Welcome to my Dividend Portfolio Update for January 2018! The first month of 2018 has come to a close and it was another strong month for the market (At the time of this writing, the market has dropped considerably).

I also did a little housekeeping with my cash since my Robinhood account was getting pretty high and I wasn’t finding anything noteworthy to buy. I went ahead and transferred $5,000 back into my savings to collect that sweet 1% until something big catches my eye.

Also, I went ahead and coded a new database driven webpage for my portfolio page. I was getting tired of screenshotting my spreadsheet and pasting it every month. I also made a quick screener for David Fish’s Dividend Champion spreadsheet that he releases every month. I use this as a quick reference instead of having to open the spreadsheet each time. It’s not entirely useful right now but I plan on adding more to it eventually.

Enough blabbing, let’s go ahead with the update.

Summary

$93.16 in dividends

in dividends Added $400 to dividend portfolio

Account Deposits

As usual, I automatically pull out $200 per paycheck with automatic deposit and at the end of the month I throw whatever is left into the account. As I stated earlier, I ended up pulling cash out of the account because it was just sitting there. I went ahead and suspended the additional deposit as well. I might end up not liking this decision.

$200 + $200 = $400

Dividend Payouts

January’s dividend payout is more on the normal end of the range. While not as impressive as my $200+ months, collecting almost $100 bucks passively means that most of my smaller bills will be taken care of. Here are the companies that paid me dividends this month:

$9.12 MRK $12.39 SDIV $6.60 MO $9.15 NGG $0.95 MAIN $9.71 CAH $19.68 STWD $5.51 CSCO $3.00 GE $17.05 CLDT

Using Google Docs, I keep a running spreadsheet of how much dividend income I receive every month. I think it’s important to realize the growth of your passive income over time. In January 2017, I received $75.29 in dividend income. If we do the math, that means my January dividend income has increased +23.7% compared to the previous year.

Monthly Total: +$93.16

Stock Purchases

5 shares of ARCC @$15.80

I like this specialty finance company. I’ve been holding it for awhile now and it currently yields 9.7%. This adds +$7.60 to my annual income.

I like this specialty finance company. I’ve been holding it for awhile now and it currently yields 9.7%. This adds to my annual income. 1 share of MRK @$56.64

This was a DRIP purchase. This adds +$1.92 to my annual income.

This was a DRIP purchase. This adds to my annual income. 1 shares of MO@$69.64

Another DRIP purchase. This adds +$2.64 to my annual income.

Another DRIP purchase. This adds to my annual income. 5 shares of OHI@$27.05

OHI has been getting hit pretty hard lately. It’s been paying increasing dividends for the last 16 years and currently yields around 10%. This adds +$13.20 to my annual income.

OHI has been getting hit pretty hard lately. It’s been paying increasing dividends for the last 16 years and currently yields around 10%. This adds to my annual income. 2 shares of CAH@$72.45

Cardinal Health has been paying increasing dividends for the last 21 years and currently yields 2.8%. This adds +$1.85 to my annual income.

Cardinal Health has been paying increasing dividends for the last 21 years and currently yields 2.8%. This adds to my annual income. 5 shares of STWD@$21.05

This REIT currently yields 9.5%. While they do not increase their dividends every year, they have been paying since 2009. This adds +$9.60 to my annual income.

This REIT currently yields 9.5%. While they do not increase their dividends every year, they have been paying since 2009. This adds to my annual income. 200 shares of F@$11.50

I like Ford at certain prices. The yield is around 5.5% at these current prices. It does not include their special dividend. This adds +$120.00 to my annual income.

I like Ford at certain prices. The yield is around 5.5% at these current prices. It does not include their special dividend. This adds to my annual income. 50 shares of O@$52.55

I always wanted to own O and finally it’s been taking a hit. It’s been paying increasing dividends for the last 25 years and currently yields 5.2%. It pays monthly. This adds +$131.50 to my annual income.

Total = +288.31 to my annual income

Stock Sells

147 shares of F @$13.00

I sold my shares of $F because they spiked up quite a bit in early January. My cost average was in the low 11’s and I decided to cash out. The market isn’t too kind to them usually and they have since fallen from the 13’s. I bought more at 11.50.

I sold my shares of $F because they spiked up quite a bit in early January. My cost average was in the low 11’s and I decided to cash out. The market isn’t too kind to them usually and they have since fallen from the 13’s. I bought more at 11.50. 18 shares of DKS@$33.50

Dicks Sporting Goods was never a long hold and once it spiked I sold it. My average cost was in the mid 26’s and I sold at $33.50. Not too shabby.

Dicks Sporting Goods was never a long hold and once it spiked I sold it. My average cost was in the mid 26’s and I sold at $33.50. Not too shabby. 6 shares of CAT@$170.45

The original idea behind my CAT purchase was to buy shares slowly over time. Since the election, the stock has skyrocketed and I didn’t really buy that many shares. I did manage to make a good profit on it, albeit on a limited number of shares. Bought around $92.50 and sold at $170.45. It has since fallen to around $155.

Conclusion

I’m off to a good start for 2018. Please feel free to check out my new portfolio and dividend champion screener pages.

Thanks again for reading my Dividend Portfolio Update for January 2018!