May has been one of the craziest and busiest months of my life. Not only have I been working long days (up to 14 hours/7 days a week) I have also closed on a house and moved in my spare time. The end of May marks a brief reprieve from the long hours at work. In the mean time I have missed out on many updates for you!.
April 2014 Dividend Income
The month of April marks my fourth month of investing in income and dividend growth stocks. April was my largest harvest yet and I totaled $66.55 of income compared to $14.97 from January. Compared to my spending of $1868.00 for April this dividend covers 3.56% of my total costs.
May Stock Purchases
Thanks to the healthy dose of overtime I was able to make many purchases in the month of May. May marks another month of investing in beleaguered income investments. While I would normally choose to place my money in stable dividend growth champions and aristocrats I could not ignore the prices of some of my favorite income stocks. I have been rewarded with capital appreciation of ~15% from my purchase of SDRL last month and hoped to continued the trend.
I purchased 200 shares of PSEC at a price of $10.55 per share. This increases my yearly forward dividend income by $264.96. PSEC currently boasts a $0.1104 per month dividend.
I purchased 31 shares of GLPI at a price of $34.28 per share. This increases my yearly forward dividend income by $64.48. GLPI currently boasts a $0.52 per quarter dividend.
I purchased 112 shares of AWLCF at a price of $22.24 per share. This increases my yearly forward dividend income by $515.20. AWLCF currently pays a dividend of $1.15 quarterly.
This is a total increase of $844.64.
The shares of PSEC were bought in two transactions. The first occurring the day before a 5% drop in share prices due to the announcement by the SEC. Shares are now down significantly to the $10.00 range. While I still like the company there are some important factors that need to be addressed before I will purchase more. I am currently less worried about the SEC investigation and squeeze on the BDC market overall from de-listing from major indices than I am about PSEC's ability to continue dividend coverage.
GLPI marks my first REIT purchase and exposes me to both the REIT and gaming industries.
AWLCF is my favorite offshore drilling play on the market at this time. The company pays the vast majority of its income from its two rigs out as dividends. This is quite possibly the most risky and intriguing play in my portfolio. The dividend is currently sitting over 20% and would absolutely be unsustainable if anything disastrous were to happen to either of the rigs. Currently both of the rigs are contracted out and receiving increased dayrates in the near future. I am under the opinion that AWLCF greatly benefits in the current tight offshore drilling market by having only two rigs, making it easier to secure contracts and maintain efficiency.
May Dividend Increases
Two positions in my portfolio increased dividends in May.
SDRL increased it's dividend from $0.98 to $1.00 this increase of ~2% marks the fifth quarterly increase in a row for the company. Shares of SDRL have also rebounded greatly in the last month and a half.
AWLCF increased its dividend from $1.10 to $1.15. This marks the third time that AWLCF has raised its income in the last year and is an increase of ~4.5%.
With these new purchases and dividend increases my current yearly forward dividend income is now $1799.37.
When I get access to internet on my personal PC again updates should return to the normal rate and I will update my portfolio page. Hopefully you all had a fantastic May!
My current watch list for June purchases: NAT, GM, VZ, RIG
Disclosure: Long AWLCF, GLPI, PSEC
Friday, May 30, 2014
Friday, May 9, 2014
April Spending Report 2014
With April come and gone It is time to report my monthly spending. These spending reports are one of my favorite segments because they help keep me honest. Any time I start to think about making an unnecessary purchase I remember that at the start of each new month I have to air it out for everyone to see and I risk missing my monthly goal of spending less than $2,200.
For the month of April I spent a total of $1868.76. This beats my goal and is my second lowest month of spending so far this year. Right now February came in at $5 cheaper (Darn Subway sandwich). I am absolutely ecstatic with this amount and hope to be able to continue the run going forward. My spending breakdown (courtesy of Mint) is as follows:
Major notable differences include:
- The utilities category where I managed to only spend $256.81, this includes heat/power/cell phone/internet service. This has been decreased by switching from my $55 verizon plan to a $12 per month Republic Wireless plan which was also a significant boost in quality of service. The coming of spring has also helped to knock down my heating bill significantly.
- I also switched car insurance companies to a company called Metro Mile which provides deeply discounted car insurance based on how much (or in my case how little) you drive. As you can see I didn't get out and drive much this month (working 90 hour weeks will do that to you). With this change I am saving ~$20 per month. I am about a 5 minute walk from my office/groceries so that really cuts down on my monthly commute expenses. At this point the only reason I maintain a car is for the occasional camping/hiking/paddle boarding adventure.
- I spent slightly more money this month on entertainment and bought my pet parrot a treat.
- Misc expenses include the cost of filing my state taxes.
This morning I finished signing paperwork for the purchase of a new house. This should knock about $170 off my monthly Home cost and will significantly decrease my heating costs in the near future. The downside will be a few months of increased misc spending as I purchase necessary home items (insulation, curtains, furnace filters, lawn mower, etc.)
I hope you all had a fantastic April!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Chevron Gave me a Raise!
I would like to take a moment to thank Chevron Corp. (CVX) for giving me a 7% raise this year. Chevron has increased their dividends from $1.00 per share up to $1.07 per share. This is one of those warm fuzzy moments that occur multiple times a year when you invest in strong dividend growth stocks.
I personally own 9 shares of Chevron so this raise will net me an extra $2.52 per year. It doesn't seem like much but these raises add up tremendously year after year. I plan on putting this money to good use in my future purchases. So thank you Chevron for the extra cash, I will buy half a Subway sandwich in your honor. My yearly dividends going forward have increased to $942.29
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