Weekly Dividend Increase Report for the Week of January 9, 2012 – A Slow Start…

Daily Dividend Investor Update

To my loyal Daily Dividend Investor readers: Please note that I have migrated the blog over to a managed server located at: www.dailydividendinvestor.com

I will continue to update this WordPress site with duplicate content for a few weeks – most likely until the new year, but you may want to check in at my new hosted location for all the latest content. I am also using a better – easier to read theme that I hope you’ll enjoy. Thanks for reading and following along and don’t forget to LIKE our Facebook page!

Thanks!

Neil

Weekly Dividend Increase Report for the Week of January 9, 2012 – A Slow Start…

January is definitely off to a slow start as far as dividend increases go. This week only two companies reported dividend increases including an industrial machinery & goods company, Robbins & Myers (ticker: RBN) as well as Plains All American Pipeline, LP (ticker: PAA) an oil and natural gas pipeline management firm.

The weekly wrap

As I do each week, I´ve provided a Google Doc spreadsheet at the bottom of this post with all the specifics, that you can refer back to at any time.

Each week as I go through the list of companies that have reported dividend increases, I´m often surprised to learn about new companies I´ve never heard of, even though many of them have been in business for 50 to 100 year or longer!

Weekly Dividend Increase Report for the Week of January 2, 2012 – Back in the swing of things.

Daily Dividend Investor Update

To my loyal Daily Dividend Investor readers: Please note that I have migrated the blog over to a managed server located at: www.dailydividendinvestor.com

I will continue to update this WordPress site with duplicate content for a few weeks – most likely until the new year, but you may want to check in at my new hosted location for all the latest content. I am also using a better – easier to read theme that I hope you’ll enjoy. Thanks for reading and following along and don’t forget to LIKE our Facebook page!

Thanks!

Neil

 

Dividend Increases for the week of  January 2, 2012

As things return to normal this week, we saw six companies come to market with announcements of a dividend increase. The companies reporting increases were spread broadly across several sectors including retail, real estate, business development, banking as well as a heating & cooling equipment supply company.

The weekly wrap

After the announced dividend increases, the new yields ranged from a low of 1.45% up to 8.51%. This week’s winner for highest yield was Pennant Park Floating Rate Capital (ticker: PFLT) – yield 8.51%. It should come as little surprise to DDI readers that Pennant Park is a Business Development Company ( also known as a BDC). Like many of the BDC’s we’ve seen in the dividend update recently, Pennant Park has increased their payout three times since June, 2011.

The Weekly Surprise

In a sign that the economy may finally be getting back on solid ground, we were pleasantly surprised with Macy’s (ticker: M)  dividend increase this week to $.80/annually. That is a 100% increase over their previous dividend payout. Will this be the beginning of more dividend increases to come from the likes of Gap, Target, Nordstrom and Walmart? While some retailers like Sears Holdings (ticker: SHLD) said their holiday season wasn’t so merry – the general consensus seems to be that more good news lies ahead for retailers.

Daily Dividend Portfolio Due Diligence

Each week when I put together the list of dividend increases, I’m on the lookout for new investment ideas that I may want to add to the DDI portfolio. Because I’ve added a few BDC’s (Solar Capital: ticker SUNS) to the portfolio recently, I would probably pass on adding Pennant Park to my review list presently even though it does pay monthly with an above average yield.

The two ideas that seem most compelling at the moment are Watsco (ticker: WSO), the heating & cooling equipment supply company yielding 3.67% and Macy’s (ticker: M) the clothing and home-furnishing retailer yielding 2.31%. Even though I’m currently targeting new holdings with a dividend yield at or above 4% I would add these two companies to my consideration list because they would provide sector / industry diversification that I’m currently lacking.

There were no current DDI portfolio holdings that reported a dividend increase this week. A spreadsheet containing the weekly dividend increase round up for the week of January 2, 2012 can be found here – or by clicking on the spreadsheet image located at the bottom of today’s post.

Investment Considerations

As always when evaluating investment opportunities it’s important to keep in mind not only the fundamentals of the stock itself, but also how the holding entity (Limited Partnership,Royalty Trust, Master Limited Partnership, Business Development Company, Preferred Stock) may affect the way you report income on your annual tax return as well as the amount or percentage of tax  you will be required to pay. Adding shares of any of these special entities to tax deferred / retirement accounts may also present additional issues.

Remember to review all of the fundamentals of any company BEFORE investing – do not simply buy a stock based on the dividend payout. If you have further questions about any stock mentioned her you should first consult with your CPA or tax planner / advisor before making any investments.

For more detailed information about all of today’s dividend increases please refer to the chart below.

Weekly Dividend Increase Report for the Week of December 19, 2011

Daily Dividend Investor Update

To my loyal Daily Dividend Investor readers: Please note that I have migrated the blog over to a managed server located at: www.dailydividendinvestor.com

I will continue to update this WordPress site with duplicate content for a few weeks – most likely until the new year, but you may want to check in at my new hosted location for all the latest content. I am also using a better – easier to read theme that I hope you’ll enjoy. Thanks for reading and following along and don’t forget to LIKE our Facebook page!

Thanks!

Neil

Dividend Increases for the week of  December 19, 2011

With the holidays upon us, this week was a fairly quiet one for dividend increases as we approach the end of the year. This week’s update includes 10 companies announcing dividend increases, with 2 notable increases of 150% over their previous payout!

The weekly wrap

For the investor looking for a safe “blue chip” holding, this week’s holiday gift was AT&T (ticker: T) which raised it’s annual dividend by $.04 to $1.76/share for a yield of 5.89%.

Considering that most CD and bank savings accounts are paying 1% or less – AT&T may offer a good alternative. In recent quarters there has been some concern that with AT&T’s landline revenues continuing to disappear, perhaps the AT&T dividend could be at risk – but with the increase this week, those fears have been put to rest, at least for the time being.

Dividend Growth

When investing for income, one of the most important factors to consider, besides the ongoing safety of the dividend payout, is to look for those companies that are continuing to grow their dividend stream. This week offers two potential opportunities for the investor looking to add dividend growth.

Village Supermarket (ticker: VLGEA) and Spreadtrum Communications (ticker: SPRD) which both raised their quarterly payout by a jaw dropping 150%. Village Supermarket now pays $1.00/share and yields 3.45% while Spreastrum Communications pays $.40/share with a new yield of 1.91%.

 As always, I have provided a link below to the Google document online spreadsheet with all of the details of this week’s announcements. I have also highlighted the two top two stocks with the highest dividend increase in green as well as highlighting the stock with the highest overall yield in yellow.

I should caution you as always, that because a stock is highlighted does not mean you should add it to a buy list, my intent is to simply point out those stocks with unique characteristics for your review.

One other notable name in this week’s roundup is Norwood Financial (ticker: NWFL).Norwood is now yielding 4.43% after it’s dividend increase to $1.20/share.  What caught my eye about Norwood was it’s 141 years of  successful business operations.

It’s no secret that I’ve added some riskier positions to the DDI portfolio, but I believe part of the “secret sauce” is continually finding niche companies that have remained profitable for long periods of time (50 years or longer ideally) that also offer ongoing dividend growth.

The DDI portfolio remains unchanged this week as none of the companies reporting a dividend increase are currently members of the portfolio.

For more detailed information about all of today’s dividend increases please refer to the chart below.

Investment Considerations

As always when evaluating investment opportunities it’s important to keep in mind not only the fundamentals of the stock itself, but also how the holding entity (Limited Partnership,Royalty Trust, Master Limited Partnership, Business Development Company, Preferred Stock) may affect the way you report income on your annual tax return as well as the amount or percentage of tax  you will be required to pay. Adding shares of any of these special entities to tax deferred / retirement accounts may also present additional issues.

Remember to review all of the fundamentals of any company BEFORE investing – do not simply buy a stock based on the dividend payout. If you have further questions about any stock mentioned her you should first consult with your CPA or tax planner / advisor before making any investments.

Weekly Dividend Increase Report for the Week of December 12, 2011

Daily Dividend Investor Update

To my loyal Daily Dividend Investor readers: Please note that I have migrated the site over to a managed server located at: www.dailydividendinvestor.com

I will continue to update this WordPress site with duplicate content for a few weeks, but you may want to check in at my new hosted location for all the latest content. I am also using a better – easier to read theme that I hope you’ll enjoy. Thanks for reading and following along and don’t forget to LIKE our Facebook page!

Thanks!

Neil

Dividend Increases for the week of  December 12, 2011

With this update of stocks increasing their dividend, I’ve gone to a new and improved, weekly format.

I was finding that writing a report everyday for the stocks with dividend increases was a lot to keep up with. Often times there would be stocks with minimal increases, but nothing really meaningful to add about those increases or the companies behind them.

Since the Daily Dividend Investor portfolio isn’t about day trading, the information presented is just a valuable on a weekly basis as on a daily basis.

Actually, I think being able to scan the list of *all* the increases for the week is more valuable – allowing the reader to quickly process more possible investment ideas in a shorter amount of time.

I hope you enjoy the new format!

The weekly wrap

There were a total of 38 stocks that increased their dividend this week including 5 that already make up the Daily Dividend Investor portfolio. With the new format I have highlighted the top two stocks with the highest dividend increase in green as well as highlighting the two stocks with the highest overall yield in yellow.

I should caution you as always, that because a stock is highlighted does not mean you should add it to a buy list, my intent is to simply point out those stocks with unique characteristics for your review.

The stocks with dividend increases this week spanned a broad spectrum of industries from Hotels (Host Resorts – ticker: HST), Real Estate (Realty Income – ticker: O), Pharmaceuticals (Pfizer – ticker: PFE) to Utilities (Edison International – ticker: EIX) and Financial Services (Discover – ticker:DFS)

The DDI Portfolio Organic Growth

The Daily Dividend Investor portfolio saw increases in five of it’s current holdings:

• Edison International – ticker: EIX
• General Electric – ticker: GE
• Pfizer – ticker: PFE
• Nucor – ticker: NUE
• Realty Income – ticker: O

When choosing new additions for the DDI portfolio, dividend growth is one of the key factors I consider, so it’s good to see the holdings not just pay a dividend but increase it as well. The percentage increases ranged from .2% up to 13% across these five holdings.

Top Producers

This week’s top producers included two high-yielders in the 8-12% range. Dynex Capital (ticker: DX) with a new payout of $1.12/share yielding 11.2% and Atlantic Power (ticker: AT) paying $1.14/share and a yield of 8.46%. If you’re looking to diversify with a Canadian holding that also pays out monthly you may want to dig a little deeper with Atlantic Power.

While there may be some tax withholding implications for investors outside of Canada, the above average monthly payout makes Atlantic Power a compelling story.

For those looking more at total dividend growth over absolute return, we had two homeruns this week. Morningstar (ticker: MORN) had a 100% increase taking their annual dividend from $.20 to $.40/share. Agrium (ticker: AGU), although only a semi-annual payer, hit the grandslam with a 309% increase, taking it’s annual payout from $.11 to $.45/share. Unfortunately, even after these monster increases, both of these shares are still yielding well below 1%.

Special Notes

This week’s stock of special note is Franklin Resources (ticker: BEN). While Franklin did raise their dividend this week 8% to $1.08, they also announced a special dividend of $2/share which brings the annualized yield on this stock to just over 3%

For more detailed information about all of today’s dividend increases please refer to the chart below.

Investment Considerations

As always when evaluating investment opportunities it’s important to keep in mind not only the fundamentals of the stock itself, but also how the holding entity (Limited Partnership,Royalty Trust, Master Limited Partnership, Business Development Company, Preferred Stock) may affect the way you report income on your annual tax return as well as the amount or percentage of tax  you will be required to pay. Adding shares of any of these special entities to tax deferred / retirement accounts may also present additional issues.

Remember to review all of the fundamentals of any company BEFORE investing – do not simply buy a stock based on the dividend payout. If you have further questions about any stock mentioned her you should first consult with your CPA or tax planner / advisor before making any investments.

Monthly Income Update: November 2011

 

Daily Dividend Investor Update

 

To my loyal Daily Dividend Investor readers: Please note that I have migrated the site over to a managed server located at: www.dailydividendinvestor.com

 

I will continue to update this WordPress site with duplicate content for a few weeks,  but you may want to check in at my new hosted location for all the latest content. I am also using a better – easier to read theme that I hope you’ll enjoy. Thanks for reading and following along and don’t forget to LIKE our Facebook page!

 

Thanks!

 

Neil

Monthly Income Update: November 2011

The DDI Portfolio does it again!

41 companies spread over a multitude of sectors including Oil Production, Real Estate, Consumer Staples, Pharmaceuticals and Telecom produced a total income for the DDI portfolio of $509.24 in Noevember.

With the exception of the passive income stream from the incoming dividends, the Daily Dividend Investor portfolio was fairly quiet in November – recording only one new purchase. Near the beginning of November I added 10 shares of Microsoft (ticker: MSFT) to the portfolio using the available cash on hand.

November News

November is the second month of the quarter which means I’ll be comparing it’s results to May and August looking back.

The good news for November is that once again the DDI portfolio exceeded the $500 mark in passive dividend income, marking the second straight quarter for month #2 to make it’s quota.

However, November was not strong enough to add on to the fantastic gains we had back in August when the DDI portfolio topped out at $527.18.

There were two holdings that negatively affected the results this month. Cal Maine Foods (ticker: CALM) has a floating dividend policy that is tied to the company’s quarterly results, as such this quarter was down slightly from the previous quarter.

Also, income from Sabine Royalty Trust (ticker: SBR) was lower this month due to the recent pull-back in oil prices at the beginning of Fall.

With signs of the economy strengthening, I expect both of these holdings to perform better in the months ahead.

Dividend Increases for Friday December 9, 2011

 

Daily Dividend Investor Update

 

To my loyal Daily Dividend Investor readers: Please note that I have migrated the site over to a managed server located at: www.dailydividendinvestor.com

 

I will continue to update this WordPress site with duplicate content for a few weeks,  but you may want to check in at my new hosted location for all the latest content. I am also using a better – easier to read theme that I hope you’ll enjoy. Thanks for reading and following along and don’t forget to LIKE our Facebook page!

 

Thanks!

 

Neil

Dividend Increases for Friday December 9, 2011

Finishing off the week of December 9th, seven more companies announced dividend increases, plus we saw Ford Motor Company (ticker: F) re-instate it’s quarterly dividend after several years of rebuilding it’s balance sheet.

Of the seven companies, two in particular stand out as notable: National Health Investors (ticker: NHI) and WP Carey (ticker: WPC) since both of these companies are already members of the DDI portfolio. With these two dividend increases today, the DDI portfolio continues to grow it’s payout organically.

As we watch those companies that continue to raise their dividends, we realize that these are often the most conservative companies, with strong balance sheets. As such, these stocks don’t always offer the higher yields, although today’s group has a few options to consider that offer yields in the 5% range.

Today’s List of Dividend Increases

The yield spread on today group of dividend increases ranges from Ford Motor (ticker: F) at 1.8% with it’s newly announced dividend up through National Health Investors (ticker: NHI) yielding 5.94%.

The one other household name in today’s bunch, HR Block (ticker: HRB) the tax preparation folks, bumped it’s dividend by 33% to $.80 with a yield of 5.02%.

For more detailed information about all of today’s dividend increases please refer to the chart below.

Investment Considerations

As always when evaluating investment opportunities it’s important to keep in mind not only the fundamentals of the stock itself, but also how the holding entity (Limited Partnership,Royalty Trust, Master Limited Partnership, Business Development Company, Preferred Stock) may affect the way you report income on your annual tax return as well as the amount or percentage of tax  you will be required to pay. Adding shares of any of these special entities to tax deferred / retirement accounts may also present additional issues.

Remember to review all of the fundamentals of any company BEFORE investing – do not simply buy a stock based on the dividend payout. If you have further questions about any stock mentioned her you should first consult with your CPA or tax planner / advisor before making any investments.

Dividend Increases for Thursday December 8, 2011

Dividend Increases for Thursday December 8, 2011

It’s been a busy day with 7 companies announcing dividend increases as we approach the end of 2011. Today’s mix includes a variety of sectors including Real Estate, Insurance, Natural Gas Tranportation, as well as Appliance and Paint manufacturing.

While none of the yields on any of today’s companies even reach 4%, the percentage increases range from 7 to 25% showing signs that more and more companies are becoming comfortable enough with their financial footing that they can begin to make significant increases to their quarterly payouts.

Today’s List of Dividend Increases

Horace Mann Education (ticker: HMN) tops the list today with an 18% increase in the dividend and a new payout at 3.8% yield.

Also of note is Roper Industries (ticker: ROP) You may know Roper Industries from one of the many household appliances they manufacture and sell in the US.

While the yield on Roper’s stock is a measly .65%, they deserve recognition for increasing their dividend by a whopping 25%! This may be company to add to your due-diligence list – as often times, low yielding plays like Roper Industries may outperform over the long-term if they are able to continue such rapid increases in the dividend payout.

Other Dividend Increases

Other companies that increased their dividend today included the financial services firm Ameriprise Financial (ticker: AMP) with a new yield of 2.37%. Enbridge (ticker: EWB), Erie Indemnity (ticker: ERIE), Strker Corp (ticker: SYK) and Valspar (ticker: VAL) were also included in today’s increases.

For more detailed information about today’s dividend increases please refer to the chart below.

Investment Considerations

As always when evaluating investment opportunities it’s important to keep in mind not only the fundamentals of the stock itself, but also how the holding entity (Limited Partnership,Royalty Trust, Master Limited Partnership, Business Development Company, Preferred Stock) may affect the way you report income on your annual tax return as well as the amount or percentage of tax  you will be required to pay. Adding shares of any of these special entities to tax deferred / retirement accounts may also present additional issues.

Remember to review all of the fundamentals of any company BEFORE investing – do not simply buy a stock based on the dividend payout. If you have further questions about any stock mentioned her you should first consult with your CPA or tax planner / advisor before making any investments.

Just TRY s#!7 – it’s OK to fail

I fail a LOT!

Let me say that again….I FAIL A LOT! Sometimes people ask me why I buy this stock or that stock or even why I’m even invested in stocks at all? The stock market is a casino, it’s rigged, it’s a scam.

It’s true, not every investment you make is going to rise – but the bottom line is, if you don’t TRY how will you ever know?

I once heard a great quote, “Show me a man who’s never lost money in an investment and I’ll show you a liar.”

The reality is you have to have vision and patience to be a successful investor. You have to take action and keep at it for a long time. Too many of us have become part of the “microwave” generation – we want what we want and we want it NOW! (or with the case of the microwave – within 30 seconds)

It’s why day-trading doesn’t work – when you invest your money, whether it be in stocks, oil, real estate, goats, stamps or Pokemon cards – you just can not be certain whether the next move your investment makes is up or down. You have to be willing to watch your investment fall before it rises or even rise before it falls. Over the short term, no one knows which way an investment will move.

But that’s where TIME comes in, it’s the great equalizer.

Lessons learned- Terra Nitrogen (ticker: THN)

Back in the late 1990′s I was looking for a few good income producing stocks to add to my portfolio. While watching NBR (Nightly Business Report) on my local PBS station one night I came across what looked to be a possible candidate: Terra Nitrogen (ticker: THN).

The stock was tradingin the $30-$40 range and was paying out a quarterly dividend of between $1-$3/share! I knew that this was a riskier play, but they looked to have a good niche business providing fertilizer products to mid-west farmers. I was pretty sure that farming would be around awhile and the payouts would likely continue. However by late 1998 because of some business problems the company cut it’s dividend to $ZERO and the stock price fell over the next few month, eventually reaching a low of $3.50.

My great income producer now not only wasn’t generating income, but the value of the shares had dropped by 90%! I felt vindicated that I had sold my shares in the $6 range, well off the lows. A long 2 years past and in 2000 the company reinstated a greatly reduced dividend of $.22/share. But the glory days had NOT returned – as this payout would last for only 3 quarters and then would take a 1 year break. This process of starting and stopping the reduced dividend payouts would continue until 2004 when the share price had eeked it’s way back up to $9/share and had raised it’s dividend to about $.50/share.

The business began to flourish again and the share price and dividend continued to rise. Today the quarterly payouts are again in the $1-$3 range and the share price is well above the $100/share mark. Not only has the payout increased but the shares have increased by over 2000% from their all time lows.

Commit to the long term

As I think back on this lesson, I am now recommitting to holding my positions in the DDI portfolio for the long term. For me long term is 20/30/40 years. I am optimistic that the current markets are offering good income producing shares that will continue to grow both cash flow and price appreciation over the duration of the DDI portfolio.

Bought: Investors Real Estate Trust (ticker: IRET)

Looking for niche plays

In continuing to “top off” many of my existing positions I went ahead and added 75 shares of Investors Real Estate Trust (ticker: IRET) to the DDI portfolio today.

Investors Real Estate Trust is probably one REIT you’ve never heard of because it focuses on a very small niche, owning properties in Minnesota and North Dakota. Because of it’s geographic focus, it may be well situated to benefit from the recent economic boom that has been going on in North Dakota within the oil industry.

Risk / Reward

I tend to favor REITs when looking for companies to add to the DDI portfolio because of the fact that they own hard assets which makes it more difficult (but not impossible) for the book value of the company to fall to $ZERO. To be completely honest, owning this stock is all about yield which is currently right around the 7% mark. Adding these shares will increase the first month quarterly payout by $9.75.

As I’ve mentioned before, because most of my individual positions are less that $1000 in value and since the portfolio is on track to make $500/month (and growing) – I’m comfortable with the risk/reward scenario that investing in these shares offers.

Conservative Plays

I’ll look to add on to one of my more conservative holdings for my next investment in an effort to balance the overall risk of the DDI portfolio. Overall the DDI portfolio continues to perform as expected, delivering over $500/month in income in both month 1 and month 3.

With the continued downward pressure on share prices I may begin to add additional outside funds so that I can capitalize on depressed share prices when the market offers them to me. Mostly this will be a function of how well or poorly my other income sources perform in the coming weeks and months. Ideally I would like to build the DDI portfolio up to $250k in base value before leaving it on auto-pilot to become a true unmanned cash flow machine!

Did you enjoy this post?

If so, you might want to check out some of my other recent buys including:

Gladstone Investment Corp

Century Link

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals
Or sign up for my email alerts each time the Daily Dividend Investor is updated!

The 9 positive things about today’s market CRASH

The 9 positive things about today’s market CRASH

Well, that was fun. About as much fun as a hot needle in the eye – ouch! Today‘s drop of over 500 points on the DOW wasn’t exactly the dead-cat bounce I was looking for after yesterday’s drop – but it *will* come.

The real question now seems to be what is going to help sustain this market from falling further? Well today there were at least nine positive factors, want to know what they were?