Stocks with a Perfect Dividend Payout Ratio

Nothing makes me happier than a fundamentally strong dividend growth stock (except for my daughter). Reviewing a company’s dividend payout ratio is critical to determining the strength of a company’s dividend. Over the years, we have figured out the percent range that we consider perfect for the metric. In this article, we will explain the dividend payout ratio, why it is such an important metric, discuss the perfect payout ratio, and create a list of companies that have a perfect payout ratio.

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The Impact of Dividend Increases through December of 2018

When talking about dividend increases, this is us talking about dividend investing, at it’s finest!  Given another quarter-end had recently passed, I wanted to reflect on what occurred over the last full-year.  I do not mean just any old reflection, but I am going to be specifically talking about dividend increases and their impact on my portfolio this year.  Tax reform has been rewarding, as companies have been sending portions of the cost savings to their shareholders.

 

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Bert’s June Dividend Income Summary

Lanny beat me to the punch for releasing our monthly dividend income summary and lets just say I have a tough act to follow.  $1,100 in total dividend income and a 30.31% dividend growth rate…impressive numbers Lanny!  You are crushing it.  However, the show must go on here and luckily for me, I had some nice year over year growth as well.   Time to peel back the layers and take a dive into my June dividend income summary!

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Should I Sell my First Energy (FE) Stock?

Oddly, this isn’t the first time this thought has popped in to my mind.  Last year I wrote a piece title “3 Reasons I Would Sell a Stock.”  The listing was created to help me identify holdings that have fallen out of favor in my portfolio or have not performed.  After elaborating on the 3 reasons I would sell, I reviewed my portfolio for any stocks that met the criteria.  Any takers on guessing which one of the stocks that was discussed in the article?  First Energy!  Shocker, right?  After one heck of a run by the stock that has brought me close to break even, I now find myself asking the question again.  Is it finally time to sell my stake in First Energy?

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Which “Always Buy” Stock is Cheapest?

Breaking News!  The stock market had an insane week last week.  Every day was an exciting new chapter.  On Friday, the thrilling conclusion, the S&P 500 closed down 2.38% and this wasn’t even the lowest point of the day.  Bottom line is that there are many great stocks available at a discount right now and investors have been scooping them up left and right.  Heck, Lanny and I were both active as we both added to our stakes in ADM (See Bert’s purchase summary here and Lanny’s here).   With each subsequent red day in the market I become more motivated to add a rock-solid dividend paying company to my portfolio that I can buy and hold till I reach financial independence.   During times like these, I decided to look no further than my list of 5 “Always Buy” stocks to determine which one of these companies is trading at a price that may be too low to resist.

Watch List

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My Top 5 Reasons to Make Larger Stock Investments ($3,000+)

Now, we all know from my 2016 goals post that my plan was to contribute to the stock market a minimum of $24,000, as well as to make 3 large trades that are at minimum $3,000 per order (it can be higher as well!).  I have had a few individuals message me, as well as other friends ask me this one question – why?  They also have asked/stated – wouldn’t that then eat into your capital and then you would not be able to strike when an opportunity exists/occurs?  I wanted to respond and shed more light on why I want to make these more “significant” purchases than my typical $600 to $2,000 purchases of stock I would make last year.

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Lanny’s 2015 Portfolio Review

I  keep a copy in PDF of my portfolio every quarter, and have a deeper dive at 12/31, but this also provides a blog’d example of where I stand, so I can always refer back on the site the historical position of my portfolio.  As we have done in the prior year, this post will be a review and re-cap overall of my portfolio, the contributions, dividend going forward, dividend received, what I can analyze from the current position, etc..  It’s always fun to see what the year compiled into one snapshot of all of the hard work that goes into it.  I am excited to see where it stands and what can be done going into this new year!  Let’s dive on in.  Continue reading