Dividend Increase | Verizon $VZ #Dividend

Getting a pay raise while sitting on the couch?  Sign me up!  Thanks Verizon for another dividend increase!

There's an old Chinese proverb that says "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is now".  The reason for this is that it takes time for a tree to grow and prosper and for you to start reaping its benefits.  Dividend growth investing is much the same way.  It takes consistent saving and investing as well as time and patience to let the power of dividend growth take hold.

That's why one of my favorite things is when one of the companies I own decides to pay out more in dividends.  You mean I get a pay raise just for owning a small piece of a company?  Not going and doing R&D for new products or technology.  Not selling any products.  Not managing any employees or inventory.  Not making sales calls.  All I had to do was have the foresight to invest some of my savings in excellent companies.  

On September 6th the Board of Directors at Verizon (VZ) approved an increase in the quarterly dividend payment.  The dividend was increased from $0.64 to $0.6525 which is a low but expected 2.0% increase.  Verizon is a Dividend Contender with 17 consecutive years of dividend growth.  Shares currently yield 6.35% based on the new annualized payout.

The new dividend will be payable November 1st to shareholders of record as of October 7th.

Since I own 116.262 shares of Verizon in my FI Portfolio, this raise increased my forward 12-month dividends by $5.81.  This is now the 9th raise I've received from Verizon since initiating a position in 2014.  

A full screen version of this chart can be found here.

Verizon's dividend growth hasn't exactly been exciting; however, it's been quite consistent and typically comes with a high starting yield to make up for the slower growth.  While it appears there was a dividend cut in the early 2000's that was actually a split dividend payment due to the upcoming merger.

Dating back to 1984 Verizon has given year over year dividend growth ranging from 0.0% to 38.3% with an average of 4.1% and a median of 2.1%.

Over the same time there's been 33 rolling 5-year periods with annualized dividend growth coming in between 0.)% and 12.9% with an average of 3.3% and a median of 2.9%.

There's also been 28 rolling 10-year periods with Verizon's annualized dividend growth spanning 1.0% to 8.6% with an average of 2.9% and a median of 2.7%.

The 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year rolling dividend growth rates for Verizon since 1984 can be found in the following chart.  

A full screen version of this chart can be found here.

For dividend yield theory I consider the fair value range to be the forward dividend yield +/- 10% compared to the 3-year moving average, the under/over value area to be to between 10%-20% deviation from the average and significant over/under value are greater than a 20% deviation from the average.

A full screen version of this chart can be found here.

Verizon's 3-year average forward dividend yield is 4.55% which corresponds to a share price of $57 based on the new annualized payout.  

I consider the fair value range based on dividend yield theory to be the 3-year moving average yield +/- 10%.  That gives a fair value range of $52 - $64 and suggests that shares are trading below the lower end of fair value.

I don't expect Verizon to off much in terms of organic dividend growth going forward and based on history mid-single digits is about the most you can expect.  However, when the share price is unjustly beat up, as it appears to possibly be right now purchases come with very strong yields and the possibility of capital appreciation as valuations normalize.

  

  




Wrap Up

This raise increased my forward dividends by $5.81 with zero effort on my part.  That's right, absolutely nothing to contribute to their operations.  Based on my FI Portfolio's current yield of 2.68% this raise is like I invested an extra $216 in capital.  Except that I didn't!  One of the companies I own just decided to send more cash my way. 

That's how you can eventually reach the crossover point where your dividends received exceed your expenses.  That's DIVIDEND GROWTH INVESTING AT WORK!  The beauty of the dividend growth investing strategy is that you build up your dividends through fresh capital investment as well dividend increases from the companies you own.

This is the 40th dividend increase I've received from the companies in my FI Portfolio increasing my forward 12-month dividends by $442.85 combined.

My FI Portfolio's forward-12 month dividends are $10,672.49  Including my FolioFirst portfolio's forward dividends of $233.26 brings my total taxable accounts dividends to $10,905.75.  My Roth IRA's forward 12-month dividends are $1,047.80.  My Rollover IRA's forward dividends are $4,554.32.  Across all accounts I can expect to receive $16,507.87 in dividends over the next year.

I've also started compiling dividend data on many of the companies that I own or would like to own.  Verizon's can be found here which includes the dividend history (as far back as I can find without spending hours hunting it down), rolling dividend growth rates and dividend yield theory.  To see other companies that I've already gathered the data on you can check out the Dividend Companies page.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Do you own shares of Verizon?  Do you think they're perpetually stuck in the 1-2% dividend growth range or will they find a way to get back to the 4-6% area?

Please share your thoughts below.