My Dividend Portfolio: July 2021 Update - 99 Holdings, 35 Buys, Dividend Record

Summary

• The stock market continued to perform well with the S&P 500 up another 2.27% bringing its YTD gains to almost exactly 17%.
• I am continuing my monthly investment plans while still awaiting a market correction or possibly a real crash once market euphoria has come down.
• My dividend income amounted to $387, which is up 30% Y/Y, down 8% sequentially and with YTD dividend gains up by 27%.
• Gifted Working Time in 2021: Around 103 hours or 13 days of active work have been replaced with passive income in 2021 already.

peterschreiber.media/iStock via Getty Images

Portfolio Changes in July

Starting in May, I have been reducing the volume of my monthly investment activity given elevated valuations and my desire to save cash either for investment or some other endeavors. The stock markets have been very kind to me over the last couple of years as I did manage to build some decent positions at a good cost basis. Nowadays, however, while the markets are continuing to move up with every dip getting bought ferociously, I hardly see any attractive prices. That's why my investment activity has come down and is almost exclusively geared towards dividend stocks.

Despite that reduction in investment activity July still marked the 11th consecutive month with at least $2,000 in net investments as I managed to channel around $2,100 of capital into stocks. This is a thrilling series and significantly exceeds my long-term monthly target of adding $1,000 in fresh capital.

Purchases in July were also almost exclusively tied to my regular monthly investment plans.

Due to the nature of how the monthly investment plan process works, I am investing relatively equally into these stocks at two points of time during the month - at the beginning of the month and mid-month - which breaks down as shown below. Figures are in Euro and show that, for instance, at the beginning of the month, I am investing between 50 and 75 EUR each into Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), The Home Depot (HD), Visa (V), W. P. Carey (WPC), and BP (NYSE:BP). Mid-month, I am adding between 33 and 40 EUR each into STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG), AT&T (T), NextEra Energy (NEE), Toronto-Dominion (TD), Main Street Capital (MAIN) and JPMorgan (JPM).

I have added several investment plans starting mid-September last year which include AGNC Investment Corporation (AGNC), Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC), Medical Properties Trust (MPW), the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) and The Trade Desk (TTD). Investments here will be focused on high-yield as well as high-growth stocks in the technology, therapeutic and renewables sectors. Number 1 on my wish list for such an investment plan is Brookfield Renewable Partners, but currently, it is not supported.

All investment plans break down as follows (a red cross indicates that I had temporarily paused that plan in July):

(Source: Designed by author)

All those purchases substantially raised forward annual dividend income, breaking down as follows:

(Source: Designed by author)

All net purchases in July can be found below:

(Source: Designed by author)

Dividend Income: What Happened on The Dividend Side?

Dividend income hit $387.10 setting a new July dividend record and up a solid 30% Y/Y but down 8% sequentially. However, that sequential decline is solely caused by the annual dividend payment of Daimler (DDAIF) which was delayed due to COVID-19. Excluding that special item sequential growth comes in at a strong 7%. What's more, accounting for that special item Y/Y growth in dividend income climbs to a whopping 41% and is truly magnificent to observe as the overall monthly baseline in dividend income climbs higher and higher.

Although July fell slightly short of that $400 dividend income mark it is almost $100 higher compared to a year ago as I have aggressively purchased stocks paying in July such as W. P. Carey, Medical Properties Trust (MPW) and STORE Capital (STOR) ever since COVID-19 hit us.

An overview of all July dividends can be found below:

(Source: Designed by author)

Looking at the top three dividend payers in July, dividend income developed as follows:

(Source: Designed by author)

Here we can clearly see how quickly and strongly WPC contributed to my dividend income whereas dividend growth from Altria and Cisco is much slower. Given that all three companies have only grown dividends by a maximum of 3% last year, the overwhelming majority of that growth in dividend income is driven by new purchases. Compared to a year ago, the current run rate per quarter is around $117 in 2021 up sharply from $83 in 2020 and I am looking forward for that run rate to hit $150 in the near future with further milestones to come.

Here is a look at my favorite chart: the net dividend income development by month over time between 2015 and 2021, where you can easily see the development of my dividend income as well as the average annual dividend in a given year:

(Source: Designed by author)

Next, I have scattered all the individual dividend payments I have ever received and colored them by year, rearranging the years side by side rather than horizontally as in previous updates:

(Source: designed by author)

This view looks very cluttered at first, but it is very rich in information. It shows every single dividend payment I have received since I started my journey in 2015 in the shape of a circle colored differently by year and size, based upon their contribution. The view is broken down by month and by year (not by year and by month), and thus allows to better see the development over time. For every year of a certain month, a white rectangle indicates the average monthly dividend. The area where dividends fall below that average is filled dark red, whereas the area above is colored dark green. Personally, I absolutely love this redesigned view of my old "bubbles chart," as it is much clearer to identify developments and trends in my dividend income.

(Source: Designed by author)

Now, zooming in on July, we can immediately see a number of big green circles in a sea of black. The bigger the circle and the bigger the distance to the previous circle for the same stock, the bigger is the change in dividend income compared to the prior years. Daimler clearly stands out from this chart with a giant lime green circle in 2020 when they paid a dividend outside their regular dividend schedule (July instead of April).

The second big observation is the big distance in between WPC's two data points for 2021 and 2020 which is a testament to very aggressive and consistent monthly purchasing of that stock over the last 12 months and more. Overall, what I like to see in that chart is obviously big dark green circles at the top of the scale for as many stocks as possible as that means rising dividend income.

Overall, what I like to see in that chart is obviously big dark green circles at the top of the scale for as many stocks as possible as that means rising dividend income.

Another way to express the monthly dividend income is in terms of Gifted Working Time (GWT).

I am assuming an average hourly rate of $28 for 2021 here:

• In 2018, I generated 121 hours in GWT, equaling slightly more than $3,000 in annual net dividends.
• In 2019, I generated 142 hours in GWT, equaling almost $3,600 in annual net dividends.
• In 2020, I generated 152 hours in GWT, equaling roughly $3,800 in annual net dividends.
• In 2021, I am targeting to reach at least $4,400 in annual net dividends, equaling roughly 157 hours in GWT. That is a rather bullish estimate projecting an increase in dividend income of around 16%. Given the massive purchases in 2020 and the assumption that there won't be any further big dividend cuts in 2021 - on the contrary I am expecting solid dividend growth - I am confident that this goal is attainable although it will require a lot of work. The biggest risk is that the market stays euphoric and races to even greater highs and thereby constantly reducing dividend yields of my new purchases. On a YTD basis dividend income has increased by a remarkable 27% Y/Y and while that figure will come down as the year unfolds I am very confident that it will stay above 16% and thus I should be able to hit and probably exceed my annual goal. Compared to a month-ago YTD income gains have remarkably stayed stable.

(Source: Designed by author)

Across the years, the YTD Dividend Race as I like to call it looks as follows. While 2020 was fairly disappointing, I am very excited about 2021, and with the low baseline from the prior year I am expecting an easy beat in 2021.

(Source: Designed by author)

Expressed in GWT, it presents itself as follows:

(Source: Designed by author)

What this shows is as follows:

1. All time (blue area) - Around 630 hours, or 79 days, of active work have been replaced with passive income since the start of my dividend journey. Assuming a five-day workweek, that almost 16 weeks of vacation funded via dividends.
2. YTD (green bars) - Around 103.3 hours, or 12.9 days, of active work have been replaced with passive income in 2021 already which is equivalent to more than two full weeks of work.
3. Highlighted in pink is the accumulated YTD total at the end of the current reporting month (July) across each year.

Upcoming August Dividends

Contrary to July, August features significantly fewer dividend payers but among them is AT&T (T) which is my biggest dividend payer and that will start off the month nicely. Beyond that dividend payments are overall concentrated in the first half of the month with only 1 meaningful dividend payment from the Royal Bank of Canada (RY) expected in the second half of August.

The snapshot below is taken from my newly and free-for-all released Dividend Calendar (make sure to follow instructions in the video) and shows my expected dividend payments in August.

(Source: Designed by author)

My Dividend Portfolio Composition (Excludes Non-Dividend-Paying Companies)

At the end of July, my dividend portfolio is composed as follows:

Company Name	Ticker	% Market Value	Market Value (€)
Apple Inc.	(AAPL)	11.46%	18,442
Visa Inc.	(V)	4.98%	8,013
Microsoft Corporation	(MSFT)	3.82%	6,144
McDonald's Corp.	(MCD)	3.44%	5,526
AT&T Inc.	(T)	3.43%	5,515
Cisco Systems, Inc.	(CSCO)	3.38%	5,438
AbbVie Inc.	(ABBV)	2.92%	4,701
Commonwealth Bank of Australia	(OTCPK:CBAUF)	2.82%	4,536
Johnson & Johnson	(JNJ)	2.69%	4,328
Main Street Capital Corporation	(MAIN)	2.02%	3,242
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	(JPM)	1.89%	3,037
Wells Fargo & Co.	(WFC)	1.84%	2,965
Altria Group Inc.	(MO)	1.83%	2,945
Texas Instruments Incorporated	(TXN)	1.81%	2,904
Siemens Healthineers	(OTCPK:SEMHF)	1.74%	2,800
Royal Dutch Shell Plc	(RDS.A)	1.74%	2,796
Southern Co.	(SO)	1.71%	2,756
W. P. Carey	(WPC)	1.67%	2,681
Toronto-Dominion Bank	(TD)	1.59%	2,557
Gilead Sciences, Inc.	(GILD)	1.50%	2,412
Bank of Nova Scotia	(BNS)	1.44%	2,316
Home Depot	(HD)	1.41%	2,273
Stag Industrial Inc.	(STAG)	1.40%	2,248
Sino AG	(XTP.F)	1.33%	2,145
Blackstone Group	(BX)	1.21%	1,940
Daimler	(FRA:DAI)	1.18%	1,899
Morgan Stanley	(MS)	1.16%	1,872
Intel Corporation	(INTC)	1.15%	1,846
Target Corporation	(TGT)	1.10%	1,767
Allianz SE	(OTCPK:ALIZF)	1.08%	1,742
3M Co.	(MMM)	1.05%	1,694
BMW	(OTCPK:BMWYY)	1.05%	1,687
Ares Capital Corporation	(ARCC)	1.04%	1,672
Procter & Gamble Co.	(PG)	0.97%	1,568
Honeywell International Inc.	(HON)	0.97%	1,568
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce	(CM)	0.96%	1,542
PepsiCo, Inc.	(PEP)	0.96%	1,540
Store Capital	(STOR)	0.95%	1,532
Medical Properties Trust	(MPW)	0.95%	1,528
Enbridge	(ENB)	0.93%	1,500
Philip Morris International Inc.	(PM)	0.92%	1,474
Bank of America Corp.	(BAC)	0.91%	1,462
B&G Foods, Inc.	(BGS)	0.73%	1,169
Broadcom Inc.	(AVGO)	0.66%	1,056
Brookfield Renewable Partners	(BEP)	0.63%	1,013
Verizon Communications Inc.	(VZ)	0.63%	1,013
BP1	(BP)	0.61%	975
Unilever NV ADR	(UN)	0.61%	974
Dominion Energy Inc.	(D)	0.59%	954
The Coca-Cola Co.	(KO)	0.59%	950
NextEra Energy Partners LP	(NEP)	0.58%	941
BASF	(OTCQX:BASFY)	0.58%	933
Starwood Property Trust, Inc.	(STWD)	0.57%	921
Royal Bank of Canada	(RY)	0.53%	849
NVIDIA Corporation	(NVDA)	0.52%	835
Apple Hospitality REIT	(APLE)	0.46%	740
Walt Disney Co.	(DIS)	0.45%	729
BP2	(BP)	0.44%	704
General Electric Company	(GE)	0.43%	695
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.	(BABA)	0.41%	665
Stryker	(SYK)	0.41%	656
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.	(WBA)	0.38%	608
Realty Income Corp.	(O)	0.36%	580
Medtronic	(MDT)	0.36%	579
Pfizer Inc.	(PFE)	0.33%	539
AGNC Investment Corporation	(AGNC)	0.33%	534
General Mills, Inc.	(GIS)	0.31%	500
CVS Health Corp.	(CVS)	0.30%	479
Preferred Apartment Communities	(APTS)	0.30%	478
CoreSite Realty Corp.	(COR)	0.29%	472
New Residential Investment Corporation	(NRZ)	0.29%	459
Antero Midstream Corporation	(AM)	0.27%	434
NextEra Energy	(NEE)	0.27%	431
Sixt	(OTC:SXTSY)	0.25%	402
Kinder Morgan Inc.	(KMI)	0.23%	368
Colgate-Palmolive Company	(CL)	0.21%	335
Mastercard	(MA)	0.19%	302
Bayer AG	(OTCPK:BAYZF)	0.19%	301
Exxon Mobil Corporation	(XOM)	0.18%	289
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P.	(BIP)	0.17%	273
Annaly Capital Management	(NLY)	0.17%	270
MPLX LP	(MPLX)	0.16%	263
Omega Healthcare Investors Inc.	(OHI)	0.16%	262
Fresenius SE	(OTCPK:FSNUF)	0.16%	261
Apollo Commercial Real Est. Finance Inc.	(ARI)	0.14%	220
Enterprise Products Partners L.P.	(EPD)	0.13%	208
Uniti Group Inc.	(UNIT)	0.12%	201
Prudential Financial	(PRU)	0.11%	172
Macquarie Infrastructure Corp.	(MIC)	0.10%	166
Apollo Investment	(AINV)	0.10%	162
Lumen Technologies	(LUMN)	0.10%	161
Vonovia	(OTCPK:VONOY)	0.09%	144
Boeing	(BA)	0.09%	142
Diversified Healthcare Trust	(DHC)	0.09%	139
Fresenius Medical Care	(FMS)	0.08%	134
Equitrans Midstream Coporation	(ETRN)	0.06%	97
BRT Realty Trust	(BRT)	0.05%	88
Service Properties Trust	(SVC)	0.03%	47
The GEO Group Inc.	(GEO)	0.03%	41

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of ALL STOCKS MENTIONED either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

I am not offering financial advice but only my personal opinion. Investors may take further aspects and their own due diligence into consideration before making a decision.