Expected Dividend Increases in July 2017

After taking a month off from the series in June (unintentionally of course)…I’m back!  Each month, I like to summarize which Dividend Aristocrats are expected to increase their dividend in the coming month.  As die-hard dividend growth investors, the two of us take great joy in closely monitoring and tracking the changes in our dividend income and dividend payments of the companies we own and companies that we are watching closely.  Typically, July is a slower month than June, but there are still some great companies that are expected to reward their shareholders.

Dividend Increases in June 2017

Before I look forward to the expected dividend increases in July, I wanted to quickly summarize the dividend increases that occurred in June 2017 for a few Aristocrats and a few non-Aristocrats.  Here are some of the highlights:

  1. Target (TGT) – TGT represents on of my largest holdings, so I was eagerly anticipating this announcement  and was looking forward to seeing the impact on my dividend income.  Recently, TGT was posting some strong dividend increases; however, my expectations were pretty low given the company’s performance and the looming restructuring at the organization.   With all the news and performance question marks, a large dividend increase seemed pretty unlikely.  And man, my hunch was right. TGT only increased their dividend $.02/share per quarter, a meager 3.3% increase during the year.  I was disappointed to realize that this increase met my expectations…
  2. Kroger (KR) – This is the second time that Lanny and I have purchased a stock within weeks of the company announcing a dividend increase.  Was this planned….absolutely.   A few weeks ago, we initiated a position in Kroger and shortly after, we were rewarded with a 4.5% increase.  Similar to TGT, KR had a pretty rough earnings release in June and I wasn’t expected KR to maintain the double-digit dividend growth rate that they experienced over the last few years.  The company continues to have room to grow their dividend, and I was happy to see a decent increase and share buyback program announced despite the tough earnings and the big Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods.   Looking forward to holding this company for the long haul!
  3. Medtronic (MDT) – The company is on a tear this year, up over 25% to date!  Boom.  In June, the company announced a $.03/share increase in their quarterly dividend, or a 7% increase.   Very much in line with their recent dividend increase record.
  4. Caterpillar (CAT) – Now this was a pleasant, unexpected surprise.  After an extended period of maintaining a $.77/share quarterly dividend, CAT surprisingly announced a $.01/share increase in their quarterly dividend, or a 1.3% increase.  Is it a large increase? No.  But hey, every single dollar counts!
  5. Realty Income (O) –  I have loved owning this stock from the second I purchased the company a few years ago.  Man, I am finding it harder and harder to resist purchasing additional shares in the monthly dividend paying company that is constantly increasing their dividend.  In June, they increased their monthly dividend slightly, to $.21150 from $.2110.  Similar to CAT, this .2% isn’t very much.  But the impact over time will be felt.

Expected Dividend Increases in July 2017

  1. Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) –  Given the fact that we just purchased a house, there is a strong chance that we are going  to be contributing to SWK’s bottom line and future dividend increases.  Last year, in July, SWK increased their dividend 5.5%.  Over the last five years, they have posted an average dividend increase of 7.3%.   I don’t see any reason to expect something different from a mid to high single digit dividend increase again in a few weeks.  
  2. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA) –  Ah, the main competitor of CVS, one of the companies the two of us have purchased in 2017.   Last year, WBA increased their dividend slightly over 4%.  Over the last few years, similar to SWK, WBA has increased their dividend in the mid to high single digit percentage range.
  3. J.M. Smuckers (SJM) – You have to love a company headquartered in Northeast Ohio that is set to increase their dividend, right?  SJM’s 5 year average dividend growth rate has been very strong (9.3%) and the company has a diversified portfolio of consumer staple foods.  Heck, this is a company that sounds like it is right up my alley!  “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good!”  Man do I love that slogan.

Summary

The best part of this summary, and our monthly dividend income summary from the blogging community, is that articles like these serve as great motivation for Lanny and I to continue pushing ourselves and realizing the amazing benefits of dividend investing.  Look how many companies in this article continue to reward their shareholders?  Oh yeah, there are a ton of other great companies that are not listed above that also announced or are going to announce strong dividend increases.  I always leave this article motivated to keep pushing and to keep on scraping every dollar together to continue increase my portfolio.  Looking forward to seeing if the three companies above can deliver a strong increase to their shareholders!

Do you own any companies on this list?  Are you expecting to receive dividend increases in July from any companies that are not listed above?  If so, which companies and what are their recent average dividend increases?

-Bert

14 thoughts on “Expected Dividend Increases in July 2017

    • Gremlin,

      Every little bit helps, right? I’ll take a small dividend increase versus no increase (or even worse) a dividend cut. SJM continues to climb my watch list as their price continues to fall. Now I just need to get the cash ready haha

      Bert

  1. Don’t get disappointed by the small TGT increase. 3.3% is still above inflation. In addition they have a large share repurchase program, so the overall shareholder yield is much higher than the dividend yield (which is almost 5% these days…).

    • Very true point. There is still some Real impact since it is outpacing inflation. At least we aren’t losing purchasing power (how many basic economic buzzwords can I throw into a reply haha). Thanks for stopping by!

      Bert

  2. I own Realty Income and like you I loved the stock from the second I purchased it. I noticed that Target is on your top 5 list for always buy and it has caught my attention. But, I don’t honestly think I’m going to be investing in TGT anytime soon.

    For the companies you mentioned with an expected increase in July, I don’t own any of those. So many great companies, so little capital.

    Thanks for the write up. I enjoy reading these posts.

    • Thanks for the comment. Yes – Target is still on of my Top buys. But like you, I am holding off for now and focusing on other areas/discounts. I have a massive position already, so I’ll be looking to add elsewhere. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had unlimited capital and could just invest in all these great dividend growth stocks??

      Bert

  3. Hey DD,

    these are some solid names on your list. – i own 170 shares of Realty Income -one of my favorite companies- and will add to my position, maybe in the months to come… When i purchased them a few years ago the dividend was 0,18$ per month, now it’s 0,21150$ and rising. What i like is their stellar business model and the rock solid dividend history. I’d love it if the price would drop a little more, but i think that O is a buy at todays price levels…

    Medtronic is another great company which i would like to own. just checked and saw that i don’t have them on my watchlist – mistake!!

    Cheers,
    DividendSolutions

    • HOLY COW! 170 shares is amazing. Man am I jealous of that monthly dividend check. Seeing how the dividend has increased for you is exactly why I love this company and how it works to reward shareholders. Another thing I like about them, besides for what you mentioned, is that their payout ratio is close to 100% of FFO. It is a manageable amount for a REIT that will allow them to keep on modestly increasing their dividend.

      I’m never really watching MDT. But a company that increases their dividend like that will always be on my radar! Thanks for stopping by.

      Bert

  4. Love seeing any increase for a company that I already own or that is on my watch list for future purchases. There are a few on this list that fit that description. Thanks for sharing.

  5. Just got my June dividend checks (that I reinvested, so not really checks) from my index funds and they were pretty fat, I can’t complain. Cool domain name and site! I’ll be coming back to read more in the future.

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