Thursday, January 9, 2014

Monthly Review: December 2013

Here is a review of what happened in December:

Dividends: I received a total of $365.16 in dividends from 15 stocks, as indicated on my Dividends page. This represents a 53.8% increase compared with the same month a year ago. My 2013 dividend total ended up at $2,509.20, which is 52.1% higher than my 2012 dividend total.

Dividend Increases: I was pleased to see dividend increases announced for the following stocks (click on each stock to see my post about the increase):
  • VTR: 8.2% increase, $8.80 more in annual dividend income
  • T: 2.2%, $2.20
  • O: 0.2%, $0.48
Dividend increases occurred for 34 of the 35 stocks in my portfolio in 2013.

Contributions: I contributed $1,475 in new capital for investment, which was deposited in my taxable account. My 2013 contribution total was $18,965 (excluding rollover money), which is an average of $1,580 per month. Despite variation in my contributions during the year, I managed to slightly exceed the $18,300 total that I contributed in 2012.

Transactions: I made four purchases during the month (click on the transactions to see my posts about them): It was nice to put more of my rollover money to work and diversify my REIT exposure by purchasing ARCP and VTR. I also appreciated the opportunity to average down on the KMI position in my taxable account. These purchases will increase my annual dividend income by $397.60. My forward 12-month dividend total is $3,912.

Portfolio: My portfolio (taxable account and Roth IRA together) consists of 35 stocks and has a market value of $133,393.47 (including cash), which is a 3.2% increase over last month's value. The combined value of my 403(b) and 401(a) retirement plans is $5,577.94, all of which is invested in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund.

Seeking Alpha: I did not publish any new articles on the investing website Seeking Alpha. However, I earned $8.62 from page views of previous articles, increasing my Q4 total to $178.29 (to be paid in January) and my 2013 total to $1,149.30. Given that I wrote nine articles in 2013, that works out to average earnings of $127.70 per article.

Looking Ahead: January's dividend total will be more than double what I received in the same month a year ago. Dividend increases might be announced by CNI and HCP before month's end. I will likely contribute some new capital to my taxable account, but I still have over $9,700 in cash sitting in my Roth IRA. None of the stocks on my watch list are currently at my target prices, although a few stocks are getting close (within 3%), so I am not sure when (or what) my next purchase will be. With the start of earnings season, I am hoping that Mr. Market knocks on my door with a few good investment opportunities.

18 comments:

  1. DGM,
    Excellent year-over-year growth and some nice pick-ups. Good to see you back. I hope you had a great holiday season.
    -RBD

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    1. RBD: Thank you. My holiday break was good, but it took a while to get back into a routine once I returned. With the start of a new semester, I am also very busy at work right now, hence the tardiness of blog updates.

      I hope the holidays were nice for you, too. Best wishes for your investing in 2014!

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  2. Congrats on all the dividend income, DGM. Keep it up

    R2R

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    1. R2R: Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement. I wish you the best for your investing in 2014.

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  3. Hi DGM, Good to see the monthly review. When time permits are you planning to do the yearly summary, with overall progress being on track and additional analysis of stocks in the portfolio. Thx much

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    1. Div Investor: You're welcome. I will be writing my annual review soon, so stay tuned. Things are busy at work now that a new semester has started and I find that I'm tired when I get home everyday, so I haven't been able to spend much time on investing-related activities lately. Hopefully things will lighten a bit by the end of the month. Good luck with your investing this year!

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  4. Solid performance. Best of luck in 2014!

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    1. Dream: Thank you, and best wishes for your investing in 2014!

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  5. Heck of a year DGM! I'm glad you were able to step away for a couple of weeks and enjoy the holiday break. Looking forward to seeing you destroy 2014!

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    1. w2r: Thank you. On the one hand, it was good to have a holiday break. On the other hand, it was difficult to get back into a routine once I returned. That said, I seem to be resettled now and I hope to make more time for investing activities.

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  6. Hi DGM,

    Your values ​​are fantastic!
    18,965 USD contribution is a lot of money!
    You give correct gas! :-)

    I have bought today MCD for ~95,90 USD (70,47 EUR).
    Now, I can pay my monthly hamburger through their dividend ;-)

    regards
    D-S

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    1. D-S: Thanks -- it felt good to be able to invest a lot of new capital during the year. I am hoping I can exceed that contribution total in 2014.

      Nice purchase of MCD. If the stock were to dip, then I would consider making another purchase for my portfolio.

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  7. DGM,

    Firing on all cylinders, my friend. $18k+ in contributions, $2,500+ in dividends and almost every single company raising its dividend. You're on the path to serious wealth creation here. :)

    Best of luck throughout 2014. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

    Best regards.

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    1. DM: Thank you, I appreciate the feedback and encouragement. I hope that 2014 turns out to be a great year for your investing, too! I see you have set some solid goals for yourself and I look forward to watching the progress you make toward achieving them throughout the year.

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  8. DGM,

    Those year over year numbers look great. The numbers of companies you own that have increased dividends is impressive!

    I've noticed you have been loading up on some nice reit purchases in recent months. Do you see any other sectors right now that look like good opportunites?

    I too hope that HCP raises it dividend soon. I have purchase shares twice in the last six months. Once at 43.50 and recently at 37.00. Hopefully this company is become more stable at these levels. A dividend hike will do wonders I think.

    Keep up the great work!

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    1. Pipeline: Thank you. I did indeed load up on REITs during the fourth quarter, mainly due to their attractive valuations and the influx of rollover money in my Roth IRA. Collectively, they now make up 10% of my portfolio, which is a satisfactory weight, so I am looking at opportunities elsewhere. The energy sector remains attractive (I bought more CVX yesterday), as does the retail industry (e.g., TGT and WMT). I am also watching PM, which has fallen to a new 52-week low and is tempting me.

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  9. Nice review. It gives me a perspective compared to my own accounts. Great work. I hope you will have even better 2014 year and you reach all your goals. I like your dividend income!

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    1. Martin: Thanks for your comment. I hope 2014 is a good year for your investing, too!

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