Expected Dividend Increases in December 2018

Thanksgiving is over, the first major snow has hit our hometown, and lookout, our Cleveland Browns have finally won back-to-back football games!   Now that the calendar is set to turn and we enter the most exciting dividend month of the year, you know what that means?  It is time for the next installment of one of our longest running blog post series.  Each month, we do our best to highlight as many companies that are expected to announce a dividend increase that month.  Since we love dividend increases and follow them so closely, we love trying to share the news with you!  We can’t include them all, but we try to hit the major ones.  It is time, for the last time in 2018.   Here is our listing of expected dividend increases in December!

Actual Dividend Increases in November 2018

Before looking ahead, I always like to review the actual results from the prior month.  After all, what fun would it be if we didn’t follow-up on the results?  We predicted 7 companies would increase their dividend in November.  A few of them could either not be announced since the companies announced a dividend increase earlier in the year ahead of schedule (SBUX) or announce either in the final week of November or early December.  Let’s see the results!

  • Company #1: Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) – At the time this article was finalized, SBUX had not announced their dividend increase.  However, we will keep you updated and edit the article if there is announcement after the post is published!
  • Company #2: Sysco Corporation (SYY) –  SYY with the very solid 8.3% increase in their quarterly dividend!  The $.03/share increase in their quarterly dividend matches the same cent amount as the prior year, so the percent increase decreased slightly as a result.  But, this is larger than their 5-year average increase!
  • Company #3: Hormel Foods Group (HRL) – Lanny was pretty excited about this 12% increase.  In fact, he was so excited that he tweeted about the news immediately after he heard the news.  It was a nice text to wake up to in the morning, that’s for sure.  But this Dividend Aristocrat continues to deliver strong dividend increases on an annual basis.  One of these days,  I am going to buy in when the valuation is right!

  • Company #4: McCormick & Co (MKC) –  Post Thanksgiving, MKC cooked up something nice for their investors.  The company increased their quarterly dividend $.05/share, or 9.6%!   This is right in line with their recent 5-year average dividend growth rate of 8.87%.  Gotta love the consistency displayed here.
  • Company #5: Walt Disney Co. (DIS) – In the previous month’s article, we noted that DIS has a history of increasing their dividend in either the final week of November or the first week of December.  The million dollar question was…..which month were they going to announce the increase in during this year??  You all know how anxious Lanny and I get when we are sitting around, waiting for dividend increases that we are expecting to come.    The mystery was solved when DIS announced a $.04/share increase in their semi-annual dividend at the end of November.   This was a 4.7% increase, much lower than their increases from previous years.
  • Company #6: Becton Dickinson & CO (BDX) – I mentioned last month that the company’s dividend yield is under 2% and their 5 year dividend growth rate is just under 8%.  This recent dividend increase of $.02/share in their quarterly dividend, or 2.6%, was surprisingly low.
  • Company #7:  Nike (NKE) – Nike continued its march towards becoming an Aristocrat by announcing a 10% increased in their quarterly dividend or $.02/share.   One thing to note as well is that the company announced a $15b share buyback program earlier in the year, to be completed over a 4 year stretch.  NKE is looking to return some nice capital back to their shareholders!

Expected Dividend Increases in DEcember 2018

With the past behind us, now it is time for the fun part!  Hopefully by now, we are all awake from our Post-Thanksgiving slumbers and are ready to look ahead and see which companies are expected to announce a dividend increase in the coming month.  I know this isn’t an all-inclusive list.  So please let me know in the comment section if I missed a company that you own or are monitoring.  I would love to aggregate as large of a listing as possible for everyone to potentially use when making an investment decision.  Here are the companies that are expected to announce dividend increases in December.

  • Company #1: AT&T (T) – Let’s be honest.  What dividend growth investor in this awesome online community isn’t excited about this anticipated AT&T dividend increase.  Sure, the company’s annual $.01/share dividend increase doesn’t jump off the page.  However, the company has a great dividend yield at the moment and any increase in their dividend provides a nice benefit to the company’s shareholders.  I’ll tell you what.  We own over 200 shares combined of the telecom giant, so I am really looking forward to this increase.
  • Company #2: Pfizer (PFE) – PFE recently announced they are increasing the price of some of their key drugs.  So will a strong dividend increase follow as well?  All jokes aside, PFE has a very solid 7.2% 5-year average dividend growth rate and announced a 6.25% dividend increase in 2017.  I’m expecting this year’s dividend increase to surpass the prior year and the company’s recent average!  Fingers crossed.
  • Company #3: Boeing (BA) – Boeing has absolutely CRUSHED it with their dividend increases in recent years.  Last year, their dividend increase was over 20%!  That wasn’t anything special though, as the company has delivered insane dividend increases for the better part of this decade.  With tax reform and tariffs, this should be a really interesting year and I’ll be watching closely to see if the company continues with their strong dividend increases.
  • Company #4: Abbott Laboratories (ABT) – ABBV has already announced a strong dividend increase for the year.  Will the other half of the former consolidated organization follow along?  How will tax reform impact ABT’s annual dividend?  There are a lot of questions here, but I’m excited to see what happens!
  • Company #5: ABM Industries (ABM) – ABM is a Dividend Aristocrat that not too many people know about.  However, when you pay for parking at a parking garage, or an event, there is a good chance you are supporting this company!   ABM is another low dividend yield, low dividend growth rate company.  Never a great combination, so I will not be including them on my December dividend stock watch list.  That could change, however, if management were to announce a strong dividend increase here!

Five excellent companies are expected to announce dividend increases in December.  How many of them do you own?  Are any of them on your watch list?  Did you find any of the dividend increases announced in November shocking?  I was a little shocked the DIS increase was less than 5%.   Can’t wait to read your responses.  Happy Investing everyone!

Bert

20 thoughts on “Expected Dividend Increases in December 2018

  1. Love the HRL increase. Disappointed in BDX and will have to take a closer look. I also have Wisconsin Energy Group (WEC) on my increase watch list for December. Thanks for the update. This is one my favorite posts of the month. It’s a good cross check for me. Tom

    • Tom,

      Glad you enjoy the post! I enjoy putting it together for that reason. there are so many great companies out there, that aggregating this listing helps me put a pulse on the broader marketplace. Hopefully WEC will take care of you, with some true midwestern hospitality 🙂

      Bert

  2. November was a terrific month for me for dividend raises. I got to share in the HRL and NKE raises, and a few others as well. All were over 10% raises except one.
    December is looking lighter though. I don’t own any stocks from this month’s list of yours, and I’m not expecting anything other than small raises from a few quarterly raisers in O, WPC, and OZK. I think CVS has typically raised in December, but I don’t expect anything given their current dividend freeze while they digest the Aetna deal.

    • ED,

      That sounds like a freaking excellent month to me. Congrats on receiving those two increases. You know, I always forget to include Realty Income on this list for some reason. I think I just take these small, small dividend increases for granted. But really, they make a huge difference. I agree about CVS. I doubt they are going to increase this month. However, I think they will once the dust settles from this recent merger.

      Bert

  3. Bert,
    I am waiting to see what T does, that could be really interesting or really more of the same. With regards to DIS, they bought a lot of assets, I hope they ramp back up in future years. Love the zero work raises!
    – Gremlin

    • Gremlin,

      T’s should be very interesting. I agree completely. Especially now that they announced that massive debt reduction plan. My guess is they stick to their typically $.01/share increase and possibly increase it more in the future once they open up more cash flow via debt reduction. DIS’s was surprisingly low, if you ask me. Thought it would be higher for sure!

      Bert

    • PCI,

      Thanks. But I wish DIS would have thrown a little more at the dividend. Hopefully the appreciation follows like you are hoping. I”m pulling for you. I do love Star Wars, so I’ve supported that bottom line when the new movies are in theaters.

      Bert

  4. December is looking nice for dividend income and dividend increases. With 338 shares of T, I am sure looking forward to a dividend increase. 🙂 PFE is another company I own which I am also looking forward to seeing them raise their dividend. The last month of the year will certainly be exciting! 🙂

  5. I’m a bit disappointed with the DIS increase. Let’s hope they will increase it more next time, after they have acquired and integrated all of the Fox assets and after their streaming service has launched.

    Nike looks really nice as well. Just too bad their valuation is a bit high. Wouldn’t mind picking up some shares at some point.

    • SD,

      I’m sure the acquisition was the cause of the lower than expected increase. Hopefully you are right and it will start ramping up once again. If Nike’s valuation fell, I would strongly consider it!

      Bert

    • Divs4Jesus,

      How could I forget about TSN?? Especially as a shareholder. They actually announced their dividend increase in August. I was hoping they surprised us with a second one in November that I missed haha but no, it was just in August. Enjoy that increase though.

      Bert

  6. Hey Bert,
    Thanks for the article! It’s one of the posts I am waiting for each month to see if any of my companies are appearing in the list 🙂
    I haven’t received any dividend increases in November but I have two companies that should deliver some good news during December (T & PFE).
    Let’s wait and see what happens!
    BI

  7. I’ve been on the sidelines of PFE and NKE for awhile now just waiting for a good entry point but I think the train is passing me by. I think I’m going to have to just open a small position on each and add on weakness. I’m loving the yield, growth rate and stability that these companies offer. Any increase on T is welcome considering were all pulling in a 6.8% stable yield. I also have no interest in picking up and DIS shares at the moment. The current yield and growth rate can leave much to desire for considering the amount of money this company has been racking in with the starwars hits.
    Thanks? for the update guys. How do you guys do to find the companies increasing dividends? Do you use a certain website

    • Diligent,

      PFE always seems like it is a company that never has a good entry point, right? Dollar cost averaging down is never a bad idea. We find companies from a multitude of places. We follow it so closely that we know the companies on our portfolio. Then, I’ll look through other blogs, seeking alpha, and other resources to find it all.

      Bert

  8. I own T and PFE. They’re actually two of my larger positions, so I’m looking forward to those dividend raises. Overall, I’m expecting 6 raises in December. I’m also expecting dividend increases from AMGN, O, WPC, and VTR. January and February should be almost as busy, too. The next few months will be very exciting for dividend increases!

  9. Nice recap and forward-looking view of upcoming raises! I enjoyed three raises in November and own T, ABT, O, and WPC that have been mentioned here (and in comments). I’m also expecting a raise from Franklin Resources (BEN) and looking for something north of 10%.

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