Four Dividend Champions On Sale

I usually look at dividend growth stocks and their dividend increases every week, as part of my portfolio monitoring process. In this weekly review, I have highlighted four dividend champions, which recently raised distributions. The common denominator behind each of these dividend champions is that they seem attractively valued today.

The reason why these companies appear attractively valued in an otherwise expensive marketplace for securities, is because market participants have doubts about each of these companies and their earnings prospects. It is up to the enterprising dividend investor to analyze those opportunities, and determine if they are appropriate additions for their income portfolios.

As a rule, I try to invest at attractive entry valuations in companies that have a track record of annual dividend increases, which is fueled by earnings growth. The goal is to buy such a company without overpaying for it,to hold on to it, as it earns more, and pays me a dividend to hold to it.

The four companies in question include:

The best decision I ever made

In January 2009, I found myself without a job. But I wasn’t worried.

I had graduated school in 2007 with $2,000 in cash, which I promptly spent on a used car that drained all my money away. I then found a job, and saved up approximately 70% of my paychecks. I put enough money to get the company match on the 401 (k), and put the remainder in Certificates of Deposit. Yields on those CD’s back then were over 5%/year. I had no idea where to invest the money, so I was researching it furiously. Inflation was running high, and the first cracks of the housing bubble had started to appear.

I knew stocks went up 10%/year. The problem was that they didn’t go up every year. Sometimes, stock prices went nowhere for extended periods of time, as they did between 2000 – 2012, or 1966 – 1982. I also knew I didn’t want to spend my whole life working at a job if I didn’t want to.

So I needed a source of cash that was passive in nature, and is relatively stable in the amount and timing. Interest income seemed fine, except for it was heavily taxed as ordinary income and seemed to be losing purchasing power over time. I knew that if I didn’t want to work at some point in time, it would be helpful to have income producing assets, which will generate income to live off. I was very lucky that I sometimes had downtime at my work, so I could research things. This is when I read a lot of studies on long-term performance of US stocks. I also found a lot of blogs, many of which I still read today.

How I plan to retire in a decade

There are three levers behind financial independence. The first lever is earning more, and the second lever is spending less. The difference between earnings and spending is the savings we use to invest. Investing is the third lever. I have found that by focusing on these three items exclusively since 2007 – 2008, I am on track to reach financial independence somewhere around 2018. This doesn't mean that I would do nothing - it just means I would have the extra security and the option to live my life on my own terms.

I believe that achieving this goal is not an act of randomness, but an act of careful planning, execution and living life in a way that fosters building wealth. In addition, it is important to have systems, which are essential to living life in a way that fosters building wealth.

Earning

It is extremely difficult to find money to invest, if you have no money to pay for your expenses. This is where finding a decently paying job is important. I have always earned average income. In fact, my base pretax - salary never really exceeded $60,000/year until 2014/2015.

I have focused on earning more however. I have achieved this by starting this site, which has made money in the past. I have also hustled by opening bank and brokerage accounts, as well as credit cards.

By investing my savings in dividend paying stocks, my level of passive dividend income has been increasing exponentially.

Six Dividend Machines Boosting Dividends

With dividend growth investing, the goal is identify a company that grows earnings and distributions, and then purchase that company, without overpaying dearly for its prospects. A rising stream of dividend income is just one of the outcomes of a successful business for further research. Investing in dividend growth stocks is a long-term endeavor, which benefits only those who are willing to patiently sit and compound their wealth and income for decades.

One way to monitor progress is by evaluating how earnings and dividends are growing once per year. If a company’s management is growing dividends, this shows their bullishness on the company’s intermediate term business prospects.

Over the past week, there were several companies with established track records of annual dividend increases, which continued their streak of annual dividend increases. The companies include:

How to Grow Dividend Income Much Faster With Tax Advantaged Accounts

When I was doing my taxes for 2012, I realized that tax expenses were larger than my living expenses. I realized that in order to correct this, I need to legally minimize as much of taxes today as possible. I achieved that by maxing out all tax deferred accounts within my reach.

Since my epiphany in 2013 on the benefits of tax-deferred accounts, I have plowed most of my dollars into my 401 (k), Heatlh Savings Account (HSA), Roth IRA and SEP IRAs. I have noticed that since those moves, my dividend income and net worth increased much faster than before. This was not simply due to the bull market we experienced. It was because I just dutifully put money to work every two weeks or so, and let it sit there without touching it. In addition, the tax incentives really increased my net dividend income, and the amount I have to reinvest back.

For example, assume that all I can invest is $21,000/year. If I invested that in dividend stocks yielding 3%, I would generate $630 in annual dividend income. The types of dividend growth stocks that could make up this portfolio could include the likes of:

Can Apple become a dividend growth stock?

Apple Inc. (AAPL) designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players to consumers, small and mid-sized businesses, education, and enterprise and government customers worldwide. The company is the largest publicly traded company in the US by market capitalization. The company started paying a dividend in 2012, and has been raising it every year since then.

The company has done really well to its shareholders over the past decade, compounding at 27.62%/year for its shareholders. This performance is unlikely to be repeated over the next decade.

This was due to the fact that popularity for its products was exploding, and the company was unveiling new premium products to satisfy consumer needs. Examples include the iPhone and the iPad. All of this resulted in massive growth in earnings per share from 32 cents in 2006 to $9.22/share in 2015. The company is expected to earn $8.25/share in 2016 and $9.02/share in 2017.

Two Dividend Growth Stocks Showering Investors With More Cash

I believe in a bottom up method of evaluating each individual holding separately, and then if it holds up, not worrying about the portfolio as whole. Each week I monitor the list of dividend growth stocks that raise dividends. I use this as one of the procedures for monitoring my dividend portfolio holdings. Other ways to monitor your dividend growth holdings includes reviewing trends in earnings per share, dividend payout ratios, returns on equity and checking the story for major news such as acquisitions, mergers, divestments etc. In general, if you purchase a security at attractive valuations, you avoid overpaying for it, and that security grows earnings per share over time, it will deliver dividend growth and it will likely increase in intrinsic value. This is how a business owner evaluates a business by the way.

There were two companies that managed to raise dividends over the past week, which had at least a ten year track record of annual dividend increases. The companies include:

The Best Broker for Dividend Investors: Interactive Brokers

For the first three to four years of my transformation into dividend growth investing, I managed to develop a process of identifying attractive companies with prospects for further increases in passive dividend income. I managed to pay very little in commissions, since I was using brokers such as Zecco, which offered approximately 10 free trades every month. Since then, I kept adding money to other brokers, but was not able to find another company which offered low costs for me. This resulted in limitation on number of companies I can invest in every single month, despite the fact that I usually had more than 15-20 ideas at all times. I felt limited in the number of companies I can purchase every month, given that most brokers:

1) charge somewhere between $5 and $10 per online trade these days,
2) the fact that I do not want to pay more than 0.50% in commission costs per each transaction, and
3) the fact that I have a limit on the amount of funds I can contribute each month,

I believe that looking for great investments is important, but so is keeping costs to the minimum. Dividend investing is a business, and as the business owner my job is to keep expenses to the bone.

Two Dividend Growth Stocks On My Radar

In the past few days, I have noticed that a couple of dividend growth stocks have been selling at lower prices than before. Those are companies that have managed to grow earnings, and dividends over time. These companies are usually overvalued, but recent weakness has brought them closer to fair value territory. I would be interested in each one of those companies on dips below 20 times earnings. The companies include:

V.F. Corporation (VFC) engages in the design, production, procurement, marketing, and distribution of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear, and related products in the United States and Europe.
This dividend champion has increased dividends for 43 years in a row. Over the past decade, it has managed to boost dividends at a rate of 17.10%/year.

The company earned $2.85/share in 2015, and is expected to grow earnings to $3.20 in 2016 and $3.57 in 2017.

Currently, the stock is selling for 17.10 times expected earnings and yields 2.40%. Check my last analysis of V.F. Corporation for more information about the company.

Four Companies Rewarding Shareholders with a raise

I invest in companies that have a long track record of annual dividend increases. This is usually a result of a strong business model, that is fueled by earnings growth. I try to build a diversified portfolio of dividend growth stocks over time, and try to avoid overpaying for investments.

One of the ways to monitor dividend growth stocks is by checking the dividend increases. A company that has a culture of regularly raising dividends, is very likely to continue raising them. A company with a culture of regular annual dividend increases that reduces dividends is sending a signal that something has changed. Either way, it is important to monitor the fundamental position of the enterprise, in order to determine if dividends are sustainable, and if further dividend growth is probable.

There were four companies that raised dividends over the past week. Each one has managed to boost dividends for at least a decade. The companies include:

Getting Started – The Hardest Part About Dividend Investing

Imagine you have a certain amount of cash in your possession, which you do not plan on using for say 10 – 20 years. Or imagine that you are just starting out, and have a small amount of cash that will be added to your savings account every month.

You decide to invest that amount. You have been reading about dividend investing, and think it sounds cool to be paid more dividends every year from the investments you made years ago.

However, you have an uneasy feeling – there is so much information out there, you get information overload and you cannot do anything as a result. Where do you start?

Not all dividend stocks are created equal. A company is not an automatic buy, just because it happens to pays a dividend. You need to develop some knowledge to develop a framework to evaluate companies, and then need to use that knowledge to select companies for long-term income for your diversified portfolio.

So how to gain the knowledge if you are a complete beginner? What steps should you take?

Eleven Dividend Growth Companies Showering Investors With More Cash

I invest in companies that have a long track record of annual dividend increases. This is usually a result of a strong business model, that is fueled by growth in earnings over time. I try to build a diversified portfolio of dividend growth stocks over time, and try to avoid overpaying for investments.

One of the ways to monitor dividend growth stocks is by checking the dividend increases. A company that has a culture of regularly raising dividends, is very likely to continue raising them. A company with a culture of regular annual dividend increases that reduces dividends is sending a signal that something has changed. Either way, it is important to monitor the fundamental position of the enterprise, in order to determine if dividends are sustainable, and if further dividend growth is probable.

During the month of September, there were several notable dividend growth stocks, which continued their winning streak of delivering higher dividend payments to shareholders. Each of the companies listed below have managed to boost dividends for at least ten consecutive years ( with the sole exception being PMI). The companies include: