Expected Dividend Increases in May 2018

Is there anything sweeter than opening up your laptop after a hard day’s work, checking your dividend portfolio, and then realizing that one of your holdings increased their dividend that day?  It is such a sweet/satisfying feeling,  one that Lanny and I cannot get enough of.  We’ve constantly calling and texting each other the minute we find out that our forward dividend increased without lifting a finger!  Each month, we try to identify as many companies as we can that are expected to announce an increased dividend in the coming month so we can hopefully share our excitement with some of you!   Let’s see which companies are expected to announce dividend increases in May!

actual dividend increases in april 2018

Before looking ahead to May, I wanted to take a minute to see if the companies from the previous month’s article delivered.  I’m excited to report that April was another very busy month for dividend investors as a lot of companies announced dividend increases.  We have a lot to cover, so let’s just dive right in!

  • Procter & Gamble (PG) –  The two of us were all over this dividend increase and eagerly awaited the announcement at the beginning of the month.   While we were hoping for a high single digit percent increase from PG this year, we were happy that the 4% increase in their quarterly dividend was greater than the previous year and is trending in the right direction.  The 4% increase didn’t stop me from purchasing the company twice in April and Lanny once, especially when the price decreased in the middle/later portion of the month.
  • Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) – Another one of our Top 5 Foundation stocks increased their dividend here in April.   JNJ increased their dividend 7.1%, which is in line with the 5-year average DGR of 7.1%.   I’ve gotta say, I’m happy with this increase!
  • International Business Machines (IBM) –   Ah, IBM.   While IBM sports a double-digit 5-year average dividend growth rate, the company’s dividend growth has continued to slow of late.   This year, the company announced just a 4.7% increase in their dividend.    Still, the company is on the doorstep of becoming a Dividend Aristocrat and their yield is currently over 4%.
  • Bonus Company 1: Kinder Morgan (KMI) – We’ve known this dividend increase was coming for a while now.  The company announced their intentions to increase their dividend last year.  Finally, in April, the expected increase because official.  KMI announced a 60% increase in their quarterly dividend! This had an insane impact on my forward dividend income, adding over $50 to my total.   All I can say is it is about time!
  • Bonus Company 2: Exxon Mobil (XOM) –  The oil giant strikes again.  Here was a company that I should have included on my last watch list; however, I left them off for some reason.  But XOM delivered a 6.5% increase in their annual dividend.  This represents the 36th consecutive year that XOM increased their dividend!
  • Bonus Company 3: Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) – Another Dividend Aristocrat that I did not include in my last article but wanted to discuss after the fact.  ADP posted a 9.5% increase in their quarterly dividend and continued their recent streak of high single-digit percent dividend increases.
  • Bonus Company 4: Southern Company (SO) –  This is a company that has been a darling of the dividend growth investing community recently.  SO delivered shareholders a $.02/share increase in their quarterly dividend, or a 3.5% increase.  Not too shabby!
  • Bonus Company 3: W.W.Grainger (GWW) – I personally do not own this stock, but I live vicariously through Lanny after he purchased GWW in the prior years.  We are constantly joking and laughing at the company, the countless radio advertisements, and all of the Grainger trucks we pass on a regular basis.  Well, GWW just announced a 6.3% increase in their quarterly dividend.  Boom!
  • Expected Dividend Increases in May 2018

Man oh man, I’m exhausted just from typing out all of those dividend increases that were announced in April.  This year has been insane and unlike any other year in my dividend growth investing career  We’ve enjoyed the surprise increases and updating our dividend forward income totals as soon as the increases are announced.  Now, let’s look ahead to the companies that are expected to announce a dividend increase in May!

  • Chubb Limited  (CB) –  Chubb is on the verge of becoming a Dividend Aristocrat as the company has announced 24 consecutive annual dividend increases!  After some very nice, large double-digit percent dividend increases from 2013 – 2015, CB’s dividend growth rate has slowed over the last several years.  But in this post-Tax Reform era of insane dividend increases, I’m excited to see if the company will revert back to their double-digit percent increase streak.
  • Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) – This is a wild card here.  Over the past four years, LOW has announced their dividend increase in the final week of May twice and the first week of June twice.   Which makes it a slight gamble including LOW in this article.  Regardless, we should expect to receive a nice dividend increase from this Dividend Aristocrat soon.   LOW announced a 17% increase in their quarterly dividend last year and has a five-year average dividend growth rate of 20%.  So lookout shareholders, this should be an exciting dividend increase!
  • Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (LEG) –  Another Dividend Aristocrat here that  I personally do not follow closely.   LEG’s current dividend yield is over 3% and the company’s five-year average dividend growth rate is not much higher (4.61%).  That being said, we have seen some crazy, unexpected dividend increases announced this year and let’s see if LEG has one of those up its sleeve.

Well, it looks like May won’t be as action packed as April and the months before it based on the listing above.  But, I’ve mentioned this several times already in this article, this has been an insane years for dividend increases so far and a lot of companies have unexpectedly announced a dividend increase.  So let’s hope this list is much longer when I write the June installment of this article.  For those of you that received dividend increases from the companies listed in the April section….CONGRATULATIONS!  Now, let’s keep our fingers crossed as we eagerly await a new batch of dividend increases in May.

Do you own any of the companies expected to announce dividend increases in May?  Did I miss a company that you are awaiting a dividend increase from this month?  What dividend increases did you receive in April?   What was the largest?

-Bert

17 thoughts on “Expected Dividend Increases in May 2018

  1. I’m interested in Chubb too. I like to have exposure to insurers since theoretically they are counter cyclical to interest rates. Unlike utilities and REITs. Like ADP, Chubb should benefit as rates rise giving them a better return on the money they hold from their customers. I was a little disappointed in Chubb’s increase last year and would like to see more.

    Finally, there is nothing sweeter than a dividend increase. Well, my wife is pretty close depending on the day. (don’t tell her I wrote that).
    Tom

    • Tom,

      Thanks for the detail on Chubb, especially considering it is a company that I am not as familiar with. My only exposure to insurance is Aflac, so I could use another position in a strong company. Maybe Chubb is the one after all, but I’ll need to see some growth in that dividend. Don’t worry, I won’t tell your wife haha I’m sure I’ve said plenty of things to my wife she wishes I had just kept to myself or the blogging community.

      Bert

  2. Yey joining the celebration 🙂 JNJ and PG is in my portfolio. Both good buys at the moment. Sad no capital to use 🙁 But either way its nice to see the DGI working 🙂 btw it 2nd div increase of JNJ for me. Bought it with 0,8$ div and now it pays 0,9$ how about that 🙂 Wonder how it will look after 5, 10, 20 years 🙂

    • That is the definition of dividend growth investing right there my friend! Isn’t it a beautiful thing? Congrats on the increases and hey, its okay that you don’t have capital right now. Just focus on building your capital so you can take advantage of some of these discounts!

      Bert

    • Mike,

      Agree completely. This month there were some very, very strong names increased their dividends this month. Patience is key for long-term investing. It is easy to get excited with the noise in the market, but focusing on the right metrics, principles, and staying disciplined are the keys to success!

      Bert

      Bert

  3. Bert,
    Last month was real nice, and this month should keep that up. I am looking forward to see what LEG does along with a few others not mentioned. Looking at your other recent post, I might be adding a spot for KMB in one of my portfolios too.
    – Keep it up!
    – Gremlin

  4. CB is a company that I’ve long wanted to add to my portfolio. Love the insurance business. I’m not expecting too much from my holdings this month though which is a bit of a bummer after April’s solid haul. Although there should be a couple increases coming, unfortunately the positions are tiny so they won’t really move the needle but I won’t be turning away more money.

    • JC,

      I really need to look into this business more. A lot of people seem to be high on them! The size of the increase doesn’t matter JC, it is all about the fact that your income is moving forward. Even if it is a small step.

      Bert

  5. what are your thoughts on Apple as a dividend play?

    It just raised its dividend 16% and it looks like double digit increase are highly likely for at least the next 5 years. Coupled with a significant stock buyback program the stocks and dividend should continue to climb over the coming years.

    Thoughts?

  6. I don’t own any of the stocks on your expected list for May, Bert. However, LOW is the one from your list that I could be partial to adding to my Portfolio. They’ve been aggressive with recent dividend increases as you stated, so I agree it will be interesting to see what they do this time around.
    As for dividend increases that I’m looking for in May… one from Cardinal Health (CAH), and one from Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH). Who knows what to expect from CAH after their earnings reports this past week. Ouch! However, I expect good things from CTSH… a 15% raise would be nice. New dividend payers tend to be generous as their payout ratios are often small in the beginning.

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