Dividend Update - March 2016


It's the end of one month and the beginning of another so it's time for my favorite update: my dividend update.  These dividend updates reflect all dividends that I receive through my investing pursuits. I hope they can help inspire you to take control of your own finances and invest to build a passive income stream. What you use that stream for is up to you, whether it's to fund early retirement, just provide some FI/FU money, or even to provide for an annual vacation; the key is that it can provide options and open up all sorts of possibilities. You can check my dividend income or progress pages to see what dedication to an investment plan can give you.
The end of each quarter is always a great time for dividend growth investors since many companies make payments during that time.  As such my March haul showed some really spectacular numbers.  I received a total of $817.19 in dividends in my FI Portfolio during the month.  I also received $5.30 in my Loyal3 Portfolio bringing my total taxable account dividends to $822.49 for the month.  My Roth IRA also contributed $40.00 in dividends in March all of which were reinvested.  Across my taxable accounts, FI Portfolio and Loyal3, I've received $1,413.34 in dividends year to date and $67.90 within my Roth IRA.

FI Portfolio

My FI Portfolio led the way in terms of dividends received but it did suffer a slight 2.8% decrease compared to December.  Much of that is just noise though due to uneven payment schedules such as Coca-Cola paying in December but not in March and PepsiCo doing the opposite with no payment in December but a payment in March.

The year over year comparison gives a better idea of growth that was experienced through new capital, dividend growth and select dividend reinvestment.  Compared to March 2015 dividends received increased $72 or 9.3%.

Since I've closed some positions as well as added new capital, I like to look at how my dividend performed on a constant payout basis, i.e. the same companies that paid in March 2015 as in March 2016.  From dividend reinvestment and dividend increases over the last 12 months March 2016's dividend showed 9.8% growth from March 2015.  Not bad considering one of those holdings, Bank of America (BAC), didn't announce an increase and Unilever (UL) was subject to negative exchange rates.  First quarter 2016 dividends show a 4.0% increase from first quarter 2015.

Loyal3 Portfolio

My Loyal3 Portfolio had an 18.6% increase year over year, although it declined on a quarterly basis due to the payouts schedules and currency exchange.  Year to date my Loyal3 holdings have provided $16.37 in dividends which is a slight decline compared to 1Q 2015 attributed primarily to Walt Disney Company (DIS) changing from annual to semi-annual payments this year.  Adjusted for the Disney payout the 1Q dividends from 2016 showed a 17.9% rise from the year ago quarter.

Roth IRA Portfolio

March was a welcomed return to dividend receipts after February's goose egg.  Quarter over quarter March's dividends showed a 0.6% improvement from December.  The year over year increase came to a much more respectable 4.3% due to a dividend increase from Wells Fargo last year and dividend reinvestment.  First quarter 2016 totals showed a 6.1% increase from first quarter 2015's mark of $64.02.

Dividend Raises During the Month

Five!  Five different companies that I own announced dividend raises during March which is dividend growth investing at work.  You mean a company I own a piece of, albeit tiny, wants to pay out more of their profits to me just because I own part of the company?  Sign me up!

These raises came from all across the economy; from a bank, a retailer, a cereal maker, a landlord and an industrial gas provider.  These 5 companies combined to increase my forward dividends by $15 and so far this year dividend increases have boosted my expected dividends by over $67.

Based on the historical increase announcements I expect 7 increases and possibly an 8th to be announced as well.  So April should be a pretty bountiful month for dividend increases!

Looking Forward

My forward 12-month dividends for my FI Portfolio are up to $5,503.26.  Forward dividends in my Loyal3 Portfolio ended the month at $62.98 bringing the total taxable account forward dividends to $5,566.25.  My Roth IRA's forward 12-month dividends are at $254.49.

Monthly Average

Below is the chart showing the monthly dividend totals for each year that I've been investing as well as the monthly average.  It's not always an increase as some companies have weird payout schedules and eventually some positions will get dropped, but the long-term trend is what matters.  My monthly average so far in 2016 is $465.66.  That's about a $26 decrease from where my year to date average was at the end of 2015.  This trend should continue over the next 6 months since investment capital will be light to non-existent.


Dividends Received Breakdown

FI Portfolio - Dividend Income
Company Dividend Amount DRIP Shares
Wells Fargo (WFC) $20.63 --
Bank of America $8.09 --
McDonald's (MCD) $75.57 --
Halliburton (HAL) $31.96 --
Phillips 66 (PSX) $4.64 --
Emerson Electric (EMR) $29.36 --
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) $24.86 --
Harris (HRS) $41.25 --
Cummins (CMI) $22.74 --
Target Corporation (TGT) $71.87 --
Aflac (AFL) $30.10 --
BP (BP) $48.89 1.700
Microsoft (MSFT) $14.81 --
Chevron (CVX) $61.01 0.680
Exxon Mobil (XOM) (Analysis Here) $48.36 0.474
Realty Income (O) $18.20 --
IBM (IBM) $39.29 --
Visa (V) (Analysis Here) $9.54 --
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) (Analysis Here) $56.41 --
PepsiCo (PEP) (Analysis Here) $43.24 --
Unilever $9.83 --
3M Company (MMM) $19.98 --
United Technologies (UTX) $8.96 --
Ventas (VTR) $16.69 0.271
T. Rowe Price Group (TROW)$10.88 0.150
Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) $5.28 --
Ross Stores (ROST) $7.58 --
Hershey (HSY)$6.41--
Care Capital Properties (CCP) $2.85--
Centerpoint Energy (CNP) $27.91 1.38
March 2016 Total $817.19
2016 YTD Total $1,396.97

Loyal3 - Dividend Income
Company Dividend Amount DRIP Shares
V.F. Corporation (VFC) (Analysis Here) $1.17 --
Hershey $1.21 --
PepsiCo  $1.33 --
Unilever $1.59 --
March 2016 Total $5.30
2016 YTD Total $16.37


Roth IRA - Dividend Income
Company Dividend Amount DRIP Shares
Bank of America $5.10 0.371
Wells Fargo $10.45 0.218
Norfolk Southern (NSC) $24.45 0.312
March 2016 Total $40.00
2016 YTD Total $67.90

I've updated my Dividend Income page to reflect March's changes.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles on FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

How were your dividends in March?  Are you on track to reach your goals through Q1?

Comments

  1. Congrats on this dividends amount. It's nice to receive money without working.

    March was my dividends record with 4$. It will continu to grow so it's nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FinTech,

      Every little bit of extra income is always welcomed. Especially since I just got word today of another paycut, I work in the oil field which is rough to say the least. So the dividends are coming in extra handy now.

      $4 is still a start. I think I had one month very early on with a grand total of $0.47 so don't worry about the small beginnings. Time and consistency are your friend.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. Congrats on another month of dividend growth!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ben,

      A great dividend total and absolutely fantastic progress with 5 dividend raises in the month.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. JC,

    Nice YOY growth, especially in your main account. 7 Dividend increases for you, I am expecting 6 this month as well. That is my favorite part of this type of growth engine. What's not to love once the dividends start to self sustain their growth?

    - Gremlin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gremlin,

      Yeah considering the majority of that was from dividend growth and reinvestment I'm pretty pleased with the results. April is going to be a great month for dividend raises and I can't wait to see them start rolling in.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. Awesome! Just today I created a spreadsheet to track my monthly averages for the first time. I have been doing dividend investing off and on for 2 yrs, but decided to apply consistency to this. As of this morning, my monthly average is $68 total across all accounts. I'm looking forward to consistently growing this number.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kenny,

      Awesome stuff! Consistency is really the name of the game for DGI. The progress at the beginning can be painstakingly slow at times but it's well worth it in the long run. $68 is a great start. One of my early months of DGI brought in a whopping $0.40-50 so you've got me be by a long shot. Stay focused!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. Awesome! Just today I created a spreadsheet to track my monthly averages for the first time. I have been doing dividend investing off and on for 2 yrs, but decided to apply consistency to this. As of this morning, my monthly average is $68 total across all accounts. I'm looking forward to consistently growing this number.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great job JC. That's awesome. Keep it up and slowly and surely, were conquer all our goals and dreams. Keep at it bud and thanks for sharing. Congrats.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hustler,

      Thanks for being there every month to motivate and inspire. Your words of encouragement and much appreciated. Progress will be kind of blah and likely limited to just dividend growth for most if not all of this year but that's fine by me because the companies I own will boost up my dividends too.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. Wow! Impressive results. Its crazy to think that with some discipline and time, those compounded returns can get this big. Nice Job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Millenial Investor,

      Time and consistency are huge factors in winning with money. The returns just kind of take care of themselves. If a stranger offered me $800 for doing nothing I'd gladly take it but the great thing about dividends is that this $800 will grow to $900 then $1000...and keep getting paid out. Got to love DGI!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  8. Hi JC,

    Congrats on a great month with income from a diverse range of companies. It's awesome watching the numbers grow!

    Best wishes,
    -DL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DL,

      The end of quarter month is definitely my best in terms of dividends paid and diversification. It's great to see 30+ passive income sources for a month. And the best part is they keep growing year after year.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  9. Totally awesome dividend income for March. A long list of companies too, talk about diversification. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tawcan,

      It's great seeing all of those individual paychecks coming in for the month. Although now I really need to focus on building up those positions so each one provides a good chunk of income.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  10. Wow, that is a very nice amount of income for one month, more than we're going to get in a year. I really hope one day we can get as much as that in a month, this is very inspiring, thanks for sharing your journey :)

    Tristan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trsitan,

      Just stay focused and committed to the DGI plan and you'll get there sooner than you think.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete

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