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.
This week is the third and final ‘off’ week. This restores the $250+ per week pace of investment. Read on to find out which position would have been most worthy of new money.
This week, five of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top Ten: BKH, MDT, MMM, PII, and TGT.
Ticker
Account Value
BKH
1,031.94
MDT
1,201.56
MMM
2,134.63
PII
878.10
TGT
1,083.30
The lowest amount belongs to PII and there is nothing that would preclude additional investment into that position, other than that of it being an off week.
TDS broke $20.00 for the first time in a while on Friday, November 3, 2023. I would like to have a bit more breathing room with this position. As a result, I have chosen to roll up and out. The details are below.
In the same, two-legged, GTC option order:
Buy to Close: (3) February 16, 2024 $20.00 Call Options [Symbol: TDS240216C20]
Sell to Open: (3) May 17, 2024 $22.50 Call Options [Symbol: TDS240517C22.5]
Limit Order Price: Credit of $0.15 per share
I was lucky enough to get a $0.22 credit from my order affecting 300 covered shares. After commissions, this resulted in a $62.92 credit and nearly equals the last quarterly dividend of $63.83 on all 345 shares. That’s a nice roll credit for a 3-month extension in the expiry date and the possibility of receiving an additional $750 in capital gains should TDS climb further on any good news. And they could use some.
This week is the second of three consecutive ‘off’ weeks intended to restore the $250+ per week pace of investment. Read on to find out which position would have been most worthy of new money.
This week, six of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top Ten: BKH, MDT, MMM, MO, PII, and TGT.
Ticker
Account Value
BKH
1,081.92
MDT
1,233.52
MMM
2,158.78
MO
2,358.86
PII
926.50
TGT
1,128.50
The lowest amount belongs to PII and there is nothing that would preclude additional investment into that position, other than that of it being an off week.
I added MDT to the portfolio last week. This will be the first of three ‘off’ weeks intended to restore the $250+ per week pace of investment. The putrid performance of the broader market has infected the Royal Dividends portfolio. Read on, to find out which position would have been most worthy of new money.
This week, five of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top Ten: BKH, MMM, MO, PII, and TGT.
Ticker
Account Value
BKH
1,014.30
MMM
2,012.96
MO
2,279.40
PII
852.70
TGT
1,072.30
The lowest amount belongs to PII and there is nothing that would preclude additional investment into that position, other than that of it being an off week.
This week, five of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top 10: BKH, MMM, NNN, PII and TGT.
Ticker
Account Value
BKH
1,063.02
MMM
2,039.64
NNN
926.12
PII
971.30
TGT
1,119.80
The lowest amount belongs to NNN. However, there are imbalances in the portfolio, from both a stock perspective and a sector perspective, due to the outperformance of TDS in recent months. Two sectors are eligible for additional investment at this time: Health Care and Materials. None of the five stocks above are from these sectors. Materials and Health Care are nowhere to be found in the entire Top Ten. However, the Top Thirteen includes a health care company, and it isn’t current portfolio holding ABBV.
Addicts and gamblers, <fine, if you insist> investors, it is time to add a new position to the Portfolio for the Ages!
This is the last of three weeks where I am refraining from the usual investment of $250+ into the portfolio, in an effort to restore the $250+ per week average. Uninvested dividends are above $250 yet again ($286.89 to be exact) and in theory, those funds could be invested this week. Let’s see how things play out.
This week, four of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top Ten: MMM, NNN, PII, and TGT.
Ticker
Account Value
MMM
2,039.64
NNN
926.12
PII
971.30
TGT
1,119.80
The lowest amount belongs to NNN. However, a slight restoration in the recent outperformance of TDS has created a tiny sector imbalance. Strict adherence to this would mean that only the Materials and Healthcare sectors are eligible for investment at this time. NNN is in Real Estate and the other three are in non-eligible sectors as well (MMM is ineligible regardless of sector because it is part of an overweighting imbalance from a stock perspective). There are only two existing portfolio positions that would be eligible: PPG (Materials) and ABBV (Healthcare), but the former would add to the stock imbalance and the latter did not make it into the list of 31 companies that passed my filters. This would leave adding a new position from one of the two sectors. The Top Ten has one such company, MDT, from the Health Care sector. Unfortunately, I prefer to enter new positions with a minimum of $1,000 and this is beyond the amount of the accumulated dividends. And so, why push it? This is an off week, and it will remain so.
Next week, assuming no additional dividends trickle in, I will add approximately $537 to an existing position or $1,287 to a new position.
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.
This is the second of three weeks where I am refraining from the usual investment of $250+ into the portfolio, in an effort to restore the $250+ per week average. Below, I present how things would have gone.
This week, five of the portfolio holdings ranked in the Top Ten: BKH, MMM, NNN, PII, and TGT.
Ticker
Account Value
BKH
1,015.98
MMM
2,033.20
NNN
901.68
PII
974.30
TGT
1,050.10
The lowest amount belongs to NNN. Due to the massive sell-off in the market, and TDS’s willingness to follow along with unbridled enthusiasm, there are no sector imbalances in the portfolio for the first time in weeks. So, there would be nothing to preclude that investment other than the fact that I’m sitting this week out.
The Portfolio for the Ages came to life with the acquisition of FMCB, a little-known Dividend King, on July 18, 2022. There are now 15 positions covering all 11 sectors and one can see the performance and portfolio characteristics at the relevant menu links1.
Save the stock price performance of TDS, the portfolio’s performance has been a disappointment. I have to emphasize that it is TDS’s price performance that has been phenomenal, as its business performance has been the worst of any of the holdings. And if that doesn’t tell you something about investing in the short term, I’m not sure what does. I am deliberately passing on the opportunity to compare the Royal Dividends portfolio performance to that of SPX or NOBL at this time, in order to stress the importance of dividend accumulation.
