The markets have been on an absolute tear as new high after new high is made. The S&P 500 got past 5,500 this week after ultimately settling at 5,464.52, while the Nasdaq breached 17,900. Overall, the Nasdaq finished the week up 0.08% while the S&P 500 climbed 0.68%. There is a tug-of-war going on between Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA), as NVDA overtook them to become the largest company in the market for a short period of time. Shares of NVDA reached around $140 before retracing around -9.6% to $126.57. In addition to the markets being led higher by technology, the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio got back in the black as it added $89.68 in profitability. CME Group is projecting that there is only a 10.3% chance the Fed will cut rates at the July FOMC meeting, and the more likely scenario is that we get the first rate cut in September. No matter what the Fed does, I am excited to build out the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio in a high-rate environment, as I feel some sectors will melt up when the first rate cut occurs. No matter what happens, I will continue allocating capital each week and building out the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio.
Hopefully, we can string together several more weeks like this, during which profitability increases by $89.68 rather than decline by $225.16, as it did last week. I have now allocated $17,300 to the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio, and its account value is $19,578.59, which is an ROI of $2,278.59 (13.17%). This ended up being an infrastructure-focused week as I have been looking more into how much energy new data centers will require that are focused on AI infrastructure. As the demand for energy is likely to increase, I added to my positions at Enbridge (ENB), Kinder Morgan (KMI), and the Cohen & Steers Infrastructure Fund (UTF). The Dividend Harvesting Portfolio generated $5.99 in dividend income this week, and when I combine that with the positions I added to, my forward projected annualized dividend income by $7.76 (0.51%) to $1,540.02. There is 1 more week until July hits, and I’m going to be pushing up against the $1,550 mark on projected dividend income. The first half of 2024 has been great, and I am excited to see how the markets develop and where the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio ends up in the 2nd half of the year.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
The overall performance of the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio
It doesn’t look like the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio is going to get caught in a perpetual decline as a retracement was stopped in its tracks once again. That’s one of the main reasons why I am extremely diversified, as I can’t predict which sectors will go up or down in a given week. There are several ETFs and CEFs that have exposure to big tech, which has provided a nice boost since I have not directly added the Magnificent Seven to this portfolio yet. My immediate two objectives are to generate reoccurring income while mitigating downside risk. I have other investments to focus on capital appreciation, and that’s why appreciation is a secondary objective. I am happy with the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio’s performance, considering it is now generating $1,540.02 in forward dividend income and is up $2,278.59 (13.17%) on invested capital. Regardless if the market sells off and this account retraces, the portfolio has shown during the inflationary period and difficult macroeconomic environments that it can continue generating income and mitigate downside risk fairly well. I am excited for the future and to see how much dividend income the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio is generating at the end of the year.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
The Dividend Harvesting Portfolio dividend section
Here’s how much dividend income is generated per investment basket:
- Equities $444.08 (28.84%)
- ETFs $363.22 (23.59%)
- REITs $283.23 (18.39%)
- CEFs $271.20 (17.61%)
- BDCs $168.45 (10.94%)
- Treasuries $9.84 (0.64%)
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
Collecting dividends can serve many functions in a portfolio. Some investors utilize dividends to supplement their income and live off of them. I’m building a dividend portfolio for myself 30 years into the future. In 2022, I collected $507.80 in dividend income from 533 dividends. In 2023, I collected $978.11 in dividend income from 660 dividends. After the first 25 weeks in 2024, I have collected $643.50 from 326 dividends. This is 65.92% of the total dividend income generated in 2023 from 49.39% of the dividends produced.
In week 25 of 2024 I collected $5.99 in dividend income, bringing my weekly average in 2024 to $25.74. This is a 52.17% increase YoY from the 2023 weekly average of $16.92 that the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio generated. I have already generated 65.92% of 2023’s dividend income, and it’s likely that the weekly dividend average will gradually increase throughout the 2nd half of 2024. At this rate, I should produce at least $1,250 of dividend income this year, and I hope to generate close to $2,000 in 2025.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
There is only 1 week left in June, and I am officially getting worried. In March, which was the last month in Q1, I generated $98.97 in dividend income, and for the past 2 months, I exceeded the $100 level by a decent amount. Depending on when all these monthly income-producing ETFs and CEFs pay their dividends and distributions, I may not break the $100 level in June. Currently, I need to generate $35.31 to reach $100 of dividend income this month, and during 2024 I have exceeded this weekly dividend amount 6 times. This is going to be a long week, considering that I won’t be checking the dividend income until the end of the week. I will be anxiously waiting for next weekend to see the results as I am no longer as confident as I was during the first 2 weeks of June that this objective will be completed.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
There are now 34 positions generating at least 1 share annually through their dividend income as 2 companies crossed back over the threshold. The new shares generated by these companies are expected to add $117.82 of annualized dividend income to the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio. While I fully expect some companies to move in and out of this list as the market appreciates, I will be working on bringing more companies into the green section of the table below. Thankfully, REITs and ETFs are not up against the 20% level, so I have some leeway on what I will start adding again.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
The Dividend Harvesting Portfolio composition
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
This is a nice change for once, as REITs are now under 19% of the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio, and ETFs represent 19.1% of the holdings. I have been trying to divert capital to other areas as I have a 20% threshold for each individual sector. An argument could be made that this should apply to CEFs and ETFs as many are diversified into multiple sectors, but it helps me maintain a larger level of diversity.
Individual equities now represent 38.94% of the Dividend Harvesting portfolio while generating 28.84% of the dividend income. REITs, ETFs, CEFs, and BDCs make up 61.06% of the portfolio and generate 71.16% of the forward income. I am working on getting individual equities to represent more of the portfolio, and looking at the pie charts below, I really need to find another technology company to get bullish on, as Cisco Systems (CSCO) is now 67.4% of the technology position.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
Altria Group (MO) is still monopolizing the top spot in the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio as it represents 4.71% of the portfolio. Pfizer (PFE) has made its debut on the top-10 list as it knocked Realty Income (O) out of the tenth spot. I had a feeling this would occur as I started to add to this position aggressively, so it generated at least 1 share of its dividend income annually. Over the next several months, I think the top-10 will look a little different, and while I don’t think any positions will overtake Altria Group for the top spot, I do think the bottom half will change.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
I started working on building out a second table for positions 11-20, and I should have it finished either next week or the week after. Now that Realty Income has been replaced by Pfizer, the metrics have changed a bit. My allocation to the top-10 positions is $5,259.62, and they finished the week with a value of $6,136.12. This is an ROI of $876.50 (16.66%). There has been $584.98 of dividends generated and reinvested, which is 11.12% of the initial investment into these positions. I am now projecting that $485.17 of dividend income will be generated from the top 10 holdings, which have a forward yield of 9.22%. These positions represent 31.34% of the portfolio, while their forward dividend income is projected to generate 31.50% of the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio’s annualized income.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
Week 173 Additions
In week 173, I added to my positions in:
- Enbridge (ENB)
- Kinder Morgan (KMI)
- Cohen & Steers Infrastructure Fund (UTF)
Enbridge
- I am very big on infrastructure, as companies like ENB have infrastructure that cannot be replicated. As more data centers come online the demand for energy will grow, and ENB is the most diversified energy infrastructure company there is
- ENB operates the largest utility company in North America, moves 30% of the crude throughout North America through 17,809 miles of pipes and 20% of the natural gas consumed through 71,308 miles of pipes.
- ENB’s dividend has grown at a 10$ CAGR since 1995, and ENB has provided annualized dividend growth for 29 consecutive years.
- ENB should be a dividend growth machine for years to come as we see an increase in demand for energy
Kinder Morgan
- I recently wrote an article on KMI outlining my bull thesis (can be read here)
- Similar to ENB, I think KMI is going to benefit from the increased demand for data centers and energy over the next several years years
- KMI has made a run to $20, and I think the rally will continue into the 2nd half of 2024
- I also needed another share of KMI so it generated at least 1 share from its dividends on an annual basis
Cohen & Steers Infrastructure Fund
- UTF is a way that I can invest in utilities, industrials, and energy in one CEF as it’s a diverse infrastructure play.
- UTF has many companies I want to own in it, and ones I currently own such as Southern Company (SO), NextEra Energy (NEE), Dominion (D), and ENB
- UTF has a yield of 8.24% and pays a monthly distribution
Week 174 Gameplan
I am considering adding to my positions in Realty Income and the NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (SPYI)
Conclusion
The Dividend Harvesting Portfolio is now generating $1,540.02 in dividend income, an average of $128.33 per month and $29.62 per week. While there have been several setbacks, as roughly 4 companies have cut their dividends, the Dividend Harvesting Portfolio has continued to grow its income through consistently investing and reinvesting all the generated income. I am happy with the progress, and I think the next several years will be very strong for the portfolio as many companies will thrive when the Fed starts cutting rates. By sticking to my investment rules of allocating $100 per week, and not letting a single position exceed 5% of the portfolio or an individual sector exceed 20% of the portfolio, I have remained diversified and mitigated downside risk through different macro and geopolitical events over the years. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how the charts below progress throughout the rest of the year as more dividend income is generated each week.
Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha Steven Fiorillo, Seeking Alpha
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