Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Monthly Review: July 2012

Here is a review of what happened in July:

Dividends: I received a total of $119.48 in dividends from the following stocks:
  • CNI: $6.23
  • GPC: $24.75
  • ITW: $14.40
  • KO: $15.30
  • MDT: $14.30
  • PM: $38.50
  • UNP: $6.00
This was a pretty good month for dividends. I now have a year-to-date total of $819.88, which puts me 63.1% of the way toward my goal of receiving $1,300 in dividends for 2012.

Dividend Increases: No dividend increases were announced in July for any of my stocks.

Savings: This month I saved $1,626 (54.7%) of my net income, which represents a nice rebound in my savings rate after two below-average months. This results in year-to-date savings of $9,932, which puts me 82.8% of the way toward my goal of $12,000 in savings for 2012. I was also pleasantly surprised to get a small pay raise ($54 per month), so my net income is now slightly higher.

Transactions: I bought one stock this month (click on the transaction to see my post about it): This purchase doubles my position in HRL and will increase my annual dividend income by $30. I did not sell any stocks for the 7th consecutive month.

Portfolio: My portfolio currently consists of 22 stocks and has a market value of $56,536.73 (including cash), which is a 4.3% increase over last month's value. A little less than half of the increase came from capital gains and the rest came from dividends and new capital.

Seeking Alpha: I published two new articles on the investing website Seeking Alpha (click on the titles to go to the articles): In July I earned a total of $108.27 from these articles and additional page views of my previous articles. I also received a quarterly payment of $343.94 for page views of my articles from April to June. My year-to-date total is currently $452.21.

Looking Ahead: I anticipate that August will be my best month for dividends in 2012, mainly because I will be receiving my first semi-annual dividend from VOD. My savings rate will probably be decent, although I went on a road trip to visit friends at the start of the month (hence the delay in posting this review), so travel expenses will lower my savings a bit. Due to my strong savings in July and the quarterly income from Seeking Alpha, I will have enough cash to make two or three purchases in August. However, I do not see much in the way of great buying opportunities in the market at the moment. I may consider adding to one or two existing positions in my portfolio, but for the time being I am inclined to wait for a broad market dip.

8 comments:

  1. Congrats on the raise and the success at Seeking Alpha! I read articles over there from time to time and finally made an account. HA!

    I recently started looking at ADM which seems like a good deal at the moment. Amazingly enough it's trading below book value. Usually I'll monitor something on my watch list for a while before jumping in which makes me hesitant with ADM. I know the drought has caused problems for the company, but have you considered adding more shares? I'd be interested in your thoughts.

    Thanks,

    CI

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    Replies
    1. Hi Compounding Income,

      Thanks for your comment! I have been watching ADM closely and their recent earnings report was pretty much as I expected. The drought is having a negative effect on earnings, but I consider that to be a short-term problem rather than a sign of long-term weakness.

      I have indeed been thinking about buying more shares. I noticed that since the start of August there have been three large purchases (each about $100,000) by insiders, so management must think the stock is a bargain. As you mention, it's been trading slightly below book value lately, which is something I don't see very often with dividend growth stocks.

      My plan right now is to keep watching ADM and see what happens in the broader market during August. I think the market is due for a dip, so I want to have cash available in case that happens. However, if ADM continues to go down (despite its 3% rally today), then I am very likely to make a purchase.

      Cheers,

      Deedubs

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  2. Great job D! I've been on a road trip of sorts myself. About time for it to come to an end.

    Wishing you a great August.

    The Stoic

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    Replies
    1. Hi Stoic,

      Thanks, I hope your road trip was as enjoyable as mine. It's nice to get away once in a while, although I have no more travel planned for the next few months. I hope you have a great August, too!

      Cheers,

      Deedubs

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  3. Deedubs,

    Another great month. Congrats on the excellent savings rate. I have had a rough summer on that front with a reduced income and higher expenses. I'll be getting back to it very soon.

    Echoing the above comment, ADM doesn't look too bad here. It's hard to find value right now. I'm a little concerned about SYY, but that's another one that's sitting in decent value territory.

    Keep up the excellent work!

    Best wises.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Dividend Mantra,

      Thanks for your comment. I was glad to see a return to a higher savings rate, especially above 50%. Sorry to hear about the rough spot in savings for you this summer. It seems like that happens for everyone at some point during the year; for me it was in May and June, and I expect December will not be good. However, I should be able to maintain a decent savings rate over the next few months.

      I agree that it's hard to find value in the market at the moment. Besides ADM, I am also keeping a close watch on GD, GIS, and MCD; in fact, those are the only stocks in my portfolio that I can average down on. I am not seeing much in the way of attractively valued stocks to add to my portfolio, although your mention of SYY reminds me that I have looked at it recently. It's a bit frustrating but I feel I just need to be patient for a while.

      Cheers,

      Deedubs

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  4. Great month, in both dividends and savings rate. Looks like you are well on track of meeting your goals.

    I'm also looking forward to the dividends in August. Finally, AAPL will be making a payment! ;)

    Cheers!

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    Replies
    1. Hi FI Fighter,

      Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. I'm sure there are plenty of AAPL shareholders looking forward to their first dividend payment in years!

      Cheers,

      Deedubs

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