Week in Review

My job has been VERY busy lately. Unfortunately I have had very little time to look over the news and follow current events, two things I enjoy doing.

The great news is that the Dividend Town portfolio can be managed pretty passively. Almost every stock or fund I own is something that I could leave alone for 10 years and forget about. The beta of the portfolio is ~0.80 - 0.85, but I suspect it will hold up a little better in times of turbulence due to more focused sector weighting. 

So over the course of the last two weeks, that's basically what happened. I've left the portfolio mostly alone, focused on the 9-5 grind and stepped back. How did that work out? Last week I was up 62 bps, this week I was down 48 bps. My weekly results are published on my Progress Tracker and Dashboard, which only takes a few moments to update each week and helps drive accountability.

The goal of the portfolio is to invest in high quality companies that have a history of continuously increasing their dividends. Almost all the companies in the DT portfolio meet this characteristic with few exceptions. Information below comes from SimplySafeDividends.

Dividend Increases

• $TROW boosts dividend by 11%, marking 36th straight year of increasing payouts

  T. Rowe announced its next dividend of $1.20 per share, a 11% increase over the company's previous payout of $1.08.

  The investment manager's assets reached $1.6 trillion, resulting in record profitability, despite some growth funds losing favor with investors. T. Rowe's impressive dividend growth streak should continue, backed by the firm's healthy payout ratio and ample cash. Annual income increased $12.48 as a result.

• $APD grows dividend by 8%, marking 40th consecutive year of increasing payouts

  Air Products announced its next dividend of $1.62 per share, a 8.0% increase over the company's previous payout of $1.50.

  The industrial gases company has balanced investments in decarbonization projects, helping drive the energy transition, and rewarding shareholders through growing the dividend – a streak Air Products is well-positioned to continue.  Annual income increased $5.76 as a result.

• $ICE raises dividend by 15%

  ICE announced its next dividend of $0.38 per share, a 15% increase over the company's previous payout of $0.33. Annual income increased $7.20 as a result

February looks to be an exciting month of earnings releases with the calendar below.

Dividends & Income Received

• $TXN - $40.25
• $MED - $24.14
• $SHYG - $5.60
• $LQD - $2.66
• $AAPL - $10.78

Trades

• Sold 15 shares of $CVX. I added to the position not too long ago and wanted to take some small profits and reduce exposure.
• Sold 25 (all) shares of $MMM. Dividend increase was anemic again. 
• Purchased 35 shares of $GLD. As I learn more about macro investing, I'm starting to dip my toe into blending both macro investing and dividend growth investing. Pretty sure this can work effectively as I manage my asset and sector rotation. 
• Purchased 100 shares of $SCHO. See above. 

Options Activity

• Still holding my $KR $44 covered call for 02/18. Current price is $46.27 as the stock has been on a hot streak last few days. 
• Holding a $WLK $110 covered call for 02/18. 
• Flipped $CMCSA and $KMI covered calls for tiny amounts. 

Other Activity

• Added $1,000 to the portfolio in savings in February meeting my goal for the year.

What's Next

• Taking some time to learn more about macro investing. Given the volatility lately, I think there's some educated bets to be placed.
• I think I can integrate into the portfolio via asset & sector allocation management. I'm not a fan of day trading, but I like the concept of smart swing trading when highs and lows are involved. 
• Evaluate covered call opportunities. 
• Slowly shrink number of positions to ~40 while maintaining a strategic sector breakdown focused on macro trends.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!