Monthly update: April 2014

The month has passed and it's my favorite time, giving an update of my dividend portfolio. I've updated my benchmarks to include the total return indices, instead of only the stockprice indices. This seems like a better comparison.

Indicator	As of 28-3	As of 28-4	% change
S&P 500 Total Return	3.349	3.400	+1.5%
Dow Jones Industrials Total Return	32.084	32.629	+1.7%
AEX GR	1.142	1.144	+0.2%
USD.EUR	0,7272	0,7209	-0.9%
Portfolio value	€ 15.945	€ 16.506	+3.5%

The Dutch market was more or less flat (+0.2%), and the American markets were up this month (+1.5 - 1.7%). The dollar lost some ground against the euro. And what did my portfolio do? It gained 3.5% which is great. Even though I am focused on dividend income and growth, It's always nice to see portfolio value increase. There seems to be a bit of a rotation going on from different asset classes towards dividend paying stocks, because investors are looking for yield and safety.


Last month I have purchased a block of shares in Kinder Morgan Inc. I haven't written about it yet (I was planning to), but other tasks and a vacation caught up to me. KMI owns and manages a diversified portfolio of energy transportation and storage assets. It's high yield (5.1%), high dividend growth rate (8-10%) and relatively low stockprice compared to the 52wk low and high were among the arguments for me to purchase KMI.

Purchases

• KMI: 48 shares @ $32.93. This purchase adds $80 to my annual dividend income.

Dividends received

• KO: 37 shares @ $0.305 for a total of $11.29
• BAX: 22 shares @ $0.49 for a total of $10.78
• WMT: 20 shares @ $0.47 for a total of $9.40
• PM: 17 shares @ $0.94 for a total of $15.98

Total: around €29 after tax.

Dividend increases

• OHI raised its quarterly dividend payment for the second time this year with $0.01 to $0.50 per share, an increase of 2% (4% this year). This raise adds a little more than $2 to my yearly dividend income.
• XOM raised its quarterly dividend payment with $0.06 to $0.69 per share, an increase of almost 10%. This raise adds around $4 to my yearly dividend income.
• UNA raised its quarterly dividend payment with €0.016 to €0.285 per share, an increase of 6%. This raise adds roughly €2 to my yearly dividend income.
• BAX raised its quarterly dividend payment with $0.03 to $0.52 per share, an increase of 6%. This raise adds almost $3 to my yearly dividend income.

Portfolio value

Though it's not a pre-defined goal to archieve a certain amount of networth, I'd like to monitor this progress as well. The value of my portfolio is at €16.500 (as of April 30th). This is an increase of €500 (+3.5%) compared to last month. I don't really mind this at all, however since I am still in the accumulation phase I'd like to see some lower stockprices in the future. This way I can reinvest my dividends with greater effect!

Yearly forward dividend

My 12-month forward dividend rate is now €620, compared to €562 last month. This increase is due to my purchase of KMI, various dividend increases. A negative effect is the increasing strength of the Euro currency which makes dollar denominated dividend payments worth less (in Euro's that is). I am not too concerned about this, because reinvestment happens mostly in dollars and forex rates fluctuate over time, just like stock prices.





How was your month? What are your plans for the coming month? Keep plowing your money into the stock market or maintain a cash position to use when the markets continue to move downward?