January 15-19, 2018 (Part 1: Energy and Real Estate Sectors)

Companies that regularly raise their dividend payments show confidence in future earnings growth potential. In the past week, 20 companies on my watch list declared dividend increases, including 2 of my DivGro holdings.

Part 1 covers dividend increases for the Energy and Real Estates, while Part 2 will cover dividend increases for the remaining sectors.

As a bonus, I include a summary of available ex-dividend dates for the next two weeks.

Home Run Number 10

I use the term home run to describe any position in DivGro that has crossed the 100% mark in total return.

Before becoming a dividend growth investor, I sold half of my shares when a position doubled. I justified the action by saying that now I'm playing with "house" money.

I no longer think that way. Most of my positions are income-generating dividend growth stocks and cutting my income in half just because the position has doubled, seems silly. Now I'm more than happy to hold my home runs and to continue collecting their growing dividends.

Today, I'm happy to announce my 10^th home run in DivGro!

10 Dividend Growth Stocks For January 2018

The CCC list is a wonderful source for dividend growth investors. Compiled and updated every month by David Fish, the CCC list contains U.S. companies with at least 5 consecutive years of higher dividend payments. The accompanying spreadsheet provides key statistics of the CCC stocks.

In my monthly 10 Dividend Growth Stocks series, I identify 10 CCC stocks for further research. To create the list, I rank a selection of the CCC stocks and assign a 7-star rating to each stock. Stocks rated 5 stars or better are worthy of further analysis.

This month, I decided to select CCC stocks by compiling popular dividend growth stocks and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) from recent Seeking Alpha articles, and stocks in my DivGro portfolio.

4 Dividend Increases: January 1-12, 2018

Companies that regularly raise their dividend payments show confidence in future earnings growth potential. I like monitoring dividend increases for stocks on my watch list because I consider such stocks to be candidates for further analysis.

In the past 2 weeks, 4 companies on my watch list decided to increase their dividends.

Only one company announced a double-digit dividend increase. However, two of the remaining stocks have increased their dividends multiple times in the past year and their year-over-year dividend increases are double-digit percentage increases, too.

Recent Sell: Cisco Systems

On 3 January, the February $34 covered call options I sold against my Cisco Systems (CSCO) shares got exercised early.

CSCO traded ex-dividend on 4 January, so the options holder decided to call my shares away just in time to grab the dividend. This is one of the drawbacks of American-style options – they can be exercised before expiration.

With CSCO trading in the money, I was well aware of the possibility that the options could be assigned. However, I was traveling from South Africa via Dubai to San Francisco (an exhausting 30 hours of traveling time!) and could not make a defensive move in time. Fortunately, I still own 200 CSCO shares, so I collected the dividend on those shares.

This article presents a summary of my CSCO trades and a final profit/loss analysis.