Recent sell: Baxter (BAX)

On March 4th I sold my 22 shares in Baxter. I opened this position back in 2013 so it's been in my portfolio for over 10 years. The total return is just over 4% per year. Dividend growth was non-existant in the last two years or so. It was one of my smallest positions, so therefore I decided to sell all of my shares. This will reduce my forward dividend income by just over $20.

I've used the proceeds to open a new position in my portfolio. I will post about that in a few days.

Recent dividend raises (O, JNJ, KMI, IBM, BAX, Shell, UNP)

In the last weeks I received several raises that boosted my dividend income! So let's see who decided to give me more money and how much!

• On March 15 Realty Income (O) announced its Board of Directors has declared an increase in the company's common stock monthly cash dividend to $0.247 per share from $0.2465 per share. It's a standard quarterly raise which adds a few cents each year.
• On April 19 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a 6.6% increase in the quarterly dividend, from $1.06 per share to $1.13 per share.
• On April 20 Kinder Morgan (KMI) approved a cash dividend of $0.2775 per share for the first quarter ($1.11 annualized), payable on May 16, 2022. This dividend is a 3% increase over the first quarter of 2021 and marks the fifth consecutive annual increase.
• International Business Machines (IBM) raised its quarterly disbursement to $1.65 cents a share from $1.64. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, whose constituents have paid out a higher dividend for at least 25 straight years. But the raise itself is quite poor...
• On May 2 Baxter International (BAX) announced an increase in the company's quarterly cash dividend to a rate of $0.29 per share of common stock. This represents an approximately 3.5% increase over the previous quarterly dividend rate of $0.28 per share.
• On May 5 Shell decided to raise its quarterly divend by about 4%. Since Shell is one of my bigger positions this raise adds more than € 13 per year.
• On May 12 Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) announced a 10% hike in its dividend payout. The move underscores the company’s sound financial health as it utilizes free cash flow for enhancing shareholders’ returns. It is the 3rd 10% dividend raise during the last year.

These seven raises combined will deliver an annual income boost of more than € 25 in 2022 (and hopefully more after 2022!). In total I have received raises which will boost my annual dividend income by almost € 135.

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 raise: Baxter (+16%)

Baxter International Inc. (BAX) announced earlier in May an approximately 16% increase in the company’s quarterly dividend rate. This rate increase was made in connection with the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share of common stock (up from $0.19 per share).

I own 22 shares of BAX, so my annual dividend income increased with just over € 2. This is my 15th dividend raise in 2019 so far. All these raises combined have added almost € 42 to my annual dividend income. Even though the raises tend to be a little bit smaller than last year, let's keep it up!

Recent buy: Baxter International Inc.

This week I made a new purchase for my DGI-portfolio: Baxter International Inc (Baxter or BAX). Google Finance has the following description of Baxter.

"Baxter is a global, diversified healthcare company. Baxter develops, manufactures and markets products that save and sustain the lives of people with hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions. The Company operated in two segments: BioScience and Medication Delivery. It is engaged in the medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to create products that advance patient care worldwide. These products are used by hospitals, kidney dialysis centers, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, doctors’ offices, clinical and medical research laboratories, and by patients at home under physician supervision. Baxter manufactures products in 27 countries and sells the products in more than 100 countries."

In this post I'll highlight the reasons why I think Baxter is a good addition to my portfolio.