Recent dividend raises (TROW, BHP, AD, CSCO, WMT, KO)

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

• T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend by 11% on the 30th of March to $1.20. Given my recent additions to TROW this raise adds more than €16 to my annual dividend income.
• BHP announced a raise in its semi-annual dividend to $ 3 per share (from $2,02 last year). This gigantic raise adds more than €24 to my annual dividend income with just this payment.
• Ahold Delhaize announced a raise in its semi-annual dividend to €0,52 per share (from €0,40 last year). This is a nice raise, which adds € 6 to my annual dividend income.
• Cisco (CSCO) raised its quarterly dividend by a rather small amount, just like Walmart (WMT).
• Finally Coca-Cola raised its dividend by almost 5%. This is a solid raise, given the raises in the last years.

All of these raises combined will deliver an annual income boost of more than € 50 in 2022 (and hopefully more after 2022!). In total I have received raises which will boost my annual dividend income by over € 100. That's a solid start of the year!

Three recent dividend increases - part 2 (Coca, Walmart and Deere)

 A few days ago I wrote about three recent dividend increases. The pace of raises continues with a few new 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.

Coca-Cola

On February 18th Coca-Cola (KO) declared a $0.42/share quarterly dividend, which is a 2.4% increase from its prior dividend of $0.41. Last year KO increased its dividend by a penny as well. I received eight dividend raises since my purchase of KO back in 2013. The annual dividend growth rate is between 5-6%. It's not mindblowing but it's not that bad either. My return on investment is currently around 8% per annum so I am not complaining.

Walmart

On February 18th Walmart (WMT) declared a $0.55/share quarterly dividend, which is a 1.9% increase from its prior dividend of $0.54. It's not a big raise but its one nonetheless.  I received eight dividend raises since my purchase of WMT back in 2013. The annual dividend growth rate is 2%. I guess my expectations with regards to the dividend growth rate were somewhat higher. However, my return on investment is currently around 11% per annum so that definitely IS solid. We'll see what happens next year with the dividend!

Deere

On February 24th Deere (DE) declared a $0.90/share quarterly dividend, which is a 18% increase from its prior dividend of $0.76. Now that's what I call dividend growth! I received four dividend raises since my purchase of DE back in 2013. The dividend growth occurs on a not so frequent basis. The last dividend raise was about two years ago. The annual dividend growth rate is 8% nonetheless. My purchase of Deere is the best decision I ever made (investment wise that is!) with a return on investment of around 23% per annum. That's a 3.7x-bagger right there! 

Summary

Together these raises increased my forward annual dividend income by roughly €10. 

Based on my portfolio's dividend yield of 3,8% I have to invest € 270 to get this kind of dividend income, but now I get it for free! Rock on!

Dividend raises: BBL (+18%), WMT (+2%) and KO (+2%)

Recently I received a few dividend raises. The raises from Coca Cola (KO) and Wal-Mart (WMT) are rather small, but expected in light of last years raises and recent events. The raise from BBL is big, however it's just the first dividend of the year. We'll have to see what happens in September. It is however worth mentioning that its dividend is now back at the level of 2016, just before its infamous dividend cut. In just 4 years time BBL got back, that's great, isn't it?!

These raises added about € 7 to my annual dividend income. So far I received 11 raises this year. Hopefully there's more to come!

Walmart raised its dividend by 1,9%

A few days ago Walmart (WMT) announced a quarterly dividend raise from $0,52 to $0,53. This raise of less than 2% adds not even € 1 to my annual dividend income.

Obviously this raise is not what I expect from my companies in general, but for WMT it seems to be the norm the last few years. I am an owner of WMT since July 2013. I purchased share for a price of around $75. Currently shares are worth over $99, so in price appreciation alone this position has netted me just over 5% per year. However, if you add in the dividend along the ride, the total return is bumped up to 7,5%. Normally this is a solid performance but compared to other companies and indices WMT underperformed during my holding period.

So far I received 8 dividend raises in 2019. These raises combined have added over € 20 to my forward annual dividend income. Of course I expect more raises during the rest of the year. I'll keep you updated!

Did you like the dividend raise of WMT? Do you consider selling because of the low dividend growth rate?

First purchases in my DGI-portfolio

Today I made my first two purchases: ExxonMobil (XOM) and Wal-Mart Stores (WMT).

ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation, or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. ExxonMobil is one of the largest companies in the world in terms of revenue and market capitalization.

Why do I want to own this company?

• Forward yield of 2.8% is decent and higher than the 5-year average historic yield (2.3%)
• Dividend has grown on average 10% per year in the last 10 years
• Payout-ratio is hovering around 20-30%. This is quite low and dividend payments can thus be considered relatively safe, even in times when earnings might fall short.
• Current Price/Earnings-ratio of 9.2 is lower than the 5-year average PE-ratio of 11.0 so the stockprice seems to be on the lower side.
• Diversification in geographical terms as well as operations. It is a relatively stable company with a low beta.

Of course there are concerns: geopolitical stability, protectionist policies or more long-term issues about future energy scenarios and what the role of companies like Exxon, Chevron or Royal Dutch Shell will be. These are however long term issues and may provide chances as well. These companies don't sit idle, but are actively preparing for the future.

Wall-Mart Stores

Wal-Mart Stores is a multinational retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is one of the world's largest public corporations and the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees.

Why do I want to own this company?

• Forward yield of 2.5% which is slightly higher than the 5-year average historic yield (2.2%)
• Dividend has grown on average 18% per year in the last 10 years!
• WMT has increased the payout ratio over the last 10 years from 18% in 2004 to 32% in 2013. This still leaves ample room for growth.
• Current Price/Earnings-ratio of 14.7 is around this years average PE-ratio and slightly higher than the 5-year average PE-ratio of 14.2. Seems like the current price is fair value; but not a bargain.
• Earning growth for the next 5 years is forecasted to be almost 10% per year.

I think both companies are great investments. Not neccesarily cheap but fair value! These purchases will bring my 12-month forward yield to $105. It's not much but it's the first step!