I find it helpful to write down my position on a given topic, and then revisit it a few years later, in order to learn from it. I would encourage all of you to keep an investment journal in private or in public, in order to write down reasons behind your strategy and the investment selections you are making. After a few years, you should be able to learn from your mistakes, and hopefully find ways to improve your results.
The way to improve is by gathering data, and analyzing the results against your expectations. I followed this approach to find out the most read articles on the Dividend Growth Investor website.
I have compiled a list of ten articles that readers found helpful in 2017, as evidenced by number of visits. The articles include:
Dividend Aristocrats List for 2017
The S&P Dividend Aristocrats index is an elite group of companies, members of the S&P 500, which have managed to increase dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years. I shared the list of the Dividend Aristocrats in this article, and dug into the components, performance over time and sector allocation.
The Most Successful Dividend Investors of all time
In this article I outlined several dividend investors, who managed to turn small investments into cash machines that generated large amounts of dividends. They were able to accomplish this through identifying quality dividend growth companies at attractive valuations, patiently reinvesting distributions and mostly maintaining a diversified portfolio of stocks. These are the lessons that all investors could profit from.
17 Quality Dividend Stocks For 2017 ( and after)
While everyone is complaining that the stock market is “high”, I went ahead and started looking for companies that are attractively valued today. I considered the following companies as worthy of being considered for further research. I followed my process to come up with that list.
The Blueprint for Successful Dividend Investing
Dividend growth investing can seem very complicated to those just starting out. However, the blueprint for successful dividend growth investing is actually quite simple:
· Invest in consistent dividend growers
· Be mindful of the payout ratio
· Avoid overvalued stocks
· Invest for the long term
Applying these principles to your own investment strategy should yield dividends (pun intended) for years to come.
Three Of My Favorite Dividend Stocks For 2017
In the beginning of this New Year, many investors review their portfolios. We all hope for a good year on the market and, most importantly, steady dividend growth increase among our portfolio. A guest poster The Dividend Guy selected three companies he thoughts will perform well in 2017 and will increase their dividend payouts. All of those three companies did better than S&P 500 this year.
7 Dividend Growth Stocks on Sale
I followed my process of screening the list of dividend champions, in order to come up with several companies for further research. I started with a custom made list of the dividend champions I keep at Yahoo Finance. Being a dividend champion fulfills the quality criterion.
I then sorted the list by P/E ratio, and picked the companies with a P/E below 20. I have a maximum P/E requirement in order to avoid overpaying for companies. Even the best company in the world is not worth overpaying for.
The next step in the process included evaluating trends in earnings per share and dividends per share. As I mentioned above, I want companies that can grow earnings per share over time. This will drive future increases in dividends, and protect the purchasing power of my income in retirement. I do not want companies that increase dividends merely by increasing their payout ratios, or who have slowed down on dividend increases because their earnings are stagnant.
Two Wide Moat Dividend Stocks to Consider on Dips
I discussed two wide-moat companies that were very close to fair valuation at the beginning of 2017. Unfortunately, these companies went on a tear this year, resulting in strong total returns. As a result, waiting to initiate a position proved to be costly.
Five Myths About Index Investing
Index investing has become extremely popular in recent years. A lot of new investors have embraced the strategy in recent years. Unfortunately, many investors are embracing the strategy by believing certain myths that are simply not true. I am going to examine several of their problematic thought points, and discuss why they are myths that could hurt those investors in the future. In reality, there is nothing magical about index investing.
Dividend Achievers Offer Income Growth and Capital Appreciation
The NASDAQ US Broad Dividend Achievers Select Index is comprised of a select group of securities with at least ten consecutive years of increasing annual regular dividend payments. There are 272 companies in this index today. You can find all those holdings as of February 2017 at the following location.
Peter Lynch, the legendary manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund has mentioned the following about dividend achievers:
"The Dividend Achievers Handbook is one of my favorite bedside thrillers. Here's a simple way to succeed in Wall Street: Buy the stocks on Mergent's list and stick with them as long as they stay on the list"
The NASDAQ US Broad Dividend Achievers Select Index is comprised of a select group of securities with at least ten consecutive years of increasing annual regular dividend payments. There are 272 companies in this index today. You can find all those holdings as of February 2017 at the following location.
Peter Lynch, the legendary manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund has mentioned the following about dividend achievers:
"The Dividend Achievers Handbook is one of my favorite bedside thrillers. Here's a simple way to succeed in Wall Street: Buy the stocks on Mergent's list and stick with them as long as they stay on the list"
I was able to identify three real estate investment trusts, which were attractively valued at the time. Two of them went up in price, while the third one ( the cheapest) is roughly where it sold at the time of writing this article. This goes to show you that "deep value" could be more challenging to returns than companies that seem more expensive, but are of better quality.
Thank you for reading and happy holidays!
