There is only one word that can sum up our dividend portfolio for the month of February, “blah”!
We could probably end this blog quickly as this was just one of those months where nothing exciting really happened. The only exception is that our dividend from ABBV hit a small milestone and continues to be our top performer. February is typically a slow dividend month in general and our contributions to the portfolio were abysmal on top of that. While we managed to eke out some small year over year growth it wasn’t very impressive as you will soon see.
Even more frustrating is that there are so many opportunities to pick up shares of some great dividend companies right now with JNJ, MMM and others trading at low levels. But it’s no money, no funny time for us as our income sources for funding this account are as dry as death valley in July and there is no
But we have obligated ourselves to providing monthly updates nonetheless so let’s get to gettin’ and see where we stand as of the end of February.
Our dividend portfolio ending February 2023:
| Symbol | # Of Shares | Change From Prior Month |
| ABBV | 13.854 | 0.133 |
| ABR | 25.456 | 4.000 |
| BKH | 3.135 | – |
| DOW | 9.638 | – |
| EPD | 4.018 | 0.018 |
| FRT | 6.235 | – |
| GIS | 5.25 | 0.036 |
| IBM | 3.23 | – |
| IRM | 12.983 | – |
| JEPI | 11.619 | 0.094 |
| JNJ | 6.228 | – |
| K | 2.106 | – |
| KHC | 5.297 | – |
| KMB | 2.109 | – |
| KO | 2.106 | – |
| MAIN | 10.495 | 0.059 |
| MMM | 7.359 | – |
| MO | 12.173 | – |
| MPW | 14.991 | – |
| O | 5.291 | 0.020 |
| QYLD | 31.293 | – |
| SCHD | 10.074 | – |
| SO | 2.129 | – |
| SPTN | 6.334 | – |
| T | 15.405 | 0.193 |
| VTRS | 10.319 | – |
| WBD | 3 | – |
| XOM | 5.259 | – |
In the month of February we received dividends from ABBV, EPD, GIS, JEPI, MAIN, O and T totaling $36.34. All dividends received were reinvested into the underlying positions. As we mentioned, our dividend payment from ABBV hit a small milestone as it was over the $20 mark for the first time. This is also a first for our portfolio when it comes to a single payment received so that’s another small milestone reached on a portfolio level. Year to date we have now received dividends totaling $87.78 which is about a 31% increase from the same two month period in 2022. Overall, not a bad start to the year when it comes to dividend growth!
New purchases in February were not very impressive as we only managed to scrounge up a few dollars that could be put to work. As such, we only added to our position in ABR(4) as it’s a position we are trying to build up to 100 shares so we can eventually start doing options trades and generate some extra income.
On a year over year basis for the month of February our dividend distributions increased a paltry 8.87%. However, there are a couple of moving parts to this number when we dig into the details that should be noted.
| Stock | February 2022 | February 2023 | YOY Growth % |
| ABBV | $18.63 | $20.31 | 9.02% |
| EPD | – | $0.49 | 49.00% |
| GIS | $2.58 | $2.82 | 9.30% |
| JEPI | $0.00 | $5.12 | 412.00% |
| O (m) | $1.00 | $1.31 | 31.00% |
| QYLD (m) | $4.25 | $0.00 | -100.00% |
| T | $6.92 | $3.94 | -43.06% |
| Total | $33.38 | $36.34 | 8.87% |
First and foremost the dividend cut that took place from AT&T (T) last year was a little bit of a hit and reduced our dividend for that holding by 43% year over year. Additionally, the February dividend distribution for QYLD is being paid in March this year which had a further negative impact on our year over year growth number.
On the positive side we have ABBV (+9%), GIS (+9%) and a very solid result from O (+31%) all helping us overcome these challenges and still giving us positive growth for the month. Taking all of this into consideration the fact that we had any growth year over year for February should be considered a positive as it wasn’t a great comp.
At the end of the month our dividend portfolio was valued at $12,786. This is a 24.79% increase from February of 2022 and a 1.82% decrease from the previous month end. With the new share purchases and reinvestments our dividend portfolio will now provide projected annual dividend income (PADI) of $691 or $57 per month on average. This is an annual increase of $9 or $0.75 per month on average from our last update. Our yield on cost (YOC) is now 5.48% which is a slight increase of 0.03% from January. We just didn’t have the purchasing power to make many moves in our portfolio this month so everything was pretty flat.
| Month | 2022 | 2023 | YOY % Change |
| February | $10,246.29 | $12,786.31 | 24.79% |
| Month | Year | Portfolio Value | MOM % Change |
| January | 2023 | $13,023.98 | -1.82% |
| February | 2023 | $12,786.31 |
Looking forward to March, we should see a nice month when it comes to dividend income and reinvestments as we have a good number of payers lined up for that month. However, the problem we will continue to have for the foreseeable future is funding the purchase of new shares and adding to our positions. We will do what we can with what we have but unless something changes it won’t be much, if anything, in some months.
Thank you for reading our blog. Please leave any comments or questions below.
Happy Investing!!
Joe
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I love ABBV. I received a total of $35 from ABBV last month. Overall my dividends were around $1,500. I’m lucky because I have a military pension, so I can go all in on my dividend portfolio. Great update.
That’s awesome! It’s been a great stock to own for sure and one position I would love to build up if we had the resources.
It takes a lot of time to build up a dividend portfolio that will pay off significantly. I feel your pain a bit in not having resources to reinvest. Inflation and upcoming remodeling and repair expenses (necessary, not just for fun), are draining my disposable income. Hang in there… it gets better with time.
Thanks for reading our blog! We have been able to buy shares on a consistent basis until recently but everything has kind of come to a halt unfortunately. Hopefully it will pick back up with camping season around the corner as that’s what gives us a bit of a boost unusually.