Any dividend growth investors out there?

[mef623]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar Good for you. When I was your age I hadn't even started saving for retirement. At 37 you should be primarily into equities. Obviously growth is your current objective and you should probably consider DRIP's to get the compounding effect of growth over an extended period.

$8 commissions and a good discount broker that reinvests my dividends in equities does tend to work out nicely!

Mike

[kybec29]

What are you buying/watching as a Dividend Growth Investor? Here are the 6 stocks that I'm focusing my 2010 investents on for current AND future income:

PM - Have some, will add below $48.00 (Strong growth, yield ~5%)
MO - Have some, will add lots below $19.25 (Strong FCF, yield ~7%)
XOM - Have some, will add below $68.00 (Strong FCF, yield +2.5%)
CVX - Initiate position at $76.00 (solid growth, +3.5% div)
WFC - Initiate position below $26 (future div growth)
JPM - Initiate position at below $41 (future div growth)

Will also be watching for...
GE - below $14.25 (to initiate position for future growth)
KO - below $52.00 (add to position)
PG - $58.00 (to initiate position)
JNJ - $59.00 (to add to postion)
ABT - below $46.00 (to initiate position)

[cardude]

Quote:

Danmar, at this stage you should be focused on disaster proofing your finances more than anything else

I agree. With that much saved my biggest concern would be to stress test the portfolio against the worst possible scenarios.

I don't think 100% equities is wise, and 2 years of cash does not seem near enough with that big of a portfolio and spend rate. What if your big(wow!) pension goes *poof* somehow?

I guess my main point is you've got more than enough, so why take the extra risk? Why not 50stock/50cash*fixed*risk-free to lessen the worry level?

[JPatrick]

I have three div stocks that don't cause me lost sleep.
DUK and SE for their solid yield.
EMR has a lesser yield, but a solid record of div increases.
Also nice is the fact that all have fee friendly DRIP programs.

As a public service, I'll refrain from sharing the nonsleepers.

[mef623]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kybec29 What are you buying/watching as a Dividend Growth Investor? Here are the 6 stocks that I'm focusing my 2010 investents on for current AND future income: PM - Have some, will add below $48.00 (Strong growth, yield ~5%) MO - Have some, will add lots below $19.25 (Strong FCF, yield ~7%) XOM - Have some, will add below $68.00 (Strong FCF, yield +2.5%) CVX - Initiate position at $76.00 (solid growth, +3.5% div) WFC - Initiate position below $26 (future div growth) JPM - Initiate position at below $41 (future div growth) Will also be watching for... GE - below $14.25 (to initiate position for future growth) KO - below $52.00 (add to position) PG - $58.00 (to initiate position) JNJ - $59.00 (to add to postion) ABT - below $46.00 (to initiate position)

My target is about 30 stocks, with the group diversified based on the industries' representation in the S&P. I'll post here once I've finished. High yield is nice, but consistent dividend growth is more important.

Mike

[popowich]

Example long term holdings are MO and KMP that have been a great dividend payers and growers at the same time for me.

I recently picked up some FTR at 7.50 which at that time made it a 13%+ dividend.

As long as the dividend holds I'll hang on to that one.

[DeborahB]

I guess I live a little closer to the edge but I watch these investments closely. I'm retiring in June or July at 62. Lately I've been buying dividend stocks, too. I bought most of these when they were a lot lower in price than they are now.

BPO CPNO EDE EGOV (for growth & income) EPR FGP OLN RAI WWE GE

Some of these are a bit speculative, I realize that. But I need high yields if I can get them, for now.

[jimnjana]

I previously mentioned BBEP as one of my MLP holdings, that had suspended distributions. Recently they announced that they had settled with KWK and that the distro will be reinstated at least at the $1.50 per unit level. That would be a yield over 10% at current level. I would expect that the distro will be increased as KWK is now the largest shareholder and they will have two of the seats on the Board of Directors. Might be worth a look.

[popowich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mef623 $8 commissions and a good discount broker that reinvests my dividends in equities does tend to work out nicely!

I missed the OP in my first response. To get the best long term value from dividend paying companies you should not be investing with a broker that charges commissions. I use Scottrade and their $7 trades for regular investing but you can get free trades and reinvestment from other companies. Do your own research to find one. I used to use Mellon Investing or something like that for some DRIP's but I can't seem to find their site now.. maybe they were one of the bank causalities. Anyway, you usually need to put up something like $1000 for an initial investment and then $50 monthly and then you automatically have an investment that is cost averaging over time with the dividends automatically purchasing new shares. I had a DRIP in HME set up this way for many years. I used to rent an apartment from them and at the time renters also got a 2% discount on the stock purchases.

[Brat]

Given the down equity market I looked again at dividend stocks. When I calculated the payout ratio (Div/Eps) I was stunned to find that STON, MMP and EPD paid out more than their earnings. What gives?

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat Given the down equity market I looked again at dividend stocks. When I calculated the payout ratio (Div/Eps) I was stunned to find that STON, MMP and EPD paid out more than their earnings. What gives?

STON and I believe MMP are MLPs, dunno about EPD. MLPs typically are run on the basis of cash flow and frequently are in businesses whose economics do not fit GAAP very well. So in the case of STON, they have a lot of non-cash expenses. A large one is the cost of the land as part of cost of goods sold when they sell a cemetary plot. The accounting requirement is to recognize a sizable charge against earnings. In actual fact, most of STON's properties have some astronomical number of years' sales worth of plots (100 years? can't remember but it is long) and of course the entire charge is not a cash cost they incur as you would if you were, say, a dealership selling a car. Most MLPs have similar types of issues.

The way to look at these businesses is to see if they can sustainably generate sufficient cash over time and whether they are overly levered.

[Zathras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by popowich ...To get the best long term value from dividend paying companies you should not be investing with a broker that charges commissions...

I disagree with the commission issue.
While it is always good to pay less, or nothing, in commissions, it is not nearly as critical to avoid them as it is with a more active trading method.
For example, if you pay $8 to buy 1000 shares and the dividends are reinvested without commission (is there any brokerage that charges for reinvestments?) that won't impact you much.
If you buy 1000 shares, sell 250 a little later, buy 500 more then sell 600 within a couple of years, commissions are going to play a much bigger role.

[jimnjana]

anybody in NZT? Adding small position as well as small position in PEI. Adding to BBEP and NYCB positions.

[kperkins]

sources for :dividend paying stocks
Dividend Aristocrats, Dividend Champions, Warren Buffet portfolio, compare against each other.

[KeyserSoze]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsingh6675 Does anyone own----- LINE (9% Div) CODI (10.5% Div) PDLI (14.4% Div) OTT (11.2% Div) NLY (16.5% Div) GOOD (11.5% Div) Please add more to this list.

I have positions in LINE & NLY... Good yield, consistent growth... LINE has been fluctuating with the energy sector, but growth should continue...

Here are my top dividend producing positions...

NLY - 16.32% Div
BX - 8.58% Div
LINE - 9.56% Div
AGNC - 22.12% Div

[jimnjana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze I have positions in LINE & NLY... Good yield, consistent growth... LINE has been fluctuating with the energy sector, but growth should continue... Here are my top dividend producing positions... NLY - 16.32% Div BX - 8.58% Div LINE - 9.56% Div AGNC - 22.12% Div

RSO - 14.5 %
NZT - 10.7 %
EVEP - 9.8 %

Top three right now, RSO Current Yield was approaching 20% a few weeks ago but a good quarter has the share price up several dollars per share. I didn't list AMY which currently has a value of "0" per share but is still paying a monthly dividend at a 50 cent per share annual rate.

[Ronnieboy]

Are most of these positions buy and hold forever? With the exception of a dividend getting suspended or cut, how much work does it entail to keep a watch on these?
Also, what is a good number of companies to keep in the 'dividend portfolio'?

[clifp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnieboy Are most of these positions buy and hold forever? With the exception of a dividend getting suspended or cut, how much work does it entail to keep a watch on these? Also, what is a good number of companies to keep in the 'dividend portfolio'?

Forever is a very long time, but I certainly think the that planned holding period should be longer than a Presidential terms. I cheat and subscribe to a dividend newsletter which reduces the amount of work. I don't blindly follow his advice (probably 1/2 the time for buying and 2/3s of the time for selling) but I do take his recommendation seriously. I generally hold between 30 and 40 individual issues and dividend stocks comprise about 35-45% of my portfolio. If you follow Bob Brinker's rule and make sure that no individual issue is more than 4% of your portfolio (Berkshire is an exception for me), than 10-20 dividend stocks can provide a meaningful amount of income without a huge individual issue risk.

[Zathras]

All depends on your investing style.
Keeping an eye on a companies cash flow, the boards attitude towards dividends, etc is always a good idea.
However, there are also very large, mature companies with very long histories of paying and increasing their dividends which you could consider buy and hold forever. However, there is ALWAYS some risk. So keeping an eye on the individual companies is a good idea.
The number of companies is up to you. Some will feel that you need at least 20 do get good diversification, other are more comfortable around a dozen. Some may prefer putting all their eggs in one basket, but in general that lack of diversification makes me shudder

[jimnjana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimnjana RSO - 14.5 % NZT - 10.7 % EVEP - 9.8 % Top three right now, RSO Current Yield was approaching 20% a few weeks ago but a good quarter has the share price up several dollars per share. I didn't list AMY which currently has a value of "0" per share but is still paying a monthly dividend at a 50 cent per share annual rate.

Update

Sold NZT (too volatile) and EVEP (fully valued, bought MHR,PEI, and OLP w/proceeds).

Currently own

RSO,PEI,OLP,NYB,PMT,PM,MO,DUK, BBEP and AMREIT