Another month, another installment of our monthly series highlighting one of our favorite aspects about dividend investing….DIVIDEND INCREASES! For those of you that are new to our website, each month we aggregate a listing of companies that are expected to increase their dividend in the coming months. Lanny and I are ALWAYS monitoring potential dividend increases in stocks we either own are on our watch list, so we thought it might be helpful to other dividend investors as well. Let’s see which companies are expected to announce a dividend increase in November!
Actual Dividend Increases – October 2017
Before I look ahead to the increases expected in November, let’s take a look and see what kind of dividend increases were announced by the companies highlighted in the previous month’s article.
- VF Corp. (VFC) – VFC continues their string of strong dividend increases by increasing their dividend by 9.5%. The company continues its tear in 2017 and the stock price continues to climb! Maybe I should have acted on this stock analysis Lanny wrote over a year ago about VFC.
- AEP (AEP) – The electric utility based headquartered in Columbus, Ohio announced a $.03/share increase in their quarterly dividend, a 5% increase that is very consistent with their recent average annual increase. This is quietly one of my favorite stocks in my portfolio.
- Aflac (AFL) – Man the final week of October was busy. Aflac was the last company to announce an increase in their quarterly dividend in October. AFL increased their quarterly dividend $.02/share from $.43/share to $.45/share. This 4.6% increase was slightly below their recent five-year average dividend increase of 5%. We were hoping for more, but it was in line with recent history.
- Cintas (CTAS) – CTAS continued their high dividend growth rate in 2017. Management increased their quarterly dividend from $1.33/share to $1.62/share. Aka a 21.8% dividend growth rate. Incredible stuff and congrats to all the shareholders on another great increase.
- BONUS COMPANY – Visa (V) – One of the company’s that I’m really upset that I do not own. V once again knocked it out of the park when they increased their quarterly dividend from $.165/share to $.195/share. Lanny, I’m jealous you realized that 18% dividend increase!
Expected Dividend Increases – November 2017
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 should announce a dividend increase before December!
- Starbucks (SBUX) – Okay, so I’m not starting this list out with a Dividend Aristocrat. But Starbucks is a company that we have written about many times on this website and is a staple in my wife’s portfolio. I’m really excited to see the dividend increased announced her because their five-year average dividend growth rate is ~24%. Can the company continue their stellar growth rate?
- Sysco Corporation (SYY) – SYY’s dividend story is about as opposite of Starbucks’ that you are going to get. SYY is a Dividend Aristocrat that has posted a five-year average dividend growth rate of 4%. After reviewing their recent dividend increases, I would expect a $.01-$.02 per share increase in their quarterly dividend. AKA, right in line with their five-year average.
- Hormel Foods Group (HRL) – Well, there isn’t much more to say here as this stock has been discussed pretty heavily on this website recently. Lanny just initiated a position in Hormel and his article gave a lot of great detail about this Dividend Aristocrat and their dividend history. He was able to sneak in a purchase before the ex-dividend date AND their next dividend increase. Their five-year average dividend growth rate is over 17%, so we are expecting something awesome this month from HRL!
- Automatic Data Processing (ADP) – Another Dividend Aristocrat here. Man there are a lot of Aristocrats increasing their dividend this month. The payroll and HR giant has posted a five-year average dividend increase of 7.6%. Slightly lower that I would expect for a low yielding dividend stock, so let’s see if management can flip the script this month.
- Lancaster Colony Corp (LANC) – Another company headquartered in the buckeye state that has found its way onto our list. This low yielding, high dividend growth rate is poised to continue their streak of announcing 10%+ increase in their dividend.
Do you own any of the companies on this list? What about Starbucks? Are you expecting them to maintain a high dividend growth rate in the coming year? Did you receive a dividend increase from the five companies included in the first half of the article? If so, how much did the announcement push forward your forward dividend income!
-Bert