December 2013 Dividend Income Update

2013 is over. It was a great year for me. It was my 2nd full year of investing. My passive income was great. It's amazing how my passive income grows. Looking back to my first few months of investing, I was getting $25 a month. Now I pull in $100 regularly. Without further a do, here is the last income update for this year.

Dividends Received

• WFC: $25.20
• PSX: $10.53
• AFL: $21.83
• JNJ: $11.22
• NSC: $7.80
• IBM: $7.60
• CVX: $11.00
• TGT: $9.89
• MSFT: $14.84
• MCD: $22.68

Total dividend income for December: $142.59

My 2013 goal was $1000, I made it! This year total dividend income was $1068.62! I'm still not sure how high I'll set the bar for 2014. 

Thanks fo reading.

Recent Dividend Increases

The main focus of my portfolio is to purchase stocks that raise their dividends in the future. The stream of dividend will grow over time due to reinvested dividends, investing fresh capital and companies raising their dividend. This week three of my companies raised their distributions to their loyal shareholders.



AT&T (T) - Announced that its board of Directors voted to increase AT&T's s regular quarterly dividend by 2.2% to $0.46 per common share versus the previous rate of $0.45 per common share.

General Electric (GE) - Announced a 16% dividend hike. The Board of Directors agreed to raise the company's quarterly dividend to $0.22 per common share up from $0.19 a share.

Mastercard Inc (MA) - Announced on Tuesday that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share, reflecting a $0.50 or whopping 83% raise over the previous quarter. On top of that, the Board of Directors also approved a new share repurchase program of $3.5 billion in share repurchases. This buyback program will kick in once the $514M remaining on an existing $2B authorization is used up.
With shares trading almost at $800 a share the company announced a 10:1 stock split. For every 1 share of MA I hold, I'll receive 9 extra. The dividend post split will be $0.11 dollar per quarter.

November 2013 Dividend Income Update

In the month November I opened a new position in TGT. I expected T to announce a dividend hike but it didn't came yet, any day now. After I bought TGT it pulled back some more, I'm contemplating buying more, it's one of the few stocks that seem fairly valued to me.

Here's the dividend update for November 2013:

Dividends Received

• GIS: $14.06
• T: $17.10
• MA: $1.80
• ABT: $2.80
• ABBV: $8.00
• KMI: $34.03
• PG: $10.83

Total dividend income forNovember: $88.62

My 2013 goal is $1000, so far I'm 92.60% of the way there, my progress is tracked here. I just need $73.79 in the next months to reach my goal.

Thanks for reading

Latest Buy: TGT

As I mentioned in my latest dividend update, I had some capital to work with. So I decided to initiate a new position today in a big retailer, Target Corporation.


Today's buy:

• 23 shares of Target Corporation (TGT) @ $65.50

This purchase will add $39.56 to my annual dividend income.

Target Corporation is a retailer, it sells health beauty and household essentials, electronics, food and pet supplies and furniture. This dividend champion has increased dividend payments for 46 years in a row. In 2012 it generated $72 billion dollar in sales and $4.52 in EPS. Target is focusing on their "Long-Range plan": generating $100 billion in sales and $8.00 in EPS in 2017. 

They hope achieving that goal by focusing on expanding same store sales and renovating existing stores, rather than opening a bunch of new stores. Future growth can be realized by increased penetration of the red card. This decreases expenses related for transactions processing other credit cards. Target is targeting middle and upper class consumers. These groups are more focused on quality and diversity of products. That's how Target differentiate itself from Wal-Mart. The company is on track to open 125 stores in Canada this year.

The stock trades for 15-16x earnings which I think is a fair deal. I mean the company raised dividends for 46 years, that means it's a great business and management is doing something right. I'm happy with owning shares and won't mind adding more if the stock drops significantly.

Thanks for reading.

October 2013 Dividend Income Update

In the month October I added to my DPS position. Phillips 66 (25%), Aflac (5.7%), Kinder Morgan Inc. (2.5%, 13.9% YOY) and Abbott Laboratories  (57.1%) announced a dividend hike. Things are going according to plan. I have enough money for one purchase. I'm not sure what I'm gonna buy yet, but it's probably going to be an oil major.

Here's the dividend update for October 2013:

Dividends Received

• DPS: $12.54
• MO: $16.80
• PM: $33.84
• GE: $12.54

Total dividend income for October: $75.72

My 2013 goal is $1000, so far I'm 83.74% of the way there, my progress is tracked here. I just need $162.59 in the next two months to reach my goal.

I'm 100% sure I will meet this goal and already thinking about setting a goal for 2014. Last month I was thinking about  about $1500 in dividends for 2014, but I'm thinking I could do more.

Thanks for reading

Latest Buy: DPS

Today I put some capital to work. The last time I bought something was back in July. The market pulled back the last few sessions due to the debt ceiling soap opera. The cheaper stocks get, the happier I am, because cheap stocks mean great future returns.

Today's buy:

• 35 shares of Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS) @ $43.70

This purchase will add $53.20 to my annual dividend income.

I already had a position in DPS, and decided to average down. The stock seems fairly valued. Management is expecting 2013 EPS to hit the $3.04 - $3.12 range. That means a forward PE between 14 and 14.4 which seems fair for this company. DPS is one a the few consumer staples that doesn't seem fully valued at the moment. The whole sector has been quite expensive the last few months.

On a different note, Coca-Cola's stock also pulled back. Buying now gives me an 3% entry yield which is something you don't get to often with Coke shares. I might pick up some shares of this great company in the near future. I'd love to have a position in Coca-Cola!

Thanks for reading. 

September 2013 Dividend Income Update

Nice month for the portfolio regarding dividends. September treated me with four dividend increases, I decided to sell Intel, and today PSX announced a stunning 25% dividend increase! I love the growing stream of passive income my portfolio is generating. The amount of dividends my portfolio generated this month is a record!


Here's the dividend update for September 2013:

Dividends Received

• WFC: $25.20
• INTC: $11.25
• WMT: $9.87
• PSX: $8.44
• AFL: $20.65
• JNJ: $11.22
• IBM: $7.60
• CVX: $11.00
• NSC: $7.80
• MSFT: $12.19
• MCD: $21.56

Total dividend income for September: $146.78

My 2013 goal is $1000, so far I'm 76.17% of the way there, my progress is tracked here.

I'm 100% sure I will meet this goal and already thinking about setting a goal for 2014. I'm thinking about $1500 in dividends for 2014 would be a nice challenge.

Thanks for reading