I just received my largest dividend payment ever.
Also, I invested over $3k in new stocks, during the recent market decline.
On top of this, my portfolio’s total return has actually increased since my last update,
while the broader market sold off.
Throughout this video, I’m going to explain exactly why I’m beating the market and provide
an update on the overall progress of my long-term dividend stock portfolio.
My name is Zach and you should leave a like and subscribe to the channel if you enjoy
the video.
These monthly portfolio updates document my dividend investing journey.
They help clarify my own strategy and hopefully motivate others to invest as well.
Before I start my analysis, I want to let everyone know that my dividend investing software
is available to the public as a free beta test.
This is what I use to analyze my portfolio, track my dividend income, and research stocks.
There is a full demo video on my channel and you can sign up at dividenddata.com.
My current portfolio value is $107,375, which is a 30.96% total return on dollars invested.
This is up 0.29% from last month, even though the S&P 500 is down over 5% in the same time
frame.
In fact, the index was down nearly 10% at one point.
My 2 largest holdings, Disney and AT&T are still in the red.
Disney’s down 6% overall and saw a large decline after Netflix’s earnings report.
I used this as a buying opportunity and acquired a few more shares, which we’ll discuss later.
AT&T is down 4.9% overall and just had a huge week of news.
It also happened to be the stock that paid me my largest individual dividend ever.
I’ll touch on both of those later in the video.
At a close 3rd place, we have Exxon Mobil which has now generated a total return of
116%.
This is by far my best investment.
Exxon just reported quarterly earnings and crushed it.
They had their highest earnings per share since 2014.
With Oil prices soaring and not showing signs of declining soon, Exxon will be a cash flow
machine over the coming year.
The company also just initiated a $10 billion stock buyback plan that’s expected to complete
over the next 1-2 years.
I’m not adding to my position at these prices, but excited to collect to reinvest my dividends.
All my energy stocks have been performing well.
With Chevron, I have a total return of 55% and they just had a 6% dividend increase.
With EPD, I have a 33% total return and they just had a 3.33% dividend increase.
My next 2 largest positions are Microsoft and Apple, which in my opinion are the highest
quality companies in the world.
Both just reported fantastic earnings.
Microsoft had fallen 15% from its high over the last month and I used that as a buying
opportunity.
With Kimberly-Clark, I have an 8% total return.
It’s down after their recent quarterly earnings.
The company is still seeing high input cost inflation, reducing its margins and earnings.
They’ve been combating this with price increases, but this is a lagging indicator.
I hope this issue will clear up sometime over the course of 2022.
3M has fallen over over the past few months and I think is now approaching an attractive
value.
At the bottom end of my portfolio, we can see 2 of my newer additions Visa and Intel.
These are positions I’m looking to add to, especially Intel at current prices.
Visa just posted great earnings, leading to a rally in stock price.
I’m going to be a buyer of dips.
The diversification of my portfolio has changed since the last update.
Consumer Defensive is still my largest sector, however, Energy has now grown to second.
This is closely followed by technology, consumer cyclical, and then communication services.
I now have financial services in my portfolio, thanks to the addition of Visa.
So why have I been beating the market lately?
It comes down to 2 main factors: My sizeable exposure to the Energy Sector and my preference
to invest in highly profitable companies.
Over the past month, the Energy Sector is up 23% while nearly every other sector is
in the red.
Over the last 3 months, the same story.
Consumer Staples is the second-best performing, which is my largest sector.
Over the last 6 months, the Energy sector has increased by over 40%.
This is due to rising oil prices and continued recovery from the lows of 2020.
I cover this in my video titled “The Rise of Oil & Gas Stock in 2022”.
As I mentioned, I prefer to invest in companies that reliably generate significant cash flow.
Speculative stocks and companies with no soon path to profitability have been getting destroyed
over the past 6 months.
Reliable Cash flow generation is a key aspect of my investing strategy, as it allows for
consistent cash returns to shareholders in the form of a dividend.
Speaking of this, let’s check out my dividend income.
I follow a dividend growth investing strategy, where I invest in companies that reliably
grow their dividend payments on an annual basis.
This builds a source of investment income, independent of the stock market price.
The best part is that it’s a compounding source of income.
You can reinvest your dividends, which acquires more shares, increasing your future dividend
payments in a repeating cycle.
On top of this, companies will increase their dividend payments over time only adding to
the compounding effect.
In total, I’ve earned $4,715 in dividends.
So far in 2022, I’ve earned $498.95.
My 3 month rolling average is $277.98, which projects out to an annual estimate of $3,335.72.
Here you can see how my dividend income has grown over time.
In January, I earned $236.88.
This included $55 from Kimberly-Clark, $20 from PepsiCo, $108 from Altria Group, $5.25
from O, and $46 from FRT.
The crazy thing is that my January dividend total was surpassed on the first day of February.
This was due to a $260 dividend from AT&T, which was my largest payment ever.
I reinvested this dividend, resulting in 10.6938 shares of the company.
This brings my total drip shares 33.73.
There was just huge news announced about AT&T Stock.
The company confirmed that they’d spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery in
Q2 2022.
For every 1 share of AT&T stock, you will receive 0.24 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery.
After this deal completes, the new AT&T annual dividend has been specified to be $1.11 per
share.
This is down from the current $2.08 per share.
If you’ve been following the channel, then you knew this day was coming.
I’m glad the information is now out and transparent.
However, this will be a significant hit to my dividend income over the short term.
AT&T was my largest dividend payer, making up 19% of my total earned dividends.
I do think this is the best long-term move for AT&T shareholders though.
I have plenty of upcoming dividends.
This month, I still $9.72 from Apple, $51.43 from EPD, and $5.29 from O. In march, I have
so many different companies with Exxon Mobil being the most notable at $132.96.
Finally, let’s go through all my new buys.
I bought 1 share of 3M at a cost of $162.28, 8 shares of Intel at an average cost per share
of $50.30, 5 Shares of Visa at a cost per share of $212.02, 4 Shares of Microsoft a
cost per share of $295.17, and 3 shares of Disney at a cost per share of $136.01.
In total, I invested $3,213.48.
I sold my practically non-existent position in Verizon to help fund this.
Not a criticism to the company, just wanted to use the cash to fuel some new buys.
Thank you for watching Dividend Data.
I’d greatly appreciate it if you leave a like and subscribe to the channel.
If you follow me on Twitter, link in the description, you can real-time updates of my buys and dividends
coming in.
You can sign up for DividendData.com and try out the free beta test of my dividend investing
software.
Link in the description.
Please leave a comment below and thank you for watching!