Time to warm up the month of March with my dividend stock watch list! As everyone is drinking their Green Beer today, for good old Saint Patrick’s Day, I am in my upstairs room, researching and cranking out this article. Why? Well, busy season is winding down and I have never been more motivated to invest into dividend stocks, in order to keep stepping forward on the journal of financial freedom. Please, go grab that hot cup of coffee and sit back to read my dividend stock watch list for the month of March!
Dividend stock watch list
Since I really am anxious to share the three dividend stocks on my watch list, I’m going to jump right on into them. I’m going to describe why each dividend stock is on my watch list, talk about what’s impacting them, as well as using our metrics via the Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener. The stock prices I am using will be from March 16th and will be based on the most recently financial data released. Enough of boring you – check the three below!
1.) Dominion (D) – Talk about another free fall they are on. I purchased them two weeks or so ago at $73.2929 and they finished for the weekend at $70.61. That is a steep 3.66% drop. They now yield 4.73% and that is looking more enticing. A very large dividend player in the utility space, which has been beaten down in 2018, but you have to love the fact that people use them each and every day. Further, they are continuing to grow their reach in the country and I don’t see them going anywhere. I am looking forward to owning more of my natural gas supplier! Especially because this winter has been utterly cold, agh!
2.) Procter & Gamble (PG) – Another Ohio based player here! The last time I purchased them, they were in the low $80’s. They now trade at $78.97, yielding 3.49% (lovely) and I believe their dividend growth rate is being “corrected”. What do I mean by that? Their dividend increase was 3% in 2017, not great but this did get better from the prior period. I expect that their dividend growth will be at least that, if not into the 5% territory, which was where Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) were at in 2017. Earnings are expected to be $4.21 for 2018, based on 23 analyst estimates. This equates to a price to earnings ratio of 18.76, which is not bad for them and is actually less than the overall market. As we all know, they are a foundation stock for any dividend portfolio and they wear their Dividend Aristocrat emblem on the sleeve. Their products are incredible for every family and you can surely bet each person has something in their cupboard or bathroom cupboard from PG.
3.) Aqua America (WTR) – They are back on the list baby! Back on my January dividend stock watch list, they were trading over $35 per share. Going into this St. Patty’s day weekend, they are are at $33.91. Using the 2018 estimate of $1.44, this equates to a price to earnings ratio of 23.5. This is high, yes, but it’s damn near difficult to pick up a water utility at a discount. Year-to-date they are down 13.56% and are now yielding 2.41%. The dividend growth is typically in that 7% range, which is a sweet spot for where they are yielding. If you thought that the utilities stop at gas, electricity – think again, as water is more critical than all of the above.
I love all three companies above and do own Dominion & PG. Aqua is the most expensive, but you can bet some money they will have a consistent dividend growth rate. Dividend stock investing isn’t supposed to be that easy, but have to love the options here. I obviously want to make every dollar count on using my capital, this is a big decision.
Dividend Stock Watch List Conclusion
I love these 3 dividend stock options above. I am actually not sure which one to purchase right now. This is very difficult. Three dividend stock potentials above, all that have long-term dividend growth rates, as even Aqua America (WTR) has almost 20 years of consecutive dividend increases, barring this year. They even have a longer track record than Dominion (D), but obviously can’t touch Procter (PG)!
What dividend stock do you like? What is your favorite above? Do you go with the utility company or do you go to the consumer staple? Decisions, decisions. This is what dividend income investing is all about. Would love to hear your feedback, questions and comments! Thank you for stopping by, appreciate the love as always and talk soon!
Lanny