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Friday, March 6, 2015

Monthly Review, February 2015

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.

At the end of February, DivGro's market value was $145,167. Projected monthly dividend income increased to $447 from $434 last month. The portfolio is delivering an average yield on cost (YoC) of 4.58%. I collected $358 in dividend income, which represents an increase of 254% over last February's dividend income of $101.


In February, I deposited another $10,000 to DivGro, allowing more buys than normal:

added to my position in Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), averaging down to a per share cost basis of $81.69.

I also added to my position in Helmerich & Payne Inc (NYSE:HP), averaging down to a per share cost basis of $71.95.

Finally, I added to my position in AT&T Inc (NYSE: T), averaging down to a per share cost basis of $33.43.
Transactions:
  • Purchases
  • Dividends
    • 2015-02-02: Cash Dividend Receipt DE: $18.00
    • 2015-02-02: Cash Dividend Receipt T: $35.25
    • 2015-02-04: Return of Capital ETP: $99.50
    • 2015-02-06: Cash Dividend Receipt GD: $21.70
    • 2015-02-06: Return of Capital APU: $105.60
    • 2015-02-13: Cash Dividend Receipt VNR: $37.80
    • 2015-02-20: Cash Dividend Receipt CAT: $21.00
    • 2015-02-27: Cash Dividend Receipt PRE: $18.90
  • Deposits
    • 2015-02-04: Bonus Cash Deposit: $10,000.00
    • 2015-02-27: March Cash Deposit: $2,500.00

Changes in Projected Annual Dividend Income:
  • The purchase of 41 HP shares added $112.75.
  • The purchase of 30 CAT shares added $84.00.
  • The purchase of 75 T shares added $141.00.
  • MDP's dividend increase added $5.50.
  • PRE's dividend increase added $3.24.
  • AVA's dividend increase added $3.75.
  • WMT's dividend increase added $1.36.
  • DLR's dividend increase added $3.84.
  • VNR's dividend decrease removed $-199.80.
  • Projected annual dividend income (28 February 2015): $5,361.99.

Dividend Summary:
  • Dividend income last month: $332.20
  • Dividend income this month: $357.75
  • Total dividend income year-to-date: $689.95

Markets:
Jan 31, 2015
DOW: 17,164.95S&P 500: 1,994.99 10-YR BOND: 1.67%
Feb 28, 2015
DOW: 18,132.70S&P 500: 2,104.50 10-YR BOND: 2.00%
In February, the Dow gained 5.64% and the S&P 500 gained 5.49%. In comparison, DivGro gained 3.8%.

Portfolio: See my Performance page for a spreadsheet showing the state of DivGro on 28 February 2015.

Goals Progress: Here is a chart showing the progress I'm making on my 2015 goals. With just more than 16% of the year behind us, I'm making great progress in several fronts. Dividend income is lagging quite far behind, but I'll catch up a bit in March because end-of-quarter months are the strongest as far as dividend income is concerned. I still haven't written a DivNet article, but hope to do so soon. Unfortunately, I took a step back on my weight loss goal. I'll turn that around in March...
Looking Ahead: Having deposited more bonus cash, I'm looking forward to reporting on several new buys in March. I still need to write my first DivNet article and I'm hoping to get around to doing that this month.

Thanks for reading! 

12 comments :

  1. Your PADI and SA writing are absolutely ahead of the curve, which bodes well for when you aren't able to write as frequently or invest as much in the upcoming months. As dividend raises and large payout months like March pass by, you'll likely catch up on the dividends received goal.

    Thanks for the update - I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll buy this month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, its fun to see that those goals are already "in April"... As far as dividend income is concerned, my increased investments early in the year should help me catch up, especially when the snowballing has time to play out.

      I'll do my next monthly analysis soon, then we'll see which stocks are good candidates...

      Take care!

      Delete
  2. Wow...you are making good progress there, FerdiS. Keep up teh great work. I love your graph tracking progress of all goals. Congrats on the dividend income!

    R2R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks R2R -- gotta love that dividend income. It is growing nicely and, hopefully, fast enough so I can reach my goal of earning $6,000 in 2015. Take care!

      Delete
  3. Phenomenal write up and love the goals chart at the bottom.

    Keep up the great work FerdiS!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, American Dividend Dream! I like visuals, so my goals just had to be presented that way!

      Take care!

      Delete
  4. Awesome progress on your goals. Love the chart indicating your progress. Nice to follow it. In the markets you may add your portfolio also to use it as comparison to markets.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Martin. As far as comparing my portfolio to the markets, right now I'm trailing the performance of the S&P 500. I'm not very concerned about that, though. The S&P 500 contains many risky, non-dividend paying stocks that do very well in a bull market, but will get killed in a bear market. For a dividend growth portfolio, by far the most important metric is projected annual dividend income. As long as DivGro does well and grows in that respect, I'll be a happy investor.

      Take care!

      Delete
  5. Your goals chart is awesome! Makes thing very clear to analyze! You've got some great progress here. You might be behind for your dividend income goal, but as you mentioned March is usually a nice month for that. Keep up the pace!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, DIvGuy! Easy to see I'm ahead on three of my goals, about equal on two, and far behind on the other three. That's why I use the goals chart!

      Delete
  6. CAT is a really great purchase that I have been thinking of adding for a long time. It is currently valued at attractive price point for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi BeSmartRich -- I like CAT, even though its cyclical and currently struggling... makes for a great entry point, in my view!

      Take care!

      Delete

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