General

Two days ago, I was preoccupied with Leggett & Platt’s decision to reduce its dividend 89%, from $0.46 per quarter to a nominal $0.05 per quarter, thereby ending its 52-year streak of annual increases and its reign as a Dividend King. I was distraught and angry. Perhaps more than usual. Then circa 1:00am last night, perusing my own personal echo chamber of news headlines, I learned that ANOTHER Dividend King had announced plans to cut and run. The 2024Q2 dividend won’t be declared until May. It will be subject to board approval, but I’m calling it now.¹

Put a Post-it note on the fridge for all to see: 3M Company will be abdicating the throne!

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Abdication [MMM]Read More »

Just after 5pm EST yesterday, Leggett & Platt [LEG] announced a 2024Q2 dividend of $0.05. That is a $0.41 decrease in the quarterly dividend and the end of a 52-year streak. Is it possible for LEG to change course later this year? No. I am gutted.

Ladies and gentlemen, Leggett & Platt has abdicated the throne!

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Abdication [LEG]Read More »

The S&P 500 Index [SPX] has gone up 16 of the last 18 weeks, an increase of 24.77% over that time. Apparently, the last time the Index finished an 18-week stretch featuring 16 ‘up’ weeks was March 19, 1971, an increase of 21.16%.

SPX is closing at record highs routinely these days.

But is your account value at an all-time high? I know mine isn’t.

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MediocrityRead More »

On September 24, 2022, I wrote: TDS started in 1969 as the collection of ten rural phone companies in Wisconsin. In 5 years, they grew to 39 companies with operations in 17 states. That same year, they started paying a dividend and they have increased it annually until today. In mid-February of 2024, I expect they’ll announce a dividend increase that will be their 50th. At that point, just two annual increases from now, they’ll officially be called a Dividend King.

Here’s the problem. The Communication Services sector in general, and more specifically, the wireless telecommunication services industry, are highly competitive arenas. There is no guarantee that TDS gets to increase #50. After all, no other company from this sector ever has. Worse, TDS isn’t exactly thriving. But I think they’ll get there. More than that, I think they’re worthy of investment and right now seems like a great time.

I was right on all accounts.

All hail current Royal Dividends member, Telephone and Data Systems Inc!

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Coronation! [TDS]Read More »

It’s March 26, 1823, and a group of New York City investors decide that candles just aren’t cutting it at night. They start the New York Gas Light Company and set out to light up some streets in Lower Manhattan. Within a year the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Nearly 60 years pass and a company that has already gone through several changes expands into the delivery of two more sources of energy: steam and electric.

Now, if you think glossing over 60 years is lazy, please read on. Fast forward another 140 years and you can still find this company doing business. Today, it is the result of acquisitions, dissolutions, and mergers of 170+ individual companies operating in the electric, gas, and steam industries. You might say it has consolidated into what we know today.

On January 18, 2024, this now consolidated utility announced the 50th consecutive annual increase to their quarterly dividend. I was not present for this landmark decision, but I’ll bet there was electricity in the air and a certain energy in the room. Folks, another Dividend King has joined the Royal Dividends Empire.

All hail Consolidated Edison Inc!

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Coronation! [ED]Read More »

2024-01-06

On January 3, 2024, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. [WBA] announced that its next quarterly dividend will be $0.25. That should amount to $1.00 per share for calendar year 2024, a generous yield of 4%. Unfortunately, that $1.00 per share will be a 48% drop from the dividends paid in 2023 and the end of a 48-year dividend increase streak.

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Walgreens (Re)Boots AllianceRead More »

On May 4, 2023, Johnson & Johnson [JNJ] split off a significant portion of its consumer healthcare business, representing approximately 17% of its revenue. On July 20, 2023, this new company declared its first quarterly dividend of $0.20, reminding investors why it is a Dividend King. Whaaaat?!

Well, it turns out there are, if not rules per se, considerations that determine whether a parent company’s streak of paying and increasing dividends shall be passed onto or inherited by a newly created company in a divestiture. Those considerations take into account whether the new company was a significant component of the parent company, whether it will pay a dividend of its own, the size and yield of both dividends before and after the divesture, and who knows what else. But here’s the thing: you and I don’t decide. In this case, S&P Global Inc [SPGI], themselves a Dividend King, made the decision.

On August 22, 2023, S&P Global made the announcement that this newly formed company would be added to the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index. A company does not make it into this distinguished list unless they’ve increased their dividend for a minimum of 25 years. Further, because JNJ is a Dividend King with a 61-year increase streak, one can logically assume that this entire streak, and not some lesser streak between 25 and 61 years, is what has been inherited. And thus, Sure Dividend has concluded that this newly created company is in fact a Dividend King and I see no reason to argue.

All hail Kenvue Inc!

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Coronation! [KVUE]Read More »

On St. Patrick’s Day 1839, the Northwestern Bank of Virginia opened a branch in Parkersburg. Now, I know what you’re thinking. That has to be a mistake, right? Everybody knows there are nine cities by the name Parkersburg in America and not a one of them in Virginia. There’s one in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, and West Virginia. There is no Parkersburg, Virginia!

Oh, Dear Reader. You were so quick to demonstrate your geographical knowledge of America, you missed a small detail that means everything – the year. Now it’s all coming back to you in a flash. Before June 20, 1863, the area we now lovingly refer to as the state of West Virginia was simply the northwestern part of a much larger state, Virginia. The city known today as Parkersburg, West Virginia was Parkersburg, Virginia and thus, a perfectly fine location to launch the first branch of the Northwestern Bank of Virginia. Of course, we could ask why they didn’t choose Bank of Northwestern Virginia as the name. But the more important questions are: ‘Is the bank still around?’ and, if so ‘What name does it go by today?’

The answer(s): Yes. It eventually became a part of United Bankshares, Inc and they just became a Dividend King.

All hail United Bankshares Inc!

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Coronation! [UBSI]Read More »

In 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor. That same year sees the formation of the St. John’s Electric Light Company in the province of Canada now known as Newfoundland and Labrador. Some 40 years later, the company is renamed, not Electric Light Orchestra, but Newfoundland Light & Power Co. Limited. In 1987 it becomes the first wholly owned subsidiary of a holding company named Fortis Inc, created specifically to hold Newfoundland Light & Power, but also to expand and diversify. More decades pass and yada, yada, yada…. that holding company announces their 50th year of consecutive dividend increases.

All hail Fortis Inc!

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Coronation! [FTS]Read More »

A hospital in town plays a lullaby over the PA system throughout the building whenever a child is born in the Maternity Ward. Once, I was visiting my sick mother there and heard the pleasant tune and asked why it was playing. When I learned, I teared up a little. It is just a simple reminder that there are wonderful things in the world, even when things aren’t going so well.

As you might expect, I keep an eye on companies with long dividend increase streaks. So, it isn’t really a surprise when a company hits their 50th consecutive year of such increases, becoming a Dividend King. Do I tear up a little? No. But it is still a wonderful thing, even when the stock market doesn’t seem to care.

There’s a 76-year-old company that is doing what it has always done. Providing all sorts of materials for builders and DIYers all over the world. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if 50% of what I see in Home Depot or Lowe’s is produced by this company. Ever heard of Rust-Oleum? DAP? Kwik-Seal? Come on! Roto-Rooter? Sure, you have. Essentially this company is your friend whenever you’ve gotten yourself too deep into a home project. On October 5th, they made an announcement that makes them a Dividend King.

All hail RPM International Inc!

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Coronation! [RPM]Read More »