General

In 1940, just out of college, a young fella by the name of Sam Walton joins JC Penney’s management trainee program. Anticipating being drafted into the military, Sam leaves JC Penney after just 18 months. Sure enough, he performs his patriotic duties during WWII and in 1945 he combines his own military earnings with a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law and he buys a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. About 5 years later, the expensive lease runs out and he cannot negotiate a new one. So, he opens his own franchise Walton’s Five and Dime in Bentonville, Arkansas.

A dozen or so years later, in 1962, Sam Walton launches the Wal-Mart Discount City store. Not in Discount City, but in Rogers, Arkansas. The rest, as they say, is history.

Let’s face it, we’ve all been in one. Some of us have worked in one. None of us ever want to be in one. But they have what we need at a good price.

On February 21, 2023, they announced a dividend increase that represents 50 consecutive years of annual increases in their dividend, making them a Dividend King.

All hail Walmart Inc!

…

Coronation! [WMT]Read More »

I stumbled upon something disturbing while assembling this week’s Empire from which the Top Ten is built. When selecting at least five tickers from each sector¹, I noticed a new ticker in the five stocks that comprise the Consumer Discretionary component of the Empire. Since the Empire was first established, the Consumer Discretionary offerings have been as follows:

Ticker	Years
GPC	66
LOW	60
LEG	51
VFC	50
MCD	47

VF Corportation [VFC] suddenly disappeared and Sonoco Products Co [SON] founds its way onto the list.

Ticker	Years
GPC	66
LOW	60
LEG	51
MCD	47
SON	40

The Sure Dividend Research Database now has zero years associated with VFC. I was really just hoping that the database had been populated with a faulty link. Nope. VFC, a newly crowned Dividend King, has reduced its dividend. And folks, do you know what this means?

VF Corporation has abdicated the throne!

…

Abdication [VFC]Read More »

In 1860, Henry Varnum Poor publishes “History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States“, which provided investors with data on the growing railroad industry. It ignited what today might be better known as the use of investment analytics. Poor began working for the government with the Pacific Union Railroad, and in 1868, Poor’s Publishing puts out “Manual of the Railroads of the United States”. This publication gave investors current information on railroad performance on which they could make decisions. You have the “Poor’s” part of where I’m going, and you have the railroad part. But here’s another, separate, tale out of yesteryear.

In 1906, Luther Lee Blake founds the Standard Statistics Bureau which provided investors with current information on non-railroad industrials on index cards. Now, you have the “Standard” part of the name and the non-railroad side of things too. The history is out there for all to see, but let’s just say at some point, these services and others came together under the name Standard and Poor’s to create the behemoth of investor analytics that provides every investor on the globe with valuable real-time information on which decisions are made. I mean for crying out loud, they are the S&P behind the S&P 500 Index. You can invest in them. Oh, and I almost forgot, on January 25, 2023, they announced a dividend increase that represents 50 consecutive years of annual increases in their dividend, making them a Dividend King.

All hail S&P Global Inc!

…

Coronation! [SPGI]Read More »

Royal Dividends launched on July 13, 2022, and its first acquisition was made on July 18, 2022. After the 11th stock was added to the portfolio, I published a post titled ‘Going Forward’ and laid out a plan for continued investment in the ‘Portfolio for the Ages’. Here I present an updated version of the investment plan going forward. There are no big changes only small refinements.

…

Going Forward [2]Read More »

Ordinarily, I update the Performance page once a week, the evening after the latest investment. Last night was the first time I could recall seeing a positive return since September 26, 2022, when the portfolio reached its initial maturity level of 11 positions, one stock from each sector. This is obviously good news. However, investors do like a yard stick, a way of measuring whether or not this is good performance or not. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to compare the performance of this portfolio to that of an index for multiple reasons which will be explained.

Yet, the thirst for comparison remains and so I search for a suitable benchmark.

…

Performance UpdateRead More »

Below is an example of the table I had been including with my weekly investment.

There are three things I felt like changing with this table, starting with the one I published earlier today (below).

Did you notice the changes?

…

Small MattersRead More »

In 1899, John Barbey and a group of investors established the Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company. In 1920, the company is renamed Vanity Fair Silk Mills, Inc. and they begin selling silk lingerie. Some 20+ years after that, there is an embargo on silk during World War II and so ‘silk’ is dropped from the name. In 1951, the company goes public on the NYSE. In 1969, the name is changed yet again to simply VF Corporation and the company expands into denim. Then, just three years later they begin what is now a 50-year streak of annually increasing their dividend. And this is why we gather today.

All hail VF Corporation!

…

Coronation! [VFC]Read More »

On October 28, 2022, a company headquartered in Mansfield, Ohio since 1933 joined the list of Dividend Kings. This company designs, manufactures and sells pumps for use in water, wastewater, construction, industrial, petroleum, original equipment, agriculture, fire suppression, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), military and other liquid-handling applications.

In other words, the specialize in pumps. And they pay dividends.

All hail The Gorman-Rupp Company!

…

Coronation! [GRC]Read More »

This past weekend, using the Sure Analysis Research Database from Sure Dividend, I ranked stocks in preparation for my weekly investment of $250. I noticed that my universe from which I invest, the Empire, now numbered 71, one more than last week. After matching one list of tickers against another, I found a company with a 50-year streak of annual dividend increases, that had made it through my filters but had not yet appeared on Sure Dividend’s official list of Dividend Kings. I contacted Sure Dividend about the inconsistency and their founder and CEO Ben Reynolds, responded promptly. He agreed that this company should be added to the Dividend King list.

I wish this new Dividend King hailed from the Technology or Telecommunications sector, but it is a utility. Nevertheless, it is always a pleasure to see another company make this exclusive list.

All hail Middlesex Water Company!

…

Coronation! [MSEX]Read More »

Earnings season is underway in earnest. PPG will be the first in the portfolio to announce tomorrow. Then over the next three weeks, the remaining ten holdings follow suit. I truly don’t expect any material surprises in either direction. However, I do expect some positive price movement as more than a few of the holdings are in oversold territory. The bear market has been indiscriminate in its selloff. But earnings season is a time when strong companies pick up their tits and walk, and the wheat gets separated from the chaff, mixaphorically speaking.