My Dividend Growth Portfolio: Q2 2019 Summary

Published Mon, 08 Jul 2019 10:31:25 -0400 on Seeking Alpha

Introduction
It's time to summarize another quarter. The last quarter was very volatile. After the S&P 500 plunged by over 6.5% in May, it more than recovered in June reaching a new all-time high. Unlike the first quarter the gains were very erratic. Year to date the S&P 500 is up 18.6%, and my portfolio showed gains consistent with the broader market. While it's not my ultimate benchmark, I still compare my performance to the S&P 500 as it shows an alternative way of investing.
My main goal is to achieve a growing stream of dividends, which will give me some more financial freedom. In Q2 2019, my dividend income rose by 17.6% QoQ. This is a major decline from the 25.2% growth in Q1. I attribute it to the dividend cut made by Kraft Heinz (KHC) as well as the fact that I contributed less funds to my dividend growth portfolio. I still hope to eventually achieve a 25% dividend income growth in 2019, and hopefully the banks meaningful dividend increases will help me to achieve this goal. In order to achieve it, I will also need to add more funds to the portfolio, 6%-7% overall dividend growth and reinvesting received dividends. This is an ambitious goal, but I still believe I can achieve it.
I predicted at the end of Q1 that Q2 will be volatile, and I was right this time. The reasons for the volatility were diverse. The Brexit still has no conclusion, and the British prime minister has resigned. Trade tensions between the United States and China are still a major... Read more