Fall is here, the leaves are changing colors, and we are closing in on the end of a pretty darn exciting month in the market. For the first time in a while, Mr. Market experienced wild swings and presented dividend growth investors with some pretty strong opportunities. The two of us have definitely taken advantage of a few of them, that’s for sure. With the turning calendar, comes the next installment in our “Expected Dividend Increases” series! For those of you that are new to the blog, each month we summarize a listing of companies that are expected to announce dividend increases in the coming month. Since we love following each company’s dividend increase closely, we thought we would share some of the excitement with you. Now, here are the companies expected to announce dividend increases in November!
Actual Dividend Increases in October 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 5 companies would increase their dividend in October!
- Company #1: VFC Corp (VFC) – First up, a Dividend Aristocrat. VFC’s 10.8% increase in their quarterly dividend was below their 5-year average dividend growth rate. However, how can you ever really complain about a double-digit percent increase in a dividend? Investors’ will now receive $.51/share each quarter from the company.
- Company #2: American Electric Power (AEP) – There was some great news this month for AEP shareholders like myself. The company’s 5-year average DGR was between 5%-6%. This year, AEP announced a $.05/share increase in their quarterly dividend. This was an 8% increase! Now that’s what I’m talking about and I rushed to update my portfolio tracking spreadsheet as soon as I heard the news. That added over $5 to my forward dividend income total.
- Company #3: Aflac Corporation (AFL) – In our last article, we noted that AFL had already increased their dividend once this year. So we were very curious if the company was going to increase their dividend for a second time. Well, as it turns out, we were not so lucky this month. Management announced that they were going to maintain their current dividend this quarter. I wonder if they will only announce one dividend increase in January going forward….hmmm.
- Company #4: WestRock Co (WRK) – Thinking about this dividend increase has caused me a lot of stress and anxiety recently. I understand the feeling of anxiety waiting for this dividend increase that Lanny wrote about in his last article completely. For many of us dividend investors, we live and die by a company’s dividend announcement and Lanny captured that feeling very well. WRK has been beaten down during the month. The company was on my watch list at the beginning of the month and I added to the position as the stock price continued to fall. After the company’s second release providing an update about the impact of the Hurricanes on the company’s operations, I decided to take a wait and see approach to adding to my position. I became eager/anxious to see if management would increase their dividend despite all of the negative news surrounding the company. Finally, after a ton of time and a slight delay, Westrock announced a 5.8% increase in their quarterly dividend. Was it nerve-racking? You bet, but man was I excited to see this increase despite all of the negative news!
- Company #5: Eaton Vance Corp (EV) – Not too bad, not too bad. This Dividend Aristocrat increased their quarterly dividend 12.9% during the month. Congrats to all of the shareholders that received this awesome increase in their quarterly dividend.
- Bonus Company #1: Visa (V) – I’m a little mad at myself for missing this one in my previous month’s article. In fact, I’m actually really mad at myself. V is one of those companies that I would love to own one day, but have never had the right opportunity to initiate a position. Darn you Lanny for buying some shares way back in the day! Back to the task at hand. Visa’s $.04/share increase in their quarterly dividend was actually a 19% increase! Are you kidding me? Congrats to all the owners of this low dividend yield, high dividend growth rate stocks.
- Bonus Company #2: Iron Mountain (IRM) – Lanny and I have been scooping up shares of this REIT over the last few months. Here is a link to one of our purchase articles containing more information about the purchase. The company’s dividend yield is pretty high, so we weren’t expecting to receive a large dividend increase during the month. At the end of the month, the company announced a solid 4% increase in their quarterly dividend. For a high yielding stock, how could we really complain?
Expected Dividend Increases in November 2018
With the past behind us, now it is time for the fun part! Time 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. 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 November.
- Company #1: Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) – Like AFL above, SBUX has already announced one dividend increase so far in 2018 (20% in June). But will they announce a second dividend increase this year during their regular dividend increase month? That is to be determined. Man it would be awesome to receive a second dividend increase from the company, especially since we added to our position earlier in the year!
- Company #2: Sysco Corporation (SYY) – There is a major SYY distribution center 10 minutes away from my house. So I am always seeing the shiny, silver Sysco trucks flying on the highway next to me. Let’s see if the Dividend Aristocrat can announce a dividend increase greater than their 5-year dividend growth rate of 5.18%!
- Company #3: Hormel Foods Group (HRL) – Man there are a lot of Dividend Aristocrats that are set to increase their dividend this month. Talk about excitement! HRL is a consumer staple stock that I would love to own one day when the price is right. Luckily, for shareholders like Lanny, they will receive a dividend increase in the coming month and it should be pretty darn solid. Last year, the company increased their dividend 10.5%!
- Company #4: McCormick & Co (MKC) – With the holidays around the corner, people will be purchasing a lot of MKC’s products as they prepare their delicious holiday meals. MKC’s dividend is also pretty sweet and so is their 5-year average dividend growth rate of 8.87%!
- Company #5: Walt Disney Co. (DIS) – Possibly. Will either increase at the end of November or beginning of December. The last two years have been November, but the previous two were December. Hopefully they will sneak the dividend increase in before the end of the month, because chances are, it will be very solid for investors! The company has a 5 year dividend growth rate of 24%.
- Company #6: Becton Dickinson & CO (BDX) – To be honest, I am not too familiar with this Dividend Aristocrat. However, they are a low dividend yield, moderate dividend growth rate stock. The company’s dividend yield is under 2% and their 5 year dividend growth rate is just under 8%.
- Company #7: Nike (NKE) – This may be the first time I have ever written about Nike on this blog. Interestingly, the apparel giant is set to increase their dividend in November. The company has 10 years to go before becoming a Dividend Aristocrat, but they are well on their way. And it helps that they have announced an average double-digit dividend increase over the last few years!
Summary
It looks like we are gearing up to have another busy month of dividend increases. How excited are all of you? ARE YOU READY??? Dividend increases are such a great thing and I enjoy reading each person’s summary and article about how much additional income each increase has brought them. Whether it added pennies, dollars, or hundreds of dollars, each increase we receive brings us that much closer to financial freedom!
What did you think of the dividend increases announced last month? Were you upset that AFL didn’t increase their dividend for a second time this year? How many dividend increases? Did you receive any other dividend increases that weren’t listed above? Are you expecting any additional dividend increases in November that I left out of this article?
Bert