Expected Dividend Increases for December 2020

As I'm writing this blog post, we're just days away from Thanksgiving, which means we barely have another month to achieve our goals for the year!

Interestingly, Iron Mountain (IRM) opted to keep its dividend steady with its dividend announcement in November, which means that I didn't receive any dividend increases during the month (although I also didn't endure any dividend cuts during the month).

Without further ado, I will be discussing a dividend increase that I forgot to include in my previous post of this series, and getting into the dividend increases that I am expecting for next month. I'd advise you to buckle up as I am expecting quite a few in December!

Missed Dividend Increase In October

Missed October Dividend Increase: Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B)

As alluded to by the heading above, Royal Dutch Shell's (RDS.B) 4.1% increase to its quarterly dividend from $0.32/share to $0.333/share got past me as the dividend increase came in the last couple days of the month.

While the 66.7% cut in RDS.B's dividend back in April was a notable blow to my portfolio's net annual forward dividends (resulting in a $22.32 decline in my portfolio's net annual forward dividends), the difficulties that the industry was and still is experiencing justified a dividend cut to preserve capital for the sake of investing for the future and maintaining the balance sheet.

It will be a long road to recovery for RDS.B's dividend, but it was nice to see the company start back on its path to restoring its previous dividend.

Across my 9 shares of the stock, my net annual forward dividends were boosted by $0.468 as a result of RDS.B's dividend increase.

Expected Dividend Increases For December:

Expected Increase #1: Realty Income (O)

Starting with arguably the most consistent REIT within my portfolio, I am expecting a 0.2% increase in Realty Income's (O) monthly dividend from $0.2340/share to $0.2345/share.

While this is a minuscule dividend increase, it's worth remembering that O increases its dividend by 2-3% every January, with smaller increases like the above in March, June, September, and December.

It's steady raises from O that are a testament to the power of dividend growth and compounding, which is why O is among the most favorite stocks in my portfolio.

My net annual forward dividends would increase $0.042 across my 7 shares should O's dividend increase meet my expectations outlined above.

Expected Increase #2: W.P. Carey (WPC)

Moving to yet another consistent REIT within my portfolio, I am expecting W.P. Carey (WPC) to announce a 0.2% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.044/share to $1.046/share.

Similar to O, WPC increases its dividend in the last month of each quarter, so while the stock barely increases its dividend, it increases its dividend 4 times a year typically.

Across my 5 shares of WPC, I anticipate my net annual forward dividends will increase $0.04 in the event that WPC continues upon its trend of $0.002/share increases to its quarterly dividend.

Expected Increase #3: AT&T (T)

Moving to the stock in this post with the longest dividend increase streak, I don't expect that AT&T (T) will break from its customary $0.01/share dividend increase, which means that I am forecasting T will increase its quarterly dividend 1.9% from $0.52/share to $0.53/share.

While the stock is making significant progress in deleveraging its debts, I don't believe the stock is quite ready to bust the doors down and deliver more than its customary $0.01/share dividend increase this year.

With that in mind, I forecast my net annual forward dividends will be boosted by $0.84 as a result of T's dividend expected dividend increase across my 21 shares.

Expected Increase #4: Amgen (AMGN)

Moving to my only biopharma holding in this post (normally Pfizer or PFE would be included in my December dividend increases, but given the spin-off of Upjohn and Mylan to form Viatris or VTRS, PFE's next dividend will likely be a bit lower, although even when factoring in VTRS's dividend), I am forecasting yet another strong dividend increase from Amgen (AMGN).

Given that AMGN's payout ratios are in the mid to upper-30% range in terms of non-GAAP EPS and FCF, I am anticipating that AMGN will announce a 9.4% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.60/share to $1.75/share.

Given my soon to be 3 shares of AMGN (spoiler alert: I'll be buying two shares of AMGN later this week ahead of the dividend announcement), I am expecting a $1.80 uptick in my net annual forward dividends as a result of AMGN's next dividend announcement.

Expected Increase #5: Eastman Chemical Company (EMN)

Given that Eastman Chemical Company has been adversely impacted by COVID-19 and that earnings as a result won't recover to 2019 levels until next year, I am expecting a smaller dividend increase than the 6.5% that was announced last December.

In light of the above, I am forecasting a 3.0% increase in EMN's quarterly dividend from $0.66/share to $0.68/share.

Should this occur, my net annual forward dividends would be boosted by $0.32 across my 4 shares of the stock.

Expected Increase #6: Broadcom (AVGO)

Wrapping up this blog post, I am expecting yet another strong dividend increase from Broadcom (AVGO), although I don't anticipate this dividend increase will be nearly as large as the 22.6% dividend increase last December.

Given that AVGO's payout ratio can't really expand much more without starting to sacrifice long-term viability, I am forecasting that AVGO will announce a 10.8% increase in its quarterly dividend from $3.25/share to $3.60/share.

Across my 3 shares of AVGO, this announcement would result in a $4.20 surge in my net annual forward dividends.

Concluding Thoughts:

While I didn't receive any dividend increases in November due to IRM's announcement that it was keeping its dividend in line with the previous, I am looking forward to what is sure to be my strongest month of dividend increases next month.

It would take $181.05 in capital deployment to match the $7.242 in dividend increases that I am expecting next month, assuming a 4% weighted average yield.

As I'll be discussing in my next post for November 2020 dividend stock purchases, I am also pleased to announce that my capital deployment schedule is back to its ~$1,500/month routine, which I believe will bode well in my progression to FI closing this year out and heading into next year.

Discussion:

Are you expecting December to be a busy month for dividend increases within your portfolio as well?

Will you be receiving dividend increases for the first time from any of your stock holdings as I will be in the case of AVGO?

As always, I value your readership and welcome your comments in the comment section below!

How Blogging Is Helping Me Reach My Goals

Since the advent of the Internet, a plethora of individuals with varying interests have taken to the Internet to share their interests with the world via blogging.

Given the key benefits of blogging and by also using hindsight, it's easy to understand why so many, especially in the personal finance community have adopted the hobby/side hustle of blogging.

Without further ado, I'll discuss several of the ways that blogging is helping me to reach my personal and financial goals.

Blogging Holds Me And So Many Others Accountable

As one of my favorite bloggers, Jason Fieber points out, the purpose of his blog was to document his journey to financial independence and to hold himself accountable during that journey. 

One of the primary ways that I hold myself accountable personally and within the personal finance community is by outlining my goals for a particular year at the beginning of the year and doing my very best to accomplish those goals.

When one writes down their goals in a concise manner, they are 20-40% more likely to accomplish them.

Given that I am publishing my specific goals for the world to see, I would argue that the odds of accomplishing my goals increase a bit more for the sake of proving that I am capable of achieving those goals.

This Is A Very Supportive Community

Unlike the world in general, which tends to be a very divided place, I can fairly characterize the community that has formed on this blog over the past 2 and a half years as one that is supportive.

While I'm confident that this community would call me out on any oversights on my part, I also believe that this community is much more mature and respectful than most others, which is another factor that motivates me to continue working toward bettering myself and achieving my goals.

 

I believe that blogging has helped me to connect with other great bloggers over the past 2 and a half years that I have followed, which is a great thing because I believe that Jim Rohn's "you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" quote applies to this digital age as well.

What we read online has significant potential to impact our thought patterns and can either build us up or tear us down on our path to achieve our goals, which is why I am so grateful for this respectful and thoughtful community.

Blogging Builds Discipline

One final way that I believe blogging is helping me to reach my goals is by building a key characteristic in achieving any meaningful measure of success in life, which is discipline.

Blogging over the past 2 and a half years for no monetary profit primarily due to the commitment to documenting my journey on financial independence has shown me what I am capable of when I am committed to my goals.

Regardless of whatever someone's goals may be, success is a byproduct of relentless tenacity, which is a trait I believe everyone can build upon over the duration of their life.

Concluding Thoughts:

The advent of the Internet has been beneficial to those that know how to use it to their advantage by holding themselves accountable, amongst a supportive community, and building discipline in the process.

I truly believe that over the past 2 and a half years I have benefited tremendously from operating this blog for the foregoing reasons, and I look forward to continuing to share my thoughts along my journey to financial independence.

Discussion:

Are you currently blogging or have you ever blogged?

If so, have you found blogging to be beneficial in the ways that I have?

As always, I appreciate your readership and welcome your comments in the comment section below.

October 2020 Dividend Income

 As I'm writing this blog post, I'm about halfway into my 6 day break from work (due to recently taking 4 vacation days) and I couldn't have received any better weather during my vacation. Needless to say, we haven't been fortunate enough to experience warm, sunny days in November in years (it's been 60 to 70 degrees every day this past week).

With that aside, I will be getting into the intent of this post, which is to detail the dividends that I received during the month of October 2020.

Analysis:

During the month of October 2020, I received $75.72 in net dividends.

Against the $73.79 in dividends collected in July 2020, this represents 2.6% quarterly growth.

More impressive, is the fact that this represents 80.7% YoY growth compared to the $41.91 in dividends received in October 2019.

More specifically, I received $62.98 in net dividends from 16 companies within my Robinhood portfolio. Additionally, I received $12.50 from 6 companies within my Webull portfolio. Lastly, I received $0.24 in dividends from 11 companies within my M1 Finance portfolio.

The $1.93 increase in my net dividend income from July 2020 to October 2020 was as a result of the following activity within my taxable portfolios:

My net dividends received from GEO Group (GEO) declined by $2.24 across my Webull and Robinhood accounts due to the stock's recent dividend cut.

Conversely, my net dividends received from W.P. Carey (WPC) increased by $0.01 in my Robinhood account as a result of the stock's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends received from Realty Income (O) also increased by $0.01 within my Robinhood account due to the stock's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends received from STORE Capital (STOR) were boosted by $0.17 due to its recent dividend increase across my Webull and Robinhood accounts.

My net dividends received from Philip Morris International (PM) increased by $0.27 within my Webull and Robinhood accounts as a result of the stock's recent dividend increase.

My net dividends received from Altria Group (MO) were boosted by $0.34 due to the stock's recent dividend increase in my Webull and Robinhood accounts.

My net dividends received from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) increased by $0.13 as a result of the stock's previous dividend announcement.

Finally, my net dividends increased $3.24 as a result of my reduction in Robinhood margin used.

Concluding Thoughts:

While my net dividends received changed very little from July 2020 to October 2020, it's encouraging that they managed to increase given that I sustained a significant dividend cut from GEO that was first reflected in this income report.

Fortunately, I will be resuming my previous capital deployment schedule of ~$1,500/month beginning this month, so my dividend income should begin to make significant progress once again.

I am anticipating that my net dividends received in January 2021 will represent at least 10-15% growth over October 2020 as a result of my capital deployment in the weeks ahead.

Discussion: 

How was your October in terms of dividend income?

Were any recent dividend cuts that you endured reflected in your October 2020 dividend income as was the case with GEO for me?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to replying to any comments that you leave in the comment section below!

October 2020 Dividend Stock Purchases

Readers will have to forgive me for sounding like a broken record over the past number of months, but we're already in November as I'm writing this blog post!

This year continues to fly by and as a result, I am in crunch time as far as trying to achieve my personal and financial goals for the year.

Without further ado, I'll get into the crux of this post, which is to discuss my capital deployment during the month of October 2020. As a spoiler alert, there was a significant improvement in capital deployment during October 2020 as compared to September 2020.

Beginning with the activity in my retirement account, I deployed $378.00 in capital between my 7% contribution and my employer's 3% contribution.

Net of the $17.00 in sales charges, I set aside $361.00 in capital to build my Capital Income Builder (CAIBX) position, which boosted my share count from 130.445 starting October to 136.677 at the end of the month.

Factoring in $2.14 in annualized dividends/share, this boosted my net annual forward dividends by $13.34.

The additional net annual forward dividends as a result of my capital deployment during the month works out to a 3.70% net yield.

Transitioning to my Robinhood account, I lowered my margin used from $1,619.88 heading into October to just under $1,000 at the end of October.

Since margin used after the first $1,000 accrues 5% annualized interest charges, this $619.88 reduction in my margin as a result of $561.45 in capital contributions and $62.98 in net dividends resulted in a $30.99 increase in my net annual forward dividends.

Concluding Thoughts:

Overall, October was a great month in terms of capital deployment for me as I deployed $980.88 (my strongest month of capital deployment since I deployed nearly $3,000 in May 2020) during the month in the form of retirement contributions and deleveraging my Robinhood margin to just below $1,000.

This activity within my portfolio added $44.33 in net annual forward dividends to the portfolio, which equates to an average weighted yield of 4.52%.

Unfortunately, my net annual forward dividends fell $32.34 as a result of dividend announcements during October 2020 (i.e. Energy Transfer's distribution cut, as well as dividend increases from AbbVie and Visa), which led to my net annual forward dividends plunging from their all-time high of $1,281.99 set earlier in the month.

However, I was fortunate enough to end October 2020 with my highest end of month net annual forward dividend total of $1,254.52.

Given that I have now paid off virtually all of my personal debt going into November (aside from a few hundred dollars in credit card debt that I still have about 3 months to pay off without incurring interest charges and the $1,000 of interest free Robinhood margin), I anticipate that I will be able to deploy $1,500-$1,600 of capital in November.

Discussion:

How was your October in terms of capital deployment?

Did you initiate any new positions in dividend stocks during the month?

As always, I appreciate your readership and look forward to reading your comments in the comment section below!