Lanny said it best in his stock purchase article…the month of May was actually wild! Every day presented a new twist, turn, and market swing. I would transfer cash to my brokerage and get ready to make a purchase. Then boom, the market would swing upward. Despite the madness, the dividend income continued to flow. After all, that’s part of the beauty of dividend investing. Lanny published great dividend income results this month. As always, he is a tough act to follow. Especially when he announces a 48.8% YOY dividend increase. But I’ll give it my best shot. It is time to review my May Dividend Income summary!
Bert’s May Dividend Income Summary
I received $505.13 in dividend income this month. This was a 47.02% increase compared to last year! To be honest, I was very excited to eclipse the $500 mark this month. A fun threshold to cross to say the least. The following table breaks down the individual companies that paid me a dividend in May. The “W” denotes a dividend received in my wife’s account:
Here are some quick comments about the companies that paid me this month:
- Compared to last year, there were several new companies that paid me a dividend (ABBV and WRK) and several companies where I added to my position last year (PG, SBUX, and CVS). This was the predominant reason my dividend income increased compared to 2018.
- Looking at the chart, it is crazy how large of a total dividend my wife and I receive from AT&T. We received nearly $118 from the telecom giant. Each quarter, our dividend covers one months cable and internet bill ($98). Hopefully it’ll cover the entire quarter later in the year since we will be cutting the cord later in 2019.
- DWDP continues to be the most infuriating company to figure out and follow. The company’s three-way stock split has been “interesting” to follow to say the least. I’m having a difficult time allocating my cost basis and adjusting my forward dividend income accordingly. But this month, I’ll take the $5.42 dividend.
May Portfolio News and Updates
In this section, I’ll review two different ways that my forward dividend income increased during the month: dividend increases and investment activity. In the first table I will review dividend increases. We are always following dividend increases, regardless of whether or not we own the stock. Heck, we publish a monthly article summarizing and predicting dividend increases! See the latest published of that monthly article here.
May was a lot slower than April on the dividend increase front. But I still managed to add $19.64 in dividend increases from dividend increases. The largest of the increases was CAT. Despite the trade issues with China, CAT still delivered a very strong dividend increase. This amount exceed my expectation for sure. LEG’s dividend increase was right in line with recent history. Interestingly, the $9.02 dividend increase would all me to add an additional .25 shares (appr.) via DRIP over the next year at the company’s current share price. Think about that for a second and visualize that dividend snowball rolling and growing larger.
This next table will summarize my stock purchases for the month. One purchase occurred in our traditional brokerage account and the other in my wife’s retirement account.
The last month presented several investment opportunities on red days in the market. I tried to focus my purchase activity on large, blue chip companies that passed the three metrics of our Dividend Stock Screener (P/E Ratio < Market, Payout Ratio <60%, History of Increasing Dividends). Here is a brief discussion about the purchases.
- Exxon Mobil (XOM) – I started a position in Exxon last year and have been looking for the right time to add to my position. The Dividend Aristocrat is trading below the market and has a forward payout ratio of 64%. The yield was over 5% at the time of my purchase. An easy decision in my mind. In total, I now own 30.312 shares of XOM and my wife owns 13.241.
- UPS (UPS) – UPS was featured on Lanny’s watch list. Like XOM, I had been adding to my UPS position since 2018. The price continued to fall and the time to act was now. UPS has a P/E ratio of X and a forward P/E ratio of 48%. UPS isn’t an Aristocrat; but the company has some strong dividend dividend increases lately. I now own 36 shares of the company.
- Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) – Last, but not least, a Dividend Aristocrat that is getting twisted around because of the trade war. ADM was trading at the company’s 52-week low and their dividend yield crossed 3.5%. With a payout ratio below 60%, this was a perfect time to lower my cost basis in ADM.
The three companies were all companies that I already owned. In total, the purchases, along with 401(k) contributions, added $125.23 of dividend income to my forward dividend income.
Summary
Well. Despite a turbulent stock market, we were able to turn it into a positive. By earning $500 in dividend income, along with adding over $140 in dividend income via stock purchases and dividend increases, 2019 continues to be a very positive year! But now is not the time to stop being aggressive. Rather, just the opposite. It is time to kick this into overdrive and review every expense. It is time to make EVERY DOLLAR COUNT. And it is time to find every freaking Financial Freedom Product under the sun that will help us earn an additional dollar or two to invest. The goal is financial freedom folks, so let’s get there ASAP!
How did you perform in May? What companies increased dividend payments for you this month? Did you purchase any stocks?
Bert
Bert,
Those are big totals, big adds, and big dividend increases. It won’t be long until you’re at a point where the increases and reinvestment is adding more value than fresh capital.
– Gremlin
Also what is the Star Wars reference you mentioned?
Thanks Gremlin! I appreciate it very much. I cannot wait to get to that point and will hopefully hit it soon. I put the Star Wars reference on your page big fella. And I’m a little disappointed that you don’t have a dad joke for me here on this page.
Bert
Congrats Bert, that’s an awesome result with over $500 in dividend income. The 47.02% YoY growth is fantastic too! Gotta love those dividend increases right?
Tawcan – Thank you very much. These dividend increases are sick and continue to work their magic. The power of dividend reinvesting is REAL and I’ll preach it anyone that will listen.
Bert
Monster growth Bert, congrats.
I have several of the same companies (WRK, ABBV, CAT, T, DWDP). I’m frustrated DWDP, actually quite annoyed. I decided to dump the CTVA spin off and I’m still evaluating the Dupont (DD) position.
Anyway, well done!
Thanks Passive Cash! Glad we hold so many of the same positions. Just out of curiosity, why did you dump CTVA? I still have a lot of reading to do with the new companies.
Bert
Couple of reasons. One is the state and apparent future of agriculture. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty surrounding agriculture, and it certainly doesn’t help with whats going on with China. Another is the dividend, after all that’s what we’re investing for right? The dividend was cut when I got into DWDP (before the split), and although DD has since paid…I don’t see anything addressing CTVA’s dividend timeline or amount. There was mention that CTVA will pay a dividend, but that’s about it. Lastly, I target well established, rock solid companies that have history of paying dividends. Not sure I’m getting that…really didn’t know what I had with CTVA. I could be wrong on it, just thought I could find a better place for my money.
Wild May… calm, reliable, dependable dividends to balance it all out. Solid double digit year over year gain… nothing to complain about here. Nice job. LEG continues to be that steady eddy dividend stock while CAT rocked it!!!! Keep up the good work.
Keith,
You’re right. The dividends help stop the ship from rocking too quietly. The Long-term perspective allows us to ignore these wild swings/frustrating days. LEG is one of my favorite holdings and I may need to look more into CAT. I could see a future buying opportunity if the trade war continues for a long period of time.
Bert
Congrats on breaking the $500 mark Bert! Nice YOY growth too! Keep it up! 🙂
Thanks MDD! I appreciate it. Keep it up is part of the goal.
Bert
Good job big numbers all around. Those new adds definitely, helped those numbers and the dividend increases will also. keep it up
Thanks Doug – Much appreciated.
Bert
Nice work Bert! $500+ dividends/passive income a month is something many only dream of.
You don’t appear to be alone in your frustration with DWDP as I have read elsewhere recently where folks have shared very similar sentiments. With the recent spin-off of DOW and the reverse stock split, things understandably seem a bit foggy. I encountered a similar experience with the recent DIS & FOXA transaction that closed recently.
Looking forward to the continued updates.
PIV,
What’s frustrating as well is the fact that the information on the transaction seems to be lacking. I think I need to read more about it with a cup of coffee this weekend.
Bert
Great month Bert! Breaking $500 mark, especially, not in a quarter-ending month, is amazing.
It’s nice to see that you didn’t stop there and took advantage of the swings in the market. Adding $125 to forward annual dividend income in a single month is great!
Thanks for the motivation as well. I am going to review our family’s expenses and see how we can get one step closer to FI as well!
BI
BI,
Thank you so much. I was very fortunate to be able to add that much to my dividend income total. It is awesome to hear that it is motivation for you. Especially since I am inspired by everyone in this community. Let’s get after it!
Bert
Wow, very impressive!
/Matteo
Thank you very much Matteo!
Bert
Congrats, Bert!
$500/month is a mark that I aim to reach at some point in the future as well. Good to see how other people arrived there simply by being consistent with investing.
-SF
You’ll get there before you know it SF. I know it. I freaking know it. Consistency is the name of the game here.
Bert
Huge month bert, congrats.
That’s a hell of a growth rate and breaking $500 is no small feat. You’re definitely set up for a killer June too!
Thank you TITM. Thank you very much. June has been awesome so far and I can’t wait for the final numbers to tally in.
Bert
Nice Bert.
Love the yr over yr growth, dividend raises, and new buys.
Great that you got your wife’s funds in there too. I think this is the first time you did that right?
keep it up
Thank you PCI. I’ve been doing it for a year or so now. But I haven’t drawn as much attention to it as I have other months.
Bert
Solid month, $500 just has a nice ring to it! Some nice purchases too, especially the ADM buy, might add to that position in the near future. Hoping to cross the 500 mark for the first time in June.
Inspiring stuff – LETS GO!!
-Divcome
Divcome,
ADM is looking great at these metric levels. Do you think you’re hitting $500 in June??
Bert
Looks like T is one of the biggest payer in your account similar to mine.I added ABBV recently.
Yes, yes it is Desi! Both are great companies though and I’m going to enjoy those DRIPs from the Aristocrats.
Bert
Good article Bert. I am planning to add XOM but waiting for a drop. $66 will be my entry point.
DivforLife,
You definitely have some room to go to get to $66. But it isn’t impossible in this environment. Especially if things continue to pick up in the middle east.
Bert
Really a impressive dividend growth rate and awesome to be over the $500 mark!
Thank you so much IWD!
Cha-ching! Way to crack the $500 mark in May, Bert… on outstanding growth, too.
I like all your purchases, and I like that additional forward dividend income as well. Nice to have a few dividend raises to add in for good measure.
A little belated, but Happy Father’s Day to you. The first of many more to come. Hope you had a good one.
haha you can here the cash register ringing now ED! And thank you for the Fathers Day wish. We had a lovely day and enjoyed some nice, relaxing family time.
Bert
Yet another solid month. $500 and a 47% YOY growth is impressive considering your starting base. Keep making every dollar count and rolling that snowball!
Thank you very much Kody. I wish the snowball was rolling a lot faster haha