The first quarter of the year is in the books and that means it’s time for our March 2024 dividend portfolio update!
March is a big month for dividends as ya’ll know. We were hoping to check off a small milestone for our little dividend portfolio this month. Looking at our projected dividends at the start of March we were in line to have our very first one hundred dollar dividend month. However, the markets were closed on Good Friday which happens to be a day when some of our dividends were due to hit. Because of this we were either going to hit the goal or miss it by a few dollars depending on when the payments hit our account. So did we hit our milestone or did timing issues cause delayed gratification? We will get to the numbers in a moment and find out.
Before we get to the numbers we want to let our readers know that our lives are in a major state of flux at the moment. Normally we would save this stuff for our regular monthly update. However, with everything we have going on our March financial update blog might be a little delayed. It’s been near impossible for us to do any other posts aside from our monthly updates for awhile. As a matter of fact we have a back log of campground reviews we can’t even get to. Over the next couple of months we have a lot to take care of so our monthly updates might be delayed as well.
Just to bring everyone up to speed via the short short version. We are finishing up our work-camping gigs in Southern Texas. At the same time our home build in Northern Texas is picking up speed. We have obligations to attend to in Pennsylvania in late April and May which could have us there for a month. We will also be homeless once our RV goes on the lot for sale in a few days. And to add a layer of fun, the closest family we can stay with during the build process are located in Utah.
As you can see, things are pretty crazy at the moment and geography is not our friend. Quite honestly, it’s been overwhelming and will probably stay that way for a couple of months. All we can do right now is take everything one day at a time. Hopefully, things will settle down and be more routine once summer rolls around. Ok, probably not, but one can hope.
Let’s check out our March 2024 dividend portfolio update numbers!
Our Dividend Portfolio Month Ending March 2024:
| Symbol | Description | Quantity | Change From Prior Month |
| ABBV | ABBVIE INC | 14.4724 | – |
| ABR | ARBOR REALTY TR REIT | 34.4041 | 1.1081 |
| BKH | BLACK HILLS CORP | 5.3534 | 0.0667 |
| DOW | DOW INC | 10.284 | 0.1251 |
| EPD | ENTERPRISE PRODS PART LP | 5.307 | – |
| FRT | FEDERAL REALTY INVT TR REIT | 6.5193 | – |
| GIS | GENERAL MILLS INC | 5.421 | – |
| IBM | IBM CORP | 3.4119 | 0.0293 |
| IRM | IRON MTN INC NEW REIT | 13.5564 | – |
| JEPI | JPMORGAN EQUITY PREMIUM INCOME ETF | 14.6795 | 0.0769 |
| JNJ | JOHNSON & JOHNSON | 6.4638 | 0.0476 |
| K | KELLANOVA | 2.2106 | 0.0231 |
| KHC | KRAFT HEINZ CO | 5.535 | – |
| KMB | KIMBERLY CLARK CORP | 2.1868 | – |
| KO | THE COCA-COLA CO | 2.1727 | – |
| MAIN | MAIN STREET CAPITAL | 12.338 | 0.0637 |
| MMM | 3M CO | 10.018 | 0.1512 |
| MO | ALTRIA GROUP INC | 14.7725 | – |
| MPW | MEDICAL PROPERTIES REIT | 18.223 | – |
| O | REALTY INCOME CORP REIT | 12.7459 | 0.0624 |
| QYLD | GLOBAL X FUND GLB X NSDQ100 CVD ETF | 35.9397 | 0.3530 |
| SCHD | SCHWAB US DIVIDEND EQUITY ETF | 22.6578 | 2.1653 |
| SO | SOUTHERN CO | 2.2397 | 0.0224 |
| SPTN | SPARTANNASH CO | 6.6413 | 0.0709 |
| T | A T & T INC | 17.5399 | – |
| VICI | VICI PROPERTIES INC | 7.1805 | – |
| VTRS | VIATRIS INC | 21.8574 | 0.2180 |
| VZ | VERIZON COMMUNICATN | 3.1448 | – |
| WBD | WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVER | 3 | – |
| XOM | EXXON MOBIL CORP | 5.4894 | 0.0474 |
In the month of February we received dividend payments from ABR, BKH, DOW, IBM, JEPI, JNJ, K, MAIN (2), MMM, O, QYLD, MMM, SO, SPTN, VTRS and XOM. Unfortunately, the dividend for KHC didn’t hit our account until April due to the holiday. Because of this we missed getting to $100 for the month by a measly $1.24! Our dividend payments for March totaled $98.76 and all receipts were reinvested back into the underlying positions. The only exception was the special dividend from MAIN. Still not sure why special dividends don’t reinvest through Schwab?
Year over year for the month of March we saw an increase of 21.28% in our dividend payments. Most of our positions had solid year over year growth. While the KHC dividend didn’t hit our account in time we were helped by MAIN which paid a special dividend. The only real laggard year of year was JEPI which has had a lower distribution due to the lack of volatility for options trading. That’s not a bad problem to have as that typically means the markets are moving up.
| Stock | March 2023 | March 2024 | YOY Growth % |
| ABR | $10.18 | $14.32 | 40.67% |
| BKH | $1.96 | $3.44 | 75.51% |
| DOW | $6.75 | $7.11 | 5.33% |
| IBM | $5.33 | $5.62 | 5.44% |
| JEPI | $4.78 | $4.39 | -8.16% |
| JNJ | $7.04 | $7.64 | 8.52% |
| K | $1.24 | $1.23 | -0.81% |
| KHC | $2.12 | $0.00 | -100.00% |
| MAIN (m) | $4.21 | $6.65 | 57.96% |
| MMM | $11.04 | $14.90 | 34.96% |
| O (m) | $1.35 | $3.25 | 140.74% |
| QYLD (m) | $10.58 | $6.33 | -40.17% |
| SCHD | $6.01 | $13.13 | 118.47% |
| SO | $1.45 | $1.55 | 6.90% |
| SPTN | $1.36 | $1.43 | 5.15% |
| VTRS | $1.24 | $2.60 | 109.68% |
| XOM | $4.79 | $5.17 | 7.93% |
| Total | $81.43 | $98.76 | 21.28% |
It was a very slow month for funds which limited our ability to add to our positions. In fact the only thing we did in March was purchase our regular shares of SCHD (2) with each paycheck. We have a couple of bucks in our account, but nothing really looked attractive for the amount of cash we have on hand. So we will just let that carry over into April and see what happens.
At the end of March 2024 our dividend portfolio was valued at $16,974.54. This is a 5.52% increase from month ending February 2024. Yet another new high for our portfolio! Again, it would be great to keep this trend going, but c’mon!
| Month | Portfolio Value | MOM % Change |
| February 2024 | $16,086.16 | 5.52% |
| March 2024 | $16,974.54 |
On a year over year basis our dividend portfolio value increased by 31.02%. It would be wonderful to push right through the $17k mark in April. However, I would be shocked if we didn’t have some sort of pullback after this run. New month, new quarter and questionable economic data?
| Month | Portfolio Value | YOY % Change |
| March 2023 | $12,955.32 | 31.02% |
| March 2024 | $16,974.54 |
With the additional shares added and the reinvestment of all dividends received our portfolio will now provide projected annual dividend income (PADI) of about $870. This is just over $72 per month on average and an $11 per year increase from last months update. Our yield on cost (YOC) decreased by 0.01 to 5.52% as we continue to purchase shares of SCHD.
We have fallen behind in our goal to reach $1,000 in PADI by the end of 2024. By this time we should have added $42 in order to stay on track. As of the end of March we have only added about $33. It’s not the end of the world and there is still a lot of time to catch up. However, with everything we have going on it’s getting hard to see how we are going to get back on track.
In April we will have a couple more scheduled buys of SCHD. Those will be from our final paychecks and then that income stream is gone. With the loss of those funds and a lack of time to work on generating more investible income we will have our work cut out for us.
Goals are great, but they are not the end of the world. As long as we keep moving in the right direction that’s what really matters. Investing is a marathon not a sprint after all. But, we haven’t given up on reaching $1k by the end of 2024. We will do what we can to try and get there. Even if we fall a little short of $1k it will still be a successful year.
Happy Investing!
Joe
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