Dividend Income – April 2015

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Now into the 4th month of the new year, my dividend income machine is cruising a long. While I have been busy investing new money into the market for the past four months, the stocks I already own have been working hard for me without any effort on my part. The companies that I own have been continually raising their annual dividends which has helped accelerate the growth of my portfolio.

Even if I stopped investing any new money today, the stocks I already own don’t ever stop working for me!

Here are my results for April, 2015 –

2015 April Dividend Income Results

My April dividend income took another positive step forward. While I did not set any new monthly records for dividend income this month (like in March), I still see a ton of growth in my portfolio. I came close to hitting triple digits this month and will most certainly be there next April.

For reference purposes, I like to look back and compare my dividend totals from the same month over the past couple of years. This helps me see the growth of the Money Sprout Index and helps me stay motivated in meeting my goals.

Here are my dividend income earnings for the month of April from the past 3 years and my total for 2015 –

April 2015 Dividend Income – $92.69

As you can see from my previous years results, I have continued to see steady growth over the past 4 years – which is a great sign.

I was able to increase my April dividend income compared to last year by 19.4%! This is no surprise since I have been pumping money into the stock market for over the past year now. These types of increases help me see the fruits of all the new money that is being invested.

Here is the breakdown of dividend income (by stock) in April, along with the number of new shares added from DRiP –

  • Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) – $33.20 (.62 shares)
  • Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (DPS) – $.17 ($.17 cash LOYAL3)
  • The Coca-Cola Company (KO) – $4.49 ($4.49 cash LOYAL3)
  • Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (KRFT) – $.25 (.003 shares)
  • Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) – $41.21 (.19 shares)
  • Sysco Corporation (SYY) – $8.96 (.24 shares)
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) – $4.41 ($4.41 cash LOYAL3)

Note – All of my dividends I currently receive are reinvested into new shares of the same stock using DRiP – except those purchased through my LOYAL3 and Robinhood accounts.

New Capital Invested in April

As with every new month, I invested additional funds during March into new shares of stock. Several of the companies I bought were through ongoing monthly investment plans through LOYAL3 and Computershare.

I also made two lump sum investments in new stocks to the Money Sprout Index – EMR (Emerson Electric) and O (Realty Income Corporation).

Here are the new investments I made in April –

  • $587.17 lump sum investment in Emerson Electric (EMR) – 10 shares
  • $232.60 lump sum investment in Realty Income Corporation (O) – 5 shares
  • $50 automatic investment in Kellogg Company (K) – .77 shares
  • $100 automatic investment in Microsoft (MSFT) – 2.42 shares
  • $50 automatic investment in Unilever (UL) – 1.12 shares
  • $50 automatic investment in Verizon (VZ) – .99 shares
  • $25 automatic investment in WalMart (WMT) – .31 shares

During April, I continued all of my monthly automated investments through LOYAL3 that I made in the previous three months of the year. These include $50 investments in Kellogg Company (K) and Unilever (UL), a $100 investment in Microsoft (MSFT), and a $25 monthly investment in WalMart (WMT).

I also made my monthly $50 investment in Verizon (VZ) through Computershare. I have decided to stop my Exxon Mobil monthly automated investments of $250 for the time being through Computershare. After looking at my asset allocation, I have realized that XOM makes up over 7% of my entire Money Sprout Index. While this company may still be under priced, I would like to diversify a little more for now.

I opened new positions in Emerson Electric (EMR) and in Realty Income Corporation (O) through my no cost brokerage – Robinhood. I have been wanting to invest in both companies for some time and finally followed through. I actually used part of our tax refund to cover these purchases.

The total amount of new capital invested in April was – $1,094.77

Here are my new investment totals for the year –

  • January Investments – $475.00
  • February Investments – $1,067.30
  • March Investments – $652.26
  • April Investments – $1,094.77

New 2015 Investments – $3,289.33

12 Month Forward Dividend Income

This is the second straight month where I am tracking my 12 month forward dividend income. While this number does not guarantee any future dividends, it is a good indicator of how much income I will earn over the next 12 months.

The 12 month forward dividend income will increase month to month as a result of 3 different factors. The first is any time I add new shares of stock to the Money Sprout Index, my future dividends should go up. Second, any dividends that are reinvested back into new shares of stock through DRiP will increase my forward dividend income. Finally, anytime a company raises its annual dividend – I will see a spike up.

12 Month Forward Dividend Income

  • March 2015 – $1,239.21
  • April 2015 – $1,288.31

Comparing the past two months, our 12 month forward income has grown by 3.96% or by $49.10!

Final Thoughts

The dividend income earned the past month ($92.69) from 7 stocks was my highest April ever! While I still have a long way to go to reach my 2015 goal to earn $1,500 in dividend income – this month was another nice stepping stone.

To date, I have earned a total of $392.62 in dividend income for 2015. At that rate, I would earn less than $1,200 in annual dividend income this year. Since my goal is to earn $1,500 this year, I have a lot of work to do over the next 8 months.

On a positive note, our 3-month rolling average continues to increase each month. The average of the past 3 months makes it easier to track month to month totals. During April, I was able to raise my 3 month rolling average to triple digits! Our rolling average is now $102.39, which was an increase of $2.41. Now that we have hit the triple digit mark, the next small goal is to hit an average of $150 per month.

How was your dividend income in April? What stocks are you buying in this market?

Full Disclosure – At the time of this writing, I owned shares in the following stocks noted in this post – CINF, DPS, EMR, K, KO, KRFT, LMT, MSFT, O, SYY, UL, VZ, and WMT. The material above is not a recommendation to buy. Please do your own research on a company before deciding to invest.

2 Replies to “Dividend Income – April 2015”

  1. The proof is in the pudding. Just looking at your year over year growth you can see the real results of dividend investing. Keep making great buys and watch that dividend snowball start to roll on its own. Seeing dividend income rise year over year is probably the best metric anyone can use to show successful growing passive income. Thanks for sharing.

    1. @DivHut – Posting results from the past several years helps keep me motivated. Seeing the growth year after year really helps me stick to my goals.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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