May 2020 Dividends
Hello everyone,
Thanks for stopping by once again (or the first time if that is the case). It is July now, and I am a bit late for my May Dividend update, but better late than never.
Let's get into it, below are the dividends received for the month of May 2020.
Also, May was an extraordinarily very active month, here are my transactions:
For the first time in a while, I did sell some stock. It may seem strange to sell in the midst of a pandemic, however, at the time, the market was experiencing a bit of a bump, due to an overoptimistic sentiment about its presumed decline (something we now know was a bit premature). Also, I figured it was a good time to take stock of my portfolio, and streamline it a bit, focusing on more quality, and cutting bait with some companies, that either cut/suspended dividends or ones that I no longer had confidence in for the future.
So the luck I had experienced in April with no dividend cuts did not last, as I have had a couple dividend casualties since: Disney (DIS) and Kontoor Brands (KTB). Both suspended their dividends as a result of impact from the pandemic, and as a rule I cut bait with companies once they cut/suspend their dividends. I received KTB shares from the VF Corportion (VFC) spinoff a little while ago, and I figured I would hold on to them for a bit to see how they perform. Apparently not that well once the pandemic hit, and soon the dividend disappeared into thin air. Now there are arguments to be made by some for further analysis and holding on to some companies that cut their dividend, but I won't be making those here. I figure once a company makes the move to cut, there will be some trouble ahead, and I'd rather redeploy my money into a company that will be doing better and will be providing increasing dividend payments rather than decreased payments (and waiting for them to get to their previous level of dividend payout). Thus far I have not regretted a single sale after a dividend cut. After years of not increasing dividends and subpar/middling performance, I also decided to cut bait with Compass Minerals (CMP) and Hanesbrands (HBI).
I continued to add to existing positions with the sale proceeds as well as normal surplus investing money.
My Thoughts
So, for May, the pandemic is still with us, and as I am writing this in late June, there were some reopenings done, resulting in record spikes in cases. So, it is not going quietly, and will not be ending anytime soon. It is unfortunate to see the prevailing sentiment being that since we've already quarantined for a while that the virus will just go away, and things will go back to normal. In my opinion normal in the future will be very different from our previous normal, and we can't expect to go back there (like many other things). Which as a segue of things not going back to how they were brings me to the other high profile event that has been taking place, protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police.
Sorry, I'm going to go off-topic for a bit here
By now many have seen the video of the incident, and it is the latest of a pattern of violence happening, not just in the last year or 10 years, but in the last several hundred years. As a black male, these events by themselves are bad enough, but overlayed onto a historical context, has had quite the impact on me, which is part of the reason this May update was so delayed. For much of June, when a lot of the protests were happening, dividend income was far from top of mind, and I really didn't feel like sitting down and writing this summary. There is a sense of despair when seeing time after time similar incidents hit the airwaves, with very little sign of things changing.
However, I am starting to see signs, however small, of things possibly changing for the better as a result, which gives me hope. One positive is that this is shining a light on racism (something that tends to be buried/denied and not talked about), its long lasting effects and how to combat it. Every day, it becomes painfully clear, at least to me, that it is still with us, and it is frustrating and really sad to see. Conversations (some superficial, but many more are meaningful and deeper) are actually happening, though, which is a good thing. Although long overdue, now is the opportunity for changes to be made for the better. Hopefully meaningful actions follow these conversations.
There doesn't seem to be much diversity in the dividend growth arena. I would just ask of folks, especially in this contentious climate, that they first try to offer up an ear to listen to other perspectives with empathy, before getting on their soapbox to give their perspective, whether it be in support (hopefully) or not.
Bringing things back to dividends, we are seeing renewed fear in markets about the virus, which I am actually not sad to see. I've felt that people were being a little too fearless and overoptimistic about prospects about dealing with it. We are starting now to see that second wave of case count increases, and hopefully we don't see other waves down the line. The virus is having real impact and I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon. In the meantime, I will keep adding to good values, and collecting dividends (where they are paid).
Dividend Income History
Now, let's take a look at dividend history, in table and graph form.
So May was the best May to date, coming in at $220.09 for dividend income. Regular adds on a weekly basis are helping to increase the dividend payments as time goes on. Each month thus far has been the best of that month since I started down this road. You love to see it.
Now comparing May 2020 with the previous quarter and year, you see some decent increases:
Nothing too crazy, but decent nonetheless. I see nothing wrong with steady income increases, other than wishing they were higher.
So there you have it for May 2020, a nice steady month in dividend income, and I hope future Mays are the best Mays to date as well.
Thanks for stopping by, but enough about me, how was your May?
Let me know below in the comments!
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