Another quarter has come and gone, and there’s both good news and not so good news to report about the former iPIG portfolio. Let’s start with the good news:
- The portfolio earned $811.27 of dividend-like income for the quarter, up 14% from the $711.55 it earned in the same period last year. That stayed ahead of even the higher-than-normal inflation we’ve faced over that period. That is in-line with the portfolio’s original design criteria.
- The portfolio’s ending balance for the quarter appears to be $113,930.70, up a respectable 4.3% from the $109,221.38 where its official brokerage statement placed its year-end value. That’s about in-line with what I would hope to see in a normal quarter – maybe slightly ahead of it.
- 21 of the stocks held for at least a year are paying higher dividends than they were during the same period last year, while only 3 have held their dividends flat. There are also 3 dividend payers in the portfolio that were not in the portfolio prior to their ex-dividend dates covering the JFM quarter of 2022.
Now, the not so good news:
- An investment in the market tracking SPY index fund would have returned about 7.5% for the quarter, including dividend reinvestment, easily beating the former iPIG portfolio over the same time period.
- If it weren’t for the decision to buy the new dividend payers last year (from cash in the account from prior dividends and from selling stocks that had eliminated their dividends), the portfolio’s dividend income would have only increased by about 4.9% over the same quarter from 2022. While solid growth, that would not have kept up with the high inflation we’ve faced.
- At least one company in the portfolio is facing tremendous headwinds from higher interest rates impacting its primary business line. It would not surprise me to see a dividend cut from that company in the not too distant future.
All told, a reasonable quarter from the portfolio, but one that reminds me that it might be time for a bit of spring cleaning…
Regards,
-Chuck
Home Fool