With fears of tariffs and a trade war, the stock market continues to bring the pain with the S&P closing down -2.64% and the Dow -3.47% (morningstar.com) for the month of March.

And while my dividend portfolio did close down for the month of March, it performed better than the overall market so I can’t complain too much. Of course, my dividend portfolio was created for the long term and any blips in the market shouldn’t be worried about. Sometimes dips in the market can open opportunities to buying high quality dividend stocks!

Let’s see the details of my dividend portfolio for March 2018.

Summary

$130.46 in dividends

in dividends Added $4,400 to dividend portfolio cash

Added $108.44 to my annual income.

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. I also decided to add an additional $4k into the account.

$200 + $200 +$4,000 = +$4,400

Dividend Payouts

Here are the companies that paid me dividends this month:

$11.20 PSX $5.44 PFE $56.00 F $13.92 SO $2.10 V $14.28 SBSI $12.32 XOM $27.90 TGT $12.00 IBM $6.72 CVX $4.00 WBA $12.39 SDIV $8.40 JNJ $12.48 O $0.95 MAIN $18.70 FLO $26.70 DUK $11.40 GILD $32.20 TROW $39.90 ARCC $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 March 2017, I received $246.69 in dividend income. If we do the math, that means my February dividend income has increased +35.7% compared to the previous year.

Monthly Total: +$334.85

Stock Purchases

I bought quite a few things this month. I hope to continue adding to it in the upcoming months too!

10 shares of CVS @ $61.90 CVS stopped their dividend growth on news of the Aetna buyout. And while I hate to hear that a dividend isn’t growing, I’m still optimistic about CVS overall. Once the Aetna merger is fully complete, I expect them to continue growing their dividend again. This adds +$20.00 to my annual income.

10 shares of CVS @ 61.15 Continuing to just buy. This adds +$20.00 to my annual income.

10 shares of MO @ $61.55 This 4.4% yielding tobacco company has been paying increasing dividends for the last 48 years! I bought a few shares back in August of 2017 and I decided to buy even more on recent dips. Their DGR growth rate is around 8%. This adds +$28.00 to my annual income.

4 shares of ABBV@ $92.55 This biotech stock currently yields 4.1% and has a 3-YR DGR of 15.5%. It has been paying increasing dividends for the last 6 years. This adds +$15.36 to my annual income.

11 shares of MAIN @ $36.88 I’ve always liked MAIN and have held them for the majority of my dividend portfolio but had sold them on the spike. I decided to go ahead and start purchasing more shares again. It currently yields 6.1% and pays monthly and is known for giving out supplemental dividends at the end of the year. This adds +$25.08 to my annual income.

Total = +108.44 to my annual income

Stock Sells



None.

Conclusion

In the month of March, I continued to grow my dividend portfolio with good companies. I also managed to squeeze an additional $4k into my account! It brings a tear to my eye anytime my portfolio brings in more annual income. Too sappy? Yeah, you’re probably right. Until next time!

Please feel free to check out my new portfolio and dividend champion screener pages.

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