Dividend Growth Investor Newsletter

Twelve Dividend Champions For Further Research

Dividend Growth Investor — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:51:44 GMT

I generate investment ideas from different sources.

I look at the list of weekly dividend increases.
I also try to identify companies for research based on my everyday spending patterns. In other words, I try to unleash my inner Peter Lynch.
I also review the list of dividend achievers/champions/aristocrats for bargains.
From time to time, I also try to apply different screening parameters to identify companies for further research.

Today, I decided to do just that. My screening criteria were as followed:

1) A company has increased dividends for 25 years in a row
2) A company yields at least 2% today
3) The company has a 10 year annualized dividend growth of at least 6%/year
4) The company has a 1, 3 and 5 year annualized dividend growth of at least 6%/year
5) The most recent dividend increase was above 6%

April 2026 Dividend Growth Investor Newsletter

Dividend Growth Investor — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:01:27 GMT

Welcome to the April 2026 edition of the Dividend Growth Investor Newsletter. In this edition, I discuss the companies I purchased for my portfolio in April

The goal of the newsletter is to go beyond just buying companies every month. The real goal is to show how real wealth can be built in the stock market. The process of building an income portfolio is very simple, but not easy. An investor simply needs to save money and put them to work in attractively valued stocks regularly. The next step involves reinvesting dividends either selectively or through a DRIP. The last step is the most exciting one – to patiently hold on to your collection of businesses for the long-term. To build a dividend machine, one has to arm themselves with a lot of patience and a long-term focus. This means avoiding the expensive habit of timing the market because it “looks high” or because “it is crashing”. Having the patience to hold on to your investments through thick or thin is a habit that is within the control of the investor.

There are a lot of distractions along the way, which can trick the investor into trading in and out of positions, or to get scared from market corrections. Other distractions include switching strategies because something else has done better in the past and everyone is talking about it. While it is important to monitor the portfolio regularly, it is also important to avoid falling prey to minutiae that may not matter a few years from now. Avoiding distractions is one factor where investors have control over.

As I mentioned in the first edition of the newsletter, the real goal is to generate $1,000/month in dividend income from this portfolio. I am going to achieve this goal by focusing on things I can control. These include:

The amount of money I can save and invest every month
The ability to invest in attractively valued dividend growth stocks regularly
The ability to reinvest dividends along the way
The ability to stick to my strategy through thick and thin and hold for the long-term
The ability to keep costs low

Given the fact that I am limiting myself to invest approximately $1,000/month for this portfolio, I am realistically setting myself up for reaching those goals within five - ten years from now. I selected this long-term goal in order to push myself to think long-term, and avoid thinking short-term. I try to select companies that I believe will be around in a decade or so, and will be more profitable and pay higher dividend payments along the way. I also evaluate dividends for safety. I focus on valuation today as well as long-term fundamentals. Without growth in fundamentals, and the ability of the business to grow them over time, the companies I invest in will be unable to achieve future dividend growth.

Long-term focus is important, because this portfolio will also be expected to provide solid dividends for the lifetime of the person who will be inheriting it. I am not just shooting for $1,000/month by the 2030s. I want to have a portfolio that will grow that dividend income stream without additional capital, beyond the 2030s. This is why I try to be careful what I include in this portfolio.

I plan to be diversified, in order to reduce the impact of errors that will be made along the way. The portfolio will be built slowly along the way. Based on my experience, different sectors are available at different times. Hence the portfolio weightings will likely look lopsided in terms of sectors in the first year or so. Around year two however, the portfolio will likely look more diversified than today.

Now that I discussed in a little bit more detail the overall philosophy the newsletter, I am going to list the companies I purchased this month. The full list is in the table below:

Dividend Growth Investment for April 20, 2026

Dividend Growth Investor — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:46:38 GMT

Good Morning,

I wanted to let you know that I initiated a new position in a dividend champion, which has increased dividends for 33 years in a row. I have watched this stock for several years, but sadly, it was always selling at nosebleed valuations. I do not want to pay 50 times earnings, even for the best of the business models.

Back when this stock sold at nosebleed valuations, the sky was the limit. The issue with excessively high valuations however is that the smallest issue has a very big impact on the stock price. That’s because valuation compression can really sink a stock price, even if fundamentals are only experiencing a temporary bump on the road.

This is essentially what happened to this stock over the past year or so. Growth slowed down. Based on my review, and management, it sounds as if this is a temporary, timing issue. I do believe that this could turn out to be a bigger and longer issue. But if that happens, then the valuation would get even cheaper, so buying on a periodic basis, which is what i do, would turn out fine.

Based on the review and research I have done, there could be a long-term trend that could benefit the company’s business. That being said, there could be some pain, before the long-term arrives.

Recent Investment

Dividend Growth Investor — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:11:53 GMT

Good Morning,

I wanted to let you know that I added to an eisting position today. It’s a dividend achiever with a 22 year track record of consecutive annual dividend increases under its belt. It’s a company that flies under the radar, but tends to deliver consistent results over time.

Dividend Growth Investor - Recent Investments

Dividend Growth Investor — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 14:48:15 GMT

Good Morning,

I wanted to let you know that I added to an existing position. I came up with this idea after going through the list of attractive dividend aristocrats for further research, which I sent out to you a few days ago. I had a few dividend dollars sitting in the taxable account, which I decided to reinvest manually in an opportunity with good expected ROI.

You can read more about the list here.

As I have mentioned previously, there three types of dividend growth stocks. The company I am adding to today is in the third group. It has a low current yield, but a high rate of past and expected dividend growth. In addition, I believe that the stock is cheap, and selling below intrinsic value. Ino ther words, it has been sold off mercilessly over the course of the past year. I believe this is an opportunity.

The company is a dividend aristocrat, which has managed to grow dividends for 32 years in a row.

Attractive Dividend Aristocrats For Further Research

Dividend Growth Investor — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 03:32:42 GMT

The dividend aristocrats list shows an elite group of quality companies. In order to be eligible for inclusion a company must be an S&P 500 member and to have increased annual dividends for at least 25 years in a row.

There are 69 Dividend Aristocrats for 2026

I love this list as a potential hunting ground for quality companies to acquire at a good entry price. There are a lot of great companies on the list, with solid competitive advantages, who are leaders in industries that have years of success ahead of them.

Just because a company is a member of this elite list however, doesn’t automatically mean it is a buy.

I like to screen the list, in order to narrow it down to a more manageable group.

In my screen I look at the following:

I review the trends in earnings per share over the past decade. Rising earnings fueld future dividend increases. If earnings do not grow over time, then we have a low likelihood of future dividend growth and growth in intrinsic value.
I review historical dividend growth and most recent dividend increases. Dividends provide a signaling mechanism into management’s assessment of the business and its prospects. I remove slow dividend growth, and lowered recent raises. I want at least a 4% - 5% growth there at minimum, although I also view this in conjunction with yields.
I look at payout ratios that are sustainable, that provide adequate coverage of the dividend and opportunity for some capital to be reinvested. In general, you need margin of safety just in case there. I like the payout ratio to be lower than 60%. However, I could make an exception if a company has a proven track record with payouts remaining high throughout most of that period. There are some utilities that have managed to achieve this, as their business is more stable and less cyclical.
Next, I look at valuation. This involves P/E ratios of less than 25 for me. But I also like to see the combination of dividend yield + dividend growth to be close to 10%. Note, when it comes to dividend growth I compare the scenario where we use most recent dividend increase to the scenario where we use the 5 year annualized average.

I present below a list of 18 Dividend Aristocrats for further review:

Intrinsic Value

Dividend Growth Investor — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:35:32 GMT

Price is what you pay, value is what you get

- Warren Buffett

The market for stocks goes above and below intrinsic value all the time.

Share prices are more volatile than cash flows. Share prices are more volatile than dividends too.

Even for large blue chip companies, share prices tend to be too volatile. This can be evident when reviewing P/E ratios over a given year for any company really.

For example, Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), has traded between a low of $346/share and a high of $499 over the past 12 months. That’s a very high amplitude of over 40% in a given year for one of the largest and most widely held companies on earth, which is followed by so many analysts.

Those cashflows and the intrinsic value of the business did not move by 40% in a single year. It’s prices, driven by the fear and greed of market participants, which overshot on the upside and on the downside.

This presents you with some opportunity for the enterprising investor.

In general, it is probably better to buy shares in a good company when it is selling at a relatively cheap valuation.

However, most great companies tend to grow intrinsic value over time. That’s because they are able to grow earnings and dividends over time.

Hence, the risk is that the investor who waits for too long to acquire such shares at a discount may end up missing out on a lot of returns.

On the other hand, there is also the risk that the investor has unfortunate timing and ends up buying a little too high, after which he may have to experience some reversion to the mean over a period of a few years, which could end up testing their conviction.

A lot of value investing has tended to focus on buying low and selling high. I believe that once a good company is acquired at a good price, the job of the investor is to sit tight and let the power of compounding do the heavy lifting for them.

In the Words of Warren Buffett: “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”

I believe that buying a great company at a decent price is a good strategy. In effect, it makes sense to acquire a great company at a P/E of 15, versus 20 or even 25.

However, if you do not invest at a P/E of 25, and waited for a P/E of 15 or 20 that never comes, you may miss out on a ton of compounding.

After all, the real wealth in investing comes from growth in earnings per share and dividends. Changes in valuation do tend to matter in the short-run ( 1 - 5 years), but their importance tends to diminish after a decade of investing.

As we have discussed before, investing is a game of trade-offs. The optimal path is to have the right margin of safety along those various trade-off paths.

Investing is part art, part science.

I wanted to let you know that I added to an existing position today.

Dividend Increases have signaling power

Dividend Growth Investor — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:39:22 GMT

Dividend increases offer strong signaling power, more often than not.

A company that slows down on dividend growth is telling me about clouds on the horizon.

A company that picks up on dividend growth is signaling confidence in their business prospects.

A company that keeps on delivering at a steady clip is somethign to admire too, as it doesn’t happen that often.

Sometimes a company may raise dividends by too much, too fast too however. Sometimes a good looking thing may be a sign of desperation. Hence, why I view dividend signaling as a signal with positive correlation, sometimes the inverse can be true too. Examples include the old CenturyLink (which ultimately ended up cutting dividends).

I guess I have looked at a lot of dividend increases over the decades, so perhaps things start jumping at me...

Dividend signaling works best when looked together with trends in earnings per share, dividends, payout ratios.

If a dividend increase stands out, and surprises me, it’s always a good learning opportunity for further research.

While dividend signaling is not going to be right 100% of the time, all the time, it has been right more often than not.

I take recent dividend increases in consideration when I decide whether I should invest in a security. This is a step during my review process.

How do I monitor dividend increases?

Dividend Growth Investor - Investments for April 1, 2026

Dividend Growth Investor — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:36:24 GMT

Good Morning,

There have been some declines in the stock market over the past month or so, which provides some interesting opportunities. A few companies that I own are selling at cheaper valuations than before. I have decided to nibble and add to them in my taxable account. As I have mentioned before, I like to build out positions slowly and over time, and try to take advantage of any valuation discounts as I see them. I try to build positions with valuation in mind. This way of slowly building a portfolio is a good way to take advantage of the various opportunities available over time. Experience has taught us that different sectors are on sale, hence it makes sense to acquire them when that happens. That being said, one should also avoid over - allocating to a certain company or industry for that matter, which is why some risk management and diversification should help mitigate the disasters that would happen from time to time.

Those are lower yielding companies, which do have the potential to deliver above average rates of dividend growth.

A diversified dividend growth portfolio should have allocations to the three types of dividend growth stocks:

1. Type 1, which is lower dividend growth, but above average dividend yield
2. Type 2, which is in the golden medium - average dividend growth and average dividend yield
3. Type 3, which is lower dividend yields, but above average dividend growth

The companies I am adding to include:

Dividend Portfolio Holdings For March 2026

Dividend Growth Investor — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:24:17 GMT

Welcome to the March 2026 portfolio review! In this email, I will share the updated dividend growth portfolio as of March 31st, 2026.

The goal of the portfolio is to generate $1,000 in monthly dividend income by investing roughly $1,000 every month in the best ideas I could find at the moment. Based on previous communication, this could take anywhere from ten to fifteen years from the launch date of the newsletter. The portfolio and this project are geared towards long-term investors, whether they are in the accumulation phase or the distribution (retirement) phase.

Dividend Growth Investor - March 2026 Newsletter

Dividend Growth Investor — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 17:01:16 GMT

Welcome to the March 2026 edition of the Dividend Growth Investor Newsletter. In this edition, I discuss the companies I purchased for my portfolio in March.

The goal of the newsletter is to go beyond just buying companies every month. The real goal is to show how real wealth can be built in the stock market. The process of building an income portfolio is very simple, but not easy. An investor simply needs to save money and put them to work in attractively valued stocks regularly. The next step involves reinvesting dividends either selectively or through a DRIP. The last step is the most exciting one – to patiently hold on to your collection of businesses for the long-term. To build a dividend machine, one has to arm themselves with a lot of patience and a long-term focus. This means avoiding the expensive habit of timing the market because it “looks high” or because “it is crashing”. Having the patience to hold on to your investments through thick or thin is a habit that is within the control of the investor.

There are a lot of distractions along the way, which can trick the investor into trading in and out of positions, or to get scared from market corrections. Other distractions include switching strategies because something else has done better in the past and everyone is talking about it. While it is important to monitor the portfolio regularly, it is also important to avoid falling prey to minutiae that may not matter a few years from now. Avoiding distractions is one factor where investors have control over.

As I mentioned in the first edition of the newsletter, the real goal is to generate $1,000/month in dividend income from this portfolio. I am going to achieve this goal by focusing on things I can control. These include:

The amount of money I can save and invest every month
The ability to invest in attractively valued dividend growth stocks regularly
The ability to reinvest dividends along the way
The ability to stick to my strategy through thick and thin and hold for the long-term
The ability to keep costs low

Recent Investment

Dividend Growth Investor — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:13:33 GMT

Good Morning,

Throughout my experience as a dividend growth investor, I have identified three types of dividend growth stocks. Each type of equities comes with a distinct set of yield and growth characteristics, which the enterprising dividend investor can use to their advantage. In my dividend portfolio, I own all types of equities, in order to benefit from long-term growth and also to add some sustainable high income in case growth doesn’t turn out as expected.

The three types include:

The first type includes high yielding stocks, which typically grow distributions more slowly.

The second type includes companies in the sweet spot. These are dividend stalwarts, which generate strong earnings growth, and have average or above average yields.

The third type of dividend growth stocks includes companies with strong earnings and dividend growth, which tend to have below average yields. These are the companies that are in a growth stage, and they tend to reinvest most of their earnings back into growing the business. Such companies have the potential to deliver high total returns over time, and the rapid dividend growth from a low base could deliver double or even triple digit yields on cost after a couple decades.

A diversified dividend growth portfolio would have allocations to companies in all three categories.

I wanted to let you know that I initiated a position in a new company. It is a company with a lower current yield, but a high potential for future dividend growth. It’s in the third type category

Investing as a business

Dividend Growth Investor — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:01:10 GMT

Investing is the best business there is.

You have no customers, no suppliers, no employees and complete location independence.

Just like a regular business however, it takes time, effort, grit, knowledge, execution, time, adaptability, patience, persistence, perseverance and capital.

That’s a lot, I know.

Just like regular business however, you have the possibility of failure.

Success and failure are a function of luck and skill.

However, as you gain more experience and knowledge, you can learn how to tilt the odds of success in your favor.

You just need to focus on ROI and allocate your capital intelligently in the best opportunities available for your capital.

Successful businesses spend their time thinking about the intelligent allocation of resources. They focus on income, expenses and the amount of resources to allocate them at their best use.

The most important thing is to stay in the game, keep improving, but play on your own terms. Keeping up with the Joneses is a sure way to the poorhouse. Focus on your goals and objectives, not the others. You are your own best friend and enemy as well. Managing emotions through the ups and downs is a very important part of the game long-term. Quick buck artists come and go, but if you get dazzled by their short-term brilliance, you may end up paying a steep price. On the other hand, staying put for too long on something that doesn’t deliver can also be dangerous. You need to keep improving, and keep fishing where the fish are.

There are times when a strategy works great, and prints money beating everyone else at the game of investing.

There are times when a strategy works poorly, and seems like it is going out of style.

Just like in regular business, your goal is to manage capital prudently, and make sure that you push profits when the tide is in your favor, and limit losses when it doesn’t.

I know that’s a lot of words, which may seem nice, but also open to interpretation.

How do I manage my business?

Dividend Growth Investor - Recent Investments for March 6, 2026

Dividend Growth Investor — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 16:02:10 GMT

Everyone likes a good sale. Whether it is socks or stocks, you get more for your money when the item you want is on sale.

In the world of dividend growth investing, there come times when investors are not excited about a company’s prospects, for one reason or another. This is the time when those companies are selling at a cheaper valuation. Now, the question of course is whether the business is still good and on solid ground, or if it is a melting ice cube.

The two companies I am adding to today are in my opinion good businesses, with solid competitive advantages, which are being punished by indiscriminate selling due to AI fears. I actually believe AI could help those companies in reducing expenses, and the ability to serve their installed base better, cheaper and more efficiently. Mr Market disagrees with me, which allows me to buy what I think of as solid dividend income on sale. I also believe those businesses are likely to grow earnings over time, and thus be able to grow dividends and potentially even the share prices will follow.

That being said, it is also a good reminder to maintain risk limits, and not risk more than what I can bear to lose on a single position. Hence, why I try to avoid investing more than $2,000 per individual position at cost for this project. Note the limitation is that I invest about $1,000 in new capital, and then I reinvest any dividends on top of that manually (used to DRIP but turned it off to better focus on ROI). I also reinvest any money I get from selling into other opportunities that catch my eye based on expected ROI. Those selling opportunities are very rare, albeit last month one presented itself. Nobody drinks to that I guess..

Anywho the two companies I added to this morning include:

Recent Investment for March 3, 2026

Dividend Growth Investor — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 15:44:14 GMT

I wanted to let you know that I added to positions into three companies from the same sector this morning. These are stable, somewhat predictable dividend growth companies with strong competitive positions and also have the opportunity for future growth. The securities are not cheap, but they are also selling at lower valuations than they have in the past few years that I have monitored them. I initiated positions there last year, and have slowly tried building it over time.

I am going to be slowly building out my position in all three, until I reach the $500 - $1000 invested at cost, at which point I will re-assess how they are doing. I like to build my portfolio slowly, and over time, brick by brick.

I identified these companies by screening the dividend growth investing universe (namely the champions list of companies that have raised dividends for at least 25 years in a row). I looked for consistent dividend growth above 5%. I identified two of the three companies, and after I started reviewing the sector in general in the dividend growth universe, determined that I also wanted to buy the one that’s only a dividend achiever.

The companies I invested in include:

Dividend Growth Investor - Investments for March 2, 2026

Dividend Growth Investor — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:20:51 GMT

Good Morning,

I wanted to let you know that I added to a few existing positions this morning. Those were companies that are typically in the expensive valuation category, but now are less expensive. I was expected a bigger decline today, but so far am wrong about it (though the month is still young). Experience has shown me that certain types of companies are rarely in fair value teritory, so I should watch them like a hawk for an entry price level consistent with my methodology and understanding of valuation.

I also initiated a new position in a company that has a good combination of dividend growth potential, a not too low dividend yield and a good valuation.

The companies I added to in my taxable account were fractional shares.

Those are:

Dividend Portfolio Holdings For February 2026

Dividend Growth Investor — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 03:58:48 GMT

Welcome to the February 2026 portfolio review! In this email, I will share the updated dividend growth portfolio as of February 28th, 2026.

The goal of the portfolio is to generate $1,000 in monthly dividend income by investing roughly $1,000 every month in the best ideas I could find at the moment. Based on previous communication, this could take anywhere from ten to fifteen years from the launch date of the newsletter. The portfolio and this project are geared towards long-term investors, whether they are in the accumulation phase or the distribution (retirement) phase.

After 93 months of meticulous saving and investing, we are slowly but surely progressing towards the end goal. I am updating the list of dividend portfolio holdings below. I have included the company name, shares owned, entry price and estimated annual dividend income.

I have invested $107,295.28 so far in 108 companies through February 28, 2026. This figure includes the amount of automatically reinvested dividends, as well as new contributions to the account. It does not include companies I have sold so far.

Recent Transaction

Dividend Growth Investor — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:56:19 GMT

Good Morning,

Long-time readers know that once I buy a stock, I hold on to it for as long as the dividend is not cut or a company is acquired. This could mean holding a stock for a few months, all the way up to many decades.

Diversification

Dividend Growth Investor — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:57 GMT

Some people out there want to beat the market.

As a result, many try different things, in order to achieve their goals and objectives.

One of these things they try centers around concentrating portfolios.

The book “The Warren Buffett Portfolio“ has some interesting stats on the subject.

They isolated 1200 companies that displayed measurable data, including revenues, earnings, and ROE from 1979 through 1986.

Then they asked the computer to randomly assemble, from these 1200 companies, 12000 portfolios of various sizes.

The portfolios were equally weighted.

They had the following portfolios for which they calculated 10 and 18 year returns:

February 2026 Dividend Growth Investor Newsletter

Dividend Growth Investor — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:02:40 GMT

Good Morning,

I wanted to let you know that I just posted the February 2026 Dividend Growth Investor Newsletter.

The goal of this newsletter is to showcase the process of building a dividend portfolio. The initial goal was to generate $1,000 in monthly dividend income by investing roughly $1,000/month in the best ideas I can find at the moment.

This newsletter is a culmination of the years of research I have done. It is putting my knowledge to practice, using real money to attain a tangible goal and objective.

In addition to showing, you how I build portfolios from scratch, I also want to encourage and inspire readers to develop their own process to accomplish their goals and objectives. The next step is following it through thick and thin, while trying to improve it as well.