Independent thinking for successful dividend investing

I enjoy dividend investing, because it is always challenging but it is also very rewarding. I have a set level of basic guidelines such as my entry criteria I apply on the list of dividend champions and achievers, in order to identify companies for further research. I then maintain a list of companies that I have analyzed, which I monitor very often for any weakness for a buying opportunity. In addition, I also monitor my existing positions in order to identify any laggards that are either cutting dividends or might not deliver as much as previously expected.

My investment analysis goes beyond reading annual reports and research. I also try to learn as much as possible about the stock market, investing and general business knowledge. In other words, I keep learning as much as possible in order to make myself a better and more rounded investor. Most of things I learn go through my filters, and are rejected as unsuitable for my strategy. Some investment gems are tested and a few are implemented in my tools of the trade. I do eat and breathe investing, and the knowledge I have accumulated in the process has allowed me to develop an independent view on the subject, which works for me. I invest my money based on my own analysis, and end up earning dividends and capital gains, although sometimes I generate capital losses in the process. Surprisingly, I have often found that I am usually right when most other investors are opposed to my ideas.

Sometimes, I also learn from the intelligent comments from my readers. A lot of the times however, I end up interacting with investors who clearly should not be putting their money in anything else than an FDIC insured bank account. Many times these investors are arguing with me, and end up informing me that my view is incorrect. After reviewing their objections, I typically find out that these investors are not performing objective analysis of investment situations either because they are blinded by high current yields or because they are not taking into account some other factors. A third scenario that could sometimes include bits and pieces of the items mentioned earlier is the situation where investors are simply following someone else, without doing their own due diligence.

Back at the end of 2012, I posted an analysis of Abbott Laboratories (ABT), right before the company split into Abbott and Abbvie (ABBV). At the same time I also mentioned that I had recently added to my position in the legacy Abbott Laboratories. While many investors had valid comments about this investment, there was one investor whose main concern was very flawed. If they had mentioned that Abbott was not the wisest decision, stemming from the fact that it was not possible to determine if the two new companies would continue the long streak of dividend increases or that synergies between the two companies would disappear after the split, that could have been a concern worth raising. However, the main argument from the investor with the flawed thinking however was that David van Knapp had recommended selling the stock.

I think that blindly following someone’s advice to be the worst sin of investing. If you follow someone’s ideas to purchase a stock, you are immediately at a disadvantage because you would not be the first one to learn about future investment moves. In fact, if the original “guru” ends up selling their position, without notifying the follower, the follower might end up losing money. In addition, if the “guru” buys a stock, which then promptly falls by 50% or more, as plenty of good quality stock prices did in 2008, an inexperienced investor might get scared, and sell at a loss. You might think that only inexperienced investors do this, but in reality everyone is influenced by authority a little bit. I sometimes find myself influenced by authority figures such as Warren Buffett, and thus justifying certain investments with the mere fact that Buffett has purchased them for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B). Following a guru however, is never a good reason to purchase or sell a stock. However, performing an analysis of a stock that a guru purchases, and then determining if it is a buy is perfectly fine.

Back in early 2010, I analyzed Realty Income (O), and found it to be a buy. However, many investors dismissed my analysis, because hedge fund manager Bill Ackman was short the stock. Yet, his thesis was flawed, and contained a lot of holes - and the investment has doubled since then. I held on to my stock during that time period, and added to it. Back in 2013, another investor was short Digital Realty Trust (DLR). I called our his manipulations and held on to my position. Someone on Seeking Alpha objected to my analysis, and their primary argument was that I was not a billionaire. Yet the conviction in my own analysis provided me the strength to hold on to my stock positions. If I had merely followed someone blindly into a stock, I would have bailed out at the first sign of trouble.

Another interesting factor about dividend investing is that some investors simply refuse to do their own independent research. One of the questions I always receive from investors is for the list of my current portfolio holdings. I first posted a snapshot of my portfolio four years ago, but since then the page has been out of date. I have since shared my dividend holdings with subscribers of my mailing list. There is a reason why I don't make this list easily available, unlike other sites dedicated to dividend investing. My thinking is that if I posted my holdings, I would actually be doing a disservice to novice investors. I would much rather have patient readers who review my thought process through my regular postings that describe somewhat recent events, from which they could hopefully learn something. If I posted my portfolio and made it easy for anyone to check it, I would usually risk someone seeing what I owned and then purchased it without giving much thought about it. Unfortunately, my portfolio has been built slowly over a timespan exceeding several years. Just because I found Family Dollar (FDO) to be attractively valued in 2008 and initiated a position at $24.99/share, might not mean that Family Dollar is a buy today at $77 - $78/share.

Full Disclosure: Long O, DLR, FDO, ABBV, ABT

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