Well, let’s get this dividend portfolio update out of the way. As you probably know, and maybe experienced, September was an awful month for investment holdings. Pretty much everything was down with the only exception maybe being oil and refinery stocks. On the bright side that means it was also a great time to buy and build up some positions.
There wasn’t much in terms of news in September. This put the focus squarely on the federal reserve and that’s never a good thing. There is no better market killer than that band of bumbling idiots. While they didn’t increase the funds rate this time around they opened their mouths which is usually just as bad. As expected, in the aftermath of the fed meeting and the J. Powell news conference, brought to you by Apple iPad, the markets tanked.
REITs in particular took a massive beating as interest rates continue to rise which makes servicing their debt more difficult. As such, some of our favorite stocks went on sale and we tried to take advantage of this and add to our position in O. In the end we were only able to add a couple of shares which was a little disappointing. Investable funds continue to be hard to come by and has put a damper on our buying. Looking ahead it’s only going to get more difficult with summer coming to an end and everything in the RV world slowing down.
Our Dividend Portfolio Month Ending September 2023:
| Symbol | Qty | Change From Prior Month |
| ABBV | 14.13 | – |
| ABR | 32.212 | – |
| BKH | 3.237 | 0.037 |
| DOW | 10.022 | 0.158 |
| EPD | 5.208 | – |
| FRT | 6.372 | – |
| GIS | 5.324 | – |
| IBM | 3.349 | 0.037 |
| IRM | 13.277 | – |
| JEPI | 13.233 | 0.081 |
| JNJ | 6.368 | 0.047 |
| K | 2.165 | 0.021 |
| KHC | 5.477 | 0.064 |
| KMB | 2.145 | – |
| KO | 2.138 | – |
| MAIN | 11.938 | 0.067 |
| MMM | 9.723 | 0.133 |
| MO | 13.67 | 1.000 |
| MPW | 17.016 | – |
| O | 10.473 | 2.039 |
| QYLD | 33.889 | 0.347 |
| SCHD | 10.347 | 0.094 |
| SO | 2.196 | 0.023 |
| SPTN | 6.511 | 0.063 |
| T | 16.97 | – |
| VICI | 6 | – |
| VTRS | 19.74 | 3.166 |
| VZ | 3.039 | – |
| WBD | 3 | – |
| XOM | 5.39 | 0.042 |
September is a great month in general for dividends and we had some good payments hit our account. During the month we received dividend payments from BKH, DOW, IBM, JEPI, JNJ, K, KHC, MAIN (2), MMM, O, QYLD, SCHD, SO, SPTN VTRS and XOM. Our dividend payments for the month totaled $74.27 and all proceeds were reinvested into the underlying positions with one exception. For some reason the special dividend from MAIN went into our cash account. This isn’t the first time this has happened with a special dividend. For some reason they never reinvest and we don’t know why. It’s not a big deal as we can redirect funds manually, just kind of annoying.
We tried to make the best out of what we had in September and added to our existing positions in MO (1), O (2) and VTRS (3). O has sold off in remarkable fashion along with all of the other REITs so we had to grab some more. We continue to try and build up our position in VTRS as that should be a great long term dividend growth story. Management continues to focus on returning to growth, reducing debt and returning capital to shareholders. And with a messily payout ration in the teens there is plenty of room to grow the dividend. As for MO, it went down and they are like old faithful when it comes to dividends so we grabbed another share. No new positions were started in the month.
Year to date we have received dividend payments totaling $529.80. This is a 42% increase over the same nine month period in 2022. On a year over year basis our dividend portfolio distributions grew 34.04% for the month of September. Even better news is that we have already surpassed our total dividend payout for 2022! The last three months will be icing on the cake for a good year!
| Stock | September 2022 | September 2023 | YOY Growth % |
| BKH | $1.83 | $2.00 | 9.29% |
| DOW | $6.56 | $6.93 | 5.64% |
| IBM | $5.20 | $5.50 | 5.77% |
| JEPI | $3.42 | $4.45 | 30.12% |
| JNJ | $6.95 | $7.52 | 8.20% |
| K | $1.22 | $1.26 | 3.28% |
| KHC | $2.07 | $2.17 | 4.83% |
| MAIN (m) | $1.95 | $6.01 | 208.21% |
| MMM | $10.71 | $14.39 | 34.36% |
| O (m) | $1.03 | $2.15 | 108.74% |
| QYLD (m) | $4.43 | $5.77 | 30.25% |
| SCHD | $1.91 | $6.71 | 251.31% |
| SO | $1.42 | $1.52 | 7.04% |
| SPTN | $1.31 | $1.39 | 6.11% |
| VTRS | $0.85 | $1.63 | 91.76% |
| XOM | $4.55 | $4.87 | 7.03% |
| Total | $55.41 | $74.27 | 34.04% |
As you can see all of our positions had really nice year over year growth. Positions such as DOW, IBM, JNJ, K, KHC, SO, SPTN and XOM are all natural. As much as we would love to buy more whole shares of these positions we haven’t been able to in a long time. Instead we have focused on growing other positions like MAIN, O, SCHD and VTRS. As you can see these are driving excellent growth in our dividend payments for the month.
Now for the not so fun part of this dividend portfolio update. At the month end for September 2023 our dividend portfolio was valued at $13,553,58. This is a 2.34% decrease from August 2023. The stinks, but if we take a wide view it’s not so bad. On a year over year basis our portfolio value increased by 27.62% from September 2022.
Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and get some prospective. Month to month moves are not always pretty and can be a little distressing. However, if we pull back and see where we came from over the past year it’s a lot more comforting. A 27% increase is nothing to scoff at.
| Month | Portfolio Value | MOM % Change |
| August 2023 | $13,878.49 | -2.34% |
| September 2023 | $13,553.58 |
| Month | Portfolio Value | YOY % Change |
| September 2022 | $10,619.94 | 27.62% |
| September 2023 | $13,553.58 |
With the additional shares added to our positions and the reinvestment of dividends received our portfolio will now provide projected annual dividend income (PADI) of $794. That’s about $66 per month on average. This is an increase of $16.00 per year or $2 per month from our August 2023 update. Additionally, the yield on cost (YOC) for our portfolio increase by 0.02% to 5.61%.
Our PADI is starting to recover from the hit we took in our MPW position after the dividend cut. If all goes well we will surpass the $800 mark in next month. We have also set a goal to pass $1k before the end of 2024. Reaching our goal is going to be a tall order, but it is certainly achievable. I will be much easier if we can find a way to pick up the pace on our investable income a little.
That does it for our dividend portfolio update. It’s always exciting times when it comes to investing. We will try to take advantage of this opportunity with the markets sitting lower. It’s a great time to build up some positions and even start new ones in great companies that might have been out of reach before. $1,000 PADI here we come!
Thank you as always for reading our blog.
Happy Investing!
Joe
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