Kroger, UnitedHealth Surprise With Good Dividend Boosts In June

Seeking AlphaDividend Quick PicksKroger, UnitedHealth Surprise With Good Dividend Boosts In JuneJul. 6, 2020 11:11 AM ET|| Includes: CASY, CAT, JW-A, K, KR, MXIM, NFG, NNN, PPG, R, SJM, SWK, TGT, UNH, WBA, WST, WTRGby: Harvesting DividendsHarvesting Dividends Dividend growth investing, long-term horizon, technical analysisHarvesting Dividends.cls-1{fill:#024999;}SummaryAmong the companies I track, two skipped their increase in July and most others were minimal.
The good news is that we saw two companies – Kroger and UnitedHealth – reward investors with double-digit boosts.
My expectations for increases going forward are still muted, at least until we see the economy fully rebound, which will probably take a long time.
This is the latest in a series of articles where I provide predictions of annual dividend increases for a variety of long-term dividend growth companies. Back at the end of May, I provided predictions for 8 dividend growth companies that have historically announced annual payout increases in June. Here, at the beginning of July, I provide my predictions for another 9 companies that historically have increased their dividends over the course of the month.
There are, of course, many companies that announced increases over the course of the month that I do not mention here. Seeking Alpha author FerdiS provides a good rundown in his articles.
Before I offer these predictions, here are how my predictions from June came out (you can see the original article with my predictions here):
(All yields are based on stock prices at the market close on Thursday, July 2nd.)
Results For The Eight Dividend Increase Predictions From June
Casey’s General Stores (CASY)
Prediction: 3.1-9.4% increase to $1.32-$1.40
Actual: 0% increase to $1.28
Forward yield: 0.85%
The pandemic crushed foot traffic into Casey’s convenience stores more than I expected, which forced the company to hold its dividend steady.
Caterpillar (CAT)
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