Dividend report: May 2021

May is over! Let's see how many companies sent me a dividend check for my ownership. These checks are the results of decisions I made earlier in life, sometimes years ago, where I decided to purchase shares in these companies. Nowaydays I still collect these checks but I have to do absolutely nothing to receive them. They just get deposited in my brokerage account, no questions asked. Isn't that great?!

A total of just under € 100. Six companies paid me dividends with my first ever payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb in the month of May. A big raise from Deere, while the rest of my holdings increased their dividend slightly compared to last year. Based on a constant exchange rate my dividend income grew by just over 11% compared to last year. However, because of the decline in the FX-rate I received about the same in Euros.

Currently my dividend income is around € 2.060.  I have about 3% in cash, with more deposits on the way. I am looking to start a new position or to add to my current positions. I do find it somewhat hard to find a good candidate. I kinda missed the INTC drop in the last two weeks, could have used the dip to increase my position slightly. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks!

How was your May? What is your watchlist?

Dividend raise: Union Pacific (+10%)

Yesterdag Union Pacific (UNP) declared a $1,07 quarterly dividend, which is a 10% increase from its prior quarterly dividend of $0.97. Since I own 15 shares of UNP this raise adds about € 5 to my forward annual dividend income. This is a really solid dividend increase in my book! The last time they raised their dividend was back in the summer of 2019.

I purchased my shares about 6 years ago for $108 a piece. Currently they are worth around $228, so that's roughly an 13% annual rate of return, based just on the price appreciation alone.

In the past years I've received about 15% of my original purchase price in dividends. The dividend has grown from $0,55 per share (quarterly) to its current level of $1,07 per share. That's an awesome growth rate of 12% per year. With this pace my dividend has doubled in the last 6 years. I am really content to have added this company to my portfolio a few years ago.

So far this year I've received 19 dividend raises which added almost €80 to my annual income stream.




What do you think the dividend raise by UNP? Do you consider adding shares to your portfolio at its current price?

Recent dividend increases

Back in February I wrote about various dividend increases. The pace continues in the last weeks with different raises! Of course I am happy with these raises, especially after a somewhat sobering 2020 in terms of dividend growth. So let's take a look at the raises.

Realty Income

On March 16th Realty Income (NYSE:O) declared a $0.235/share monthly dividend, which is a 0.2% increase from its prior dividend of $0.2345. I received 15 dividend raises since my purchase of O back in 2018. The annual dividend growth rate is just over 2%. It's not mindblowing. My return on investment is currently around 12% per annum so I am not complaining either.

Johnson & Johnson

On April 20th Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) declared a $1.06/share quarterly dividend, which is a 5% increase from its prior dividend of $1.01. I received two dividend raises since my purchase of JNJ back in 2019. I guess my expectations with regards to the dividend growth rate were met, albeit slightly on the lower end. We'll see what happens next year with the dividend!

Kinder Morgan

On April 21th Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) declared a $0.27/share quarterly dividend, which is a 2.9% increase from its prior dividend of $0.26. Since the infamous dividend cut back in early 2016, the dividend has more than doubled. However the return on my investment is still negative, around -5% on an annual basis. For now I just plan to hold and collect my dividends.

International Business Machines Corporation

On April 27th IBM (NYSE:IBM) declared a $1.64/share quarterly dividend, which is a 0.6% increase from its prior dividend of $1.63. I received seven dividend raises since my purchase of IBM back in 2014. The annual dividend growth rate is just over 6%. I guess I am disappointed with the performance of IBM which moved nowhere in the last 8 years. For now I plan to hold onto this position.

Royal Dutch Shell

On April 29th Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) declared a $0.347/ADS quarterly dividend, which is a 4.2% increase from its prior dividend of $0.333. Since the infamous dividend cut back in 2020, the dividend has risen slightly in $-terms, however because of the decline in the EUR.USD-rate it's basically steady. The return on my investment is still negative, around -2% on an annual basis. For now I just plan to hold and collect my dividends.

Baxter

On May 3th Baxter (NYSE:BAX) declared a $0.28/share quarterly dividend, which is a 14.3% increase from its prior dividend of $0.245. I received several dividend raises since my purchase of BAX back in 2013. The dividend was reduced after the Baxalta spin-off in 2015. After that moment BAX returned to a high dividend growth. And based on my return on investment (around 15% on constant FX-rate) I am quite satisfied! We'll see what happens next year with the dividend.

Summary

Together these raises increased my forward annual dividend income by roughly €7. 

Based on my portfolio's dividend yield of 3,7% I have to invest € 190 to get this kind of dividend income, but now I get it for free! Rock on!

Dividend report: April 2021

April is over! Let's see how many companies sent me a dividend check for my ownership. These checks are the results of decisions I made earlier in life, sometimes years ago, where I decided to purchase shares in these companies. Nowaydays I still collect these checks but I have to do absolutely nothing to receive them. They just get deposited in my brokerage account, no questions asked. Isn't that great?!

Based on a constant exchange rate my dividend income grew by over 60% compared to last year. Seven companies paid me dividends with my first ever payment from Ahold Delhaize and my first from Cisco in the month of April. The rest of my holdings increased their dividend slightly compared to last year.

I received a few dividend raises in the past two weeks (which I didn't report as of yet) With my latest addition in Ahold Delhaize, TROW and Unilever, my dividend income increased to more than € 2.070.  This increased by about € 70 compared to last month. Let's keep it going! 

How was your April?