We all know what surprising the street will do to a stock's price. The street focuses on quarterly revenue, EPS, EBIT, EBITDA and margins. The income statement is where you find all the metrics that the street loves. Therefore, the income statement must be the most important financial statement... or is it? In my opinion the most important financial statement is the lowly cash flow statement. Unfortunately, it is probably the least used and most misunderstood statement. Ultimately cash flow is what drives the value of any financial asset. The reason analysts look at revenue, EPS, EBIT, EBITDA ..read more

As part of my monitoring process, I review the list of dividend increases every week. This exercise helps me to monitor events related to companies I own, in order to keep up with them better. It also helps me  identify companies for further research. I usually focus my attention on the companies that have managed to increase dividends for at least a decade. That’s because my goal is to find companies for long-term investment, which I can hopefully hold for decades. I am not interested in buying a stock that I then have to sell a few years down the road. I am interested in companies that ..read more

Are you looking for companies that can sustain and grow their dividend? In making that determination, a company's Statement of Earnings is one of the last places you should look. Cash is king for the dividend growth investor and the Statement of Cash Flows is where astute investors begin when they want to understand the viability of a company. It's not that most companies have done anything wrong when preparing their Statement of Earnings, but under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) a lot of the entries have nothing to do with today's operations. Given this, I generally avoid mos ..read more

I review the list of dividend increases weekly, as part of my portfolio monitoring process. I usually narrow the list down to companies with at least a ten year history of annual dividend increases. The next involves reviewing each company in sufficient detail, in order to determine if dividend increases are based on solid fundamentals. This review includes looking at trends in earnings per share, dividends per share, payout ratios as good start. The goal is to determine the likelihood of future dividend increases. The last review point includes valuation. In general, I try to avoid overpaying ..read more

When it comes to investing in Dividend Growth Stocks certain sectors have been more favorable to investors than others. Historically, the sectors most popular with dividend investors include Financial Services, Healthcare and Consumer Defensive. Each has provided good yields and growth over the years. Financial Services has provided above average yields with dividend growth. This sector is not nearly as popular with dividend growth investors as it once was due to the 2008 financial meltdown. Understandably, there is an air of skepticism with these stocks and their management teams. Healthcare ..read more

In my monitoring process, I tend to analyze companies I own once every 12 to 18 months. However, I also receive push notifications such as annual reports, quarterly press releases, dividend increase notifications. Since most companies I focus on are major multi-national corporations, if they do something significant, it makes the business news. I review the list of dividend increases every week, as part of my monitoring process. I focus on the companies with at least a ten year history of annual dividend increases, in order to reduce noise. This process is helpful in monitoring how existing ho ..read more

When the economy and the market starts heading south, many investors start buying dividend growth stocks. They have long been considered a defensive position in turbulent times. Given these investors defensive stance, one might ask how about some real defense stocks, as in the Aerospace and Defense industry. With a steady flow of government money, defense stocks have long been considered a safe haven when the economy slows down and the market begins to sputter. However, with so many countries around the world, including the U.S., facing huge budget deficits, defense spending is where many poli ..read more

As part of my review process, I look at the dividend increases every week. I use the following resources to compile this list, if you are interested to learn more about it. I tend to narrow my attention down to the companies that have managed to increase dividends for at least ten years in a row. This helps me monitor how my existing investments are doing and also identify some emerging dividend growth success stories early on. During the past week, there were several companies that managed to raise dividends to shareholders. The companies are listed below: 3M Company (MMM ..read more

It is well-documented that a significant portion of the historical equity returns are a result of reinvested dividends. In Triumph of the Optimists: 101 Years of Global Investment Returns (2002), the authors looked at equity returns from capital gains and dividends from 1900 to 2000. They determined that performance in any given year was driven by capital appreciation, but long-term returns were largely the result of reinvested dividends. Looking at 101 years of data in the U.S. and U.K., they found that a market-oriented portfolio with dividends reinvested would have generated nearly 85 times ..read more

As part of my review process, I evaluate dividend increases every week. This process helps me to see how my portfolio holdings are doing. It also helps me to uncover and review new candidates for my portfolio. I look for dependable dividends from companies with a minimum ten-year streak of annual dividend increases, fueled by earnings growth. I look for dependable dividends from companies with dependable earnings, and solid competitive advantages, which I can acquire at attractive valuations. During the past week, the following companies increased dividends to shareholders. Each comp ..read more