June 2017 Dividends

Hi everyone,

Another month ends, one begins, and it's time for a summary of the previous month's dividend income. This is easy to do, since I had such great results, though they could have been even better.

How you say? Well, keep reading then!

Let's get to the summary:

Taxable Accounts:

Intel (INTC): 6/1/17 - $3.00
WW Grainger (GWW): 6/1/17 - $2.56
Cummins (CMI): 6/1/17 - $8.20
Walmart (WMT): 6/5/17 - $1.53
Emerson (EMR): 6/9/17 - $4.80
Target (TGT): 6/10/17 - $32.40
Compass Minerals (CMP): 6/15/17 - $9.36
VF Corp (VFC): 6/19/17 - $16.80
Qualcomm (QCOM): 6/21/17 - $34.23
Prospect Capital (PSEC): 6/22/17 - $20.52
Flower Foods (FLO): 6/23/17 - $20.06
Vanguard High Yield Dividend ETF (VYM): 6/28/17 - $7.85
Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ): 6/28/17 - $4.96

Taxable Accounts Total: $166.27


Roth IRA Account:

Vanguard High Yield Dividend ETF (VYM): 6/30/17 - $21.80
Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG): 6/30/17 - $2.74
T. Rowe Price (TROW): 6/30/17 - $8.05

Roth IRA Account Total: $32.59

Overall Dividend Income $198.86     (ALL-TIME HIGH FOR A MONTH!)

Forward 12-month Projected Dividend Income: $1,842.05


My June Buys:

CVS Health (CVS) - 5 shares
WW Grainger (GWW) - 3 shares
HanesBrands (HBI) - 2 shares
Lazard (LAZ) - 1 share
Williams Sonoma (WSM) - 5 shares

I'm still adding to my best positions, which I believe to be undervalued or fairly valued. Lately I have been focusing on companies that I believe have at least a 10% margin of safety when looking at their valuation, in comparison to current price.

Going forward this will get a little more challenging as we continue to save more for the wedding and a house down the line. Also, I've had some unexpected significant expenses come up, and so I've had to dip into the emergency fund. I have decided to switch it up a bit to replenish the emergency fund, so a larger cut of my weekly surplus will go into funding that instead of buying shares. I'll hold myself to one share a week, and then the rest of the surplus will go to the emergency fund.

So, what am I eyeing for July?

I've got my eyes on CVS, GWW, and WSM. I'm thinking about adding more TGT (Target) and possibly adding a new position of KR (Kroger). News is rolling in about the Target improvements, and I do like what I'm hearing. Almost 6% of my portfolio is in Target already, but I may still add some more at current levels as my cost basis is in the 60s. Kroger experienced a significant fall due to disappointing earnings, and the news of Amazon buying Whole Foods. I do believe, however, that the sky is not falling for one of the biggest grocery chains in the country, and am seriously thinking about entering in at the lower stock price. With businesses like these, I like when their products are for everyday use, and when they run out, customers need to replenish their supply. As with other businesses going through trouble I believe to be temporary, I allow them to pay me to wait for the turnaround.

Other Notable News for June 2017:
June was really good on a couple of fronts. For one thing, when not counting my 401(k), my portfolio (taxable and Roth IRA) reached the $50,000 milestone! I know, not much to the OGs in the game, but pretty significant to me, as some many years earlier, I was drowning in over $50K in debt, and uncertain of my next move. It feels good to know that over time, I was able to climb out of that hole, and build up a portfolio of that size, with clear signs of acceleration for that portfolio. Next, when calculating forward projected dividends, I reached the point to where I will average over $150/month, and over $1,800 over the next year. Pretty sweet, if you ask me. Of course, it is not enough to quit my job and live off of, but a clear sign of progress, and I intend to keep it going. In other big news, on the life news front, we took one more step in setting up our life together, as my fiancee and I moved to a new place to consolidate expenses, as well as make preparations for the wedding next year. This will help us to get even more on the same page with planning things out as 2018 gets closer. It will be an adjustment for sure, as both of us had gotten used to living alone for many years (me since 1995!). We're both confident, though that we'll make it work, and come out ahead. This should also help towards future FIRE plans, with the money we'll end up saving.

My thoughts on the month's results:
June, as a quarter-ending month was fabulous, but it could have been even better. I was counting on dividends/distributions from the iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the iShares Small Cap ETF (IJR) to come in at the end of June, which would have added over $14 to my June total. But alas, they did not come through until July 3rd.

This would have put me over $200 for June, but it is what it is. I'm on track to pass that milestone, hopefully, for September.

Let's take a glimpse at the dividend payment history:


Month2014201520162017
January$14.38$14.42$70.45
February$49.07$50.38$112.01
March$50.22$52.16$182.28
April$10.83$27.91$64.56
May$46.52$59.42$132.14
June$6.69$47.51$90.97$198.86
July0$18.99$51.37
August$33.96$50.11$86.07
September$54.75$55.61$101.70
October$10.94$14.42$72.53
November$48.79$50.11$103.31
December$63.55$49.89$168.03

...and in graphical form:



Another good-looking month if you ask me!

Y/Y:
For June of 2016, I pulled in dividend income of $90.97. The June 2017 income represents a whopping +118.6% increase!

A year ago, I was just hitting my stride with this DGI strategy, a few months in. Now, it is really keeping the momentum going. I love that many of the dividend increases are coming through in addition to the additional shares I am purchasing which are paying more in dividends also. That, on top of any capital appreciation is pretty sweet.

Q/Q:
So, 3 months ago, for March 2017, my dividend income was $182.28. Looking at my June 2017 totals, clearly the increase is a bit more modest, but still is something I'll take. This represents a +9.1% increase, which, I'll say it again, if my job gave me a 9% raise every quarter, I'd take it!

I'd be doing jumping jacks in the parking lot, and kicking up my heels as I went to my car. I'm pretty excited about it, and happy to keep it going.


In Conclusion:

As mentioned, this is an all-time high for a month for me, and is highly motivating to find new ways to save, earn more, and contribute more to the portfolio to keep this dividend machine going. I have been targeting adding about $1,000 every month in fresh capital, but I look forward to the day when dividend income matches that number. I'm almost 20% of the way there. When I do reach that level, I'll be "cooking with gas" as we say here in New England.

Next month will be lower, as the first month in the quarter is always my lowest for dividend income, as more of the companies are in the other 2 months in the quarter. However, I look forward to receiving the income and reporting it for you, when July comes to a close. In the meantime, I'm buoyed by the amazing feeling of these June results!

Oh, and before I leave the building, special shouts out to Money With Meow and Dividend Hawk. MwM had a nice link to this blog in their latest dividend summary post, and Dividend Hawk is always first to tweet out a link to my posts (many times before I even get to share my own link!).
Please check out their blogs, and any others that I'll share. I love to share other dividend summaries as much as I can on Twitter.

How was your June 2017 for dividend income? Let me know in the comments.








Comments

  1. Nice job for the month of July. I see quite a few names in common paying us last month. Your year over year gains are also very impressive. Keep the buying going on. I have added to my GWW for the last few months. Now I'm looking at health more so in July. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Congrats on the all-time high and on realizing more than a 100% increase year-over-year. June was a record fro me too.

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  3. Awesome work! Those are some good names paying out those dividends and I look forward to you hitting the $200 Mark soon

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  4. Awesome ! great to see the progress. Keep up the good work.

    -Brian

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