Annual Dividend Growth Announcements Expected From PepsiCo, Next Era Energy, 7 Others In First Half Of February

Those of you who follow this series of articles know that I track the dividend increases of a variety of long-term dividend growth companies. Back at the end of December, I provided predictions for 11 dividend growth companies that have historically announced annual payout increases in January.
In addition to the 11 companies for which I gave predictions, one other company also announced a dividend increase. Fastenal (FAST) boosted its payout by 7.5% to an annual rate of $1.72. The company now has a forward yield of 2.84%.
Let’s take a look at how well I did with my predictions from January before we go to my predictions for the first half of February (you can see the article with the original predictions here):
(Note: all yields are based on stock prices at the end of Friday, February 1st.)
Results for 11 Dividend Increase Predictions from January
AFLAC (AFL)
Prediction: 13.5 - 17.3% increase to $1.18 - $1.22
Actual: 3.8% increase to $1.08
Forward yield: 2.25%
This was a big miss from my expectations. Despite an expected 17% growth in EPS this year, the insurance company’s 37th year of dividend growth was about half of its 5-year average of 8%.
Air Products (APD)
Prediction: 9.1 - 11.4% increase to $4.80 - $4.90
Actual: 5.5% increase to $4.64
Forward yield: 2.80%
Despite an 18% growth in EPS, Air Products’ 37th year of dividend growth begins with an increase well below the company’s 10-year... Read more