Now that the second quarter is behind us, it’s time to check in on where I currently am at with my dividend portfolio. I want to share the current state of my dividend portfolio, related to market value, forward-looking dividends, yield and yield on cost. Additionally, I’ll describe the activities; such as, contributions, dividends received to date and the like. I thought this may give a great snapshot of where I currently am, the progress into this year and if I like the trajectory for the year. Time to check out the state of my portfolio!
Dividend Portfolio – Market Value
My dividend stock portfolio, at the end of quarter 2, was worth $354,160.14! This was an increase of $20,956.59 since quarter 1. This is quite the increase from my prior three month change, which was only $4.9k. The big difference that occurred during the second quarter was the 2.93% stock market increase (S&P 500). Therefore, year-to-date, the portfolio is $25.9k higher than the end of December in 2017. Other than the stock market increase, the other contributions to the overall increase was from continuous investment and 401k & HSA contributes, as well as dividend reinvestment. How else does my portfolio stack up, considering I am a dividend investor?
Dividend Portfolio – Dividend Income (Projected)
Yes, the paragraph and discussion we all want to read and that I love to share! Hard savings, time and persistence work so damn well as a dividend investor, I know how lucky that I am. My forward income, at the end of quarter 2, stood at $11,065.16, up from the 10,375.05 at the end of quarter 1. This was an increase of $690.11 from the first quarter, out pacing the first quarter addition of $641.12. Year-to-date, I have now added $1,331.23, or 13.7%. How did I get there?
Dividend Portfolio – Activity
I will share the reasons for the increase in forward-looking dividend income. There are a few events at play, when you are a dividend investor, and the facets that can increase that income, as you march towards financial freedom. Please see what happened during the quarter below!
1.) Dividend Reinvestment – I had $1.8k of dividend income from june, not to mention two other months worth, and quarter 2’s dividend total was $2,724.66. This reinvested at around 3.12%, on average, which adds a solid amount of forward income from reinvestment alone.
2.) Maximizing the 401(k) and HSA – $10,711.27 went into two mutual funds VINIX and VITSX, which are two low-cost Vanguard mutual funds offered by my retirement plan and health savings account provider at work. This was easily invested at approximately 2.00% (conservative) and added a nice chunk to the forward income, as well. See my 2018 tax benefits to the tax-advantaged savings accounts and how you can benefit/things to look out for.
3.) Dividend Stock Purchases – Outside of the items from #2 above, $5,116.75 was invested. Which investments were made? They were all additional contributions to investment positions I already had established. $606 went into Citizens & Northern (CZNC), $2,431 into Procter Gamble (PG) and $787 into Pepsi (PEP). However, I also initiated a new position into Armanino Foods (AMNF) for 500 shares! Given I wrote about these dividend stock purchases, the total amount added here was $169.35 to the forward dividend income. A 3.30% yield is a smidge higher than my overall portfolio, which is a plus, but offers a solid growth rate, as well.
4.) Dividend Increases – As I wrote in my 6 month dividend increase impact article, the second quarter added $144.06 during the period to my forward dividend income. Think about that. Out of the $690 that was added, overall, in the quarter – 21% came from dividend increases! This just goes to show you how important the dividend growth rate is and the consistency in companies increasing their dividends.
Dividend Portfolio Q2 Conclusion
The portfolio page is updated to reflect the information above. My capital continues to be deployed; though I wish I had more, and I’ll take the $690 add in quarter 2, not to mention $1,331.23 year-to-date. When annualized, the amount is $2,662.46, which seems absurd! If I continue at this rate, I could reach $12,396 (based on last year’s ending figure), which is a slight bump up from the end of quarter 1. I didn’t think I could have done better than quarter 1, but I will have to say that tax reform is definitely assisting, due to the higher dividend increases than normal.
I had a few dividend stocks on my July listing, which I was able to purchase one of them already, in Starbucks (SBUX). However, I am eager to find new undervalued dividend stocks for the portfolio, to keep this engine moving in the right direction. I should have enough capital to keep the purchases going forward, at the same right, through the end of the year and could end around $20,000 invested into individual stocks. This should keep the momentum to add the $1,331.23 for the next 6 months, which would be phenomenal, to say the least.
How about you? How was your second quarter? On the right track? Like the results you produced? Any takeaways/lessons from the 180 day period? Excited to read your feedback, much appreciated and talk soon!