Seven weeks ago, I invested my cold, hard cash into 10 high-yield dividend stocks that I believe will beat the market. Let's see the results so far:
Company | Average Cost | Shares | Recent Price | Total Value | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altria | $24.86 | 40 | $26.52 | $1,060.80 | 6.68% |
| Philip Morris | $61.83 | 16 | $66.83 | $1,069.28 | 8.09% |
| National Grid | $45.63 | 22 | $48.36 | $1,063.92 | 5.98% |
| Annaly Capital Management | $17.55 | 57 | $17.39 | $991.23 | -0.91% |
| Frontier Communications | $9.36 | 106 | $8.01 | $849.06 | -14.42% |
| Southern Co | $37.87 | 26 | $37.78 | $982.28 | -0.24% |
| France Telecom | $22.23 | 45 | $22.90 | $1,030.50 | 3.01% |
| Vodafone Group | $28.88 | 34 | $29.12 | $990.08 | 0.83% |
| Eli Lilly | $34.48 | 29 | $35.87 | $1,040.23 | 4.03% |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | $25.37 | 39 | $27.40 | $1,068.60 | 8.00% |
| Cash | 99.03 | 99.03 | 0% | ||
| Dividends Receivable | 48.21 | 48.21 | 0% | ||
| Total Portfolio | $10,293.22 | 2.93% | |||
| Investment in SPY | 0.91% | ||||
| Return vs. SPY | 2.02% |
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard and Poor's. Data as of April 11.
Over the past two weeks, the S&P rose a slight 0.1%. Our portfolio maintained its outperformance, widening the gap between its returns and the market's from 1.5% back then to 2% now! While outperformance is always good, you should always take it with a grain of salt. We're investing for the long term, and this portfolio's only been around for seven weeks. I firmly believe the results will bear us out.
Movers & shakers
Of our stocks, again, the biggest mover in the portfolio the past two weeks was Bristol-Myers Squibb, which rose 7.5%. The stock first jumped two Fridays ago, when, as Fool pharma analyst Brian Orelli expected, the FDA approved the firm's melanoma drug Yervoy. The drug is a breakthrough -- the first medicine to significantly extend patients' survival.
Upcoming dividends
- Annaly Capital will pay a dividend of $0.62 per share on April 27, 2011. The ex-dividend date was March 29, 2011.
- Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay a dividend of $0.33 per share on May 2, 2011. The ex-dividend date was March 30, 2011.
News
Vodafone has been making moves. Last week the company paid $5 billion in cash to buy out its partner from its Indian joint venture, Vodafone Essar, the second-largest wireless operator in India. Additionally, the company sold its 44% stake in French mobile phone company SFR to Vivendi for roughly $11.3 billion in cash. The proceeds from the sale, along with the expected dividend stream from Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless will help Vodafone meet its goal of growing its dividend by 7% annually through 2013.
My Foolish bottom line
I'm highly confident in this portfolio's ability to crush the market over the next decade. That's why I put $10,000 of my personal cash into these stocks. My strategy is simple. I'm buying strong companies with outsized dividends, reinvesting those dividends, and holding them for the long run. Over the coming year, I'll track my performance, update you on when I'm going to reinvest all my dividends, and keep you abreast of news affecting these companies.
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