My YTD dividends are up by $186.66 on a monthly average from last year.  That represents a 23.69% increase to date year over year.  I attribute the increased dividends to a few companies raising their dividends and to my purchasing additional dividend paying stocks.  During April, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $1,195.28.

Please notice that PGF is an ETF and pays dividends monthly.  The annualized dividend yield for PGF is based upon the simple and false assumption that it will pay the same dividend each month for the next 12 months.  The actual annualized dividend yield may be more or less than illustrated here.

ANH, MFA and NLY are mortgage REITs that make their money on interest rate spreads.  Their current high annualized dividend yields on my basis are probably at risk when the Fed begins to raise its discount rates.  As of this writing, my current basis, excluding dividends, for some of these stocks is now below their current market price, which increases my yield on those stocks.  From time to time, I attempt to sell Covered Calls on these stocks to reduce my basis, which, to some extent, will help mitigate any possible future reduction in their dividend payouts.  I find myself just holding some of these stocks while I wait for their price to rise to a point that I am comfortable selling new Covered Calls.  If I do not sell new Covered Calls I am content to capture the nice dividend for an indefinite period.  Notably, PGF, NLY, ANH and MFA fall into this category.

I use my basis per share to determine the simple and annualized percentage return because I feel that it gives me a better representation of the value of the dividends as they relate to my portfolio.  My basis may be above or below the market price which causes my return to be lower or higher than published yields for a stock.  I calculate my basis per share as my acquisition price less any option premiums received on those shares.  I do not use dividends to reduce my basis.

Last November I contemplated adding an additional 100 shares to the lot of four to reduce my basis, which would also increase my dividend yield.  At the time I felt a little uneasy about ALSK.  There had been a lot of debate about ALSK, most of which was negative or neutral at best.  So, in the end, as tempting as it was, I decided not to add additional exposure at that time.  Now, I am glad that I did not add the additional shares.  ALSK has fallen from being a $7 to $8 stock to being a mid $2 stock.  The most obvious reason was the dividend cut to .05 from .22 quarterly.  At .05 the yield on my basis is now 1.83% for the 800 shares where it had been better than 7.21%.

S&P has a 12-month price target of $4.00 and has a hold recommendation while MarketEdge has a price opinion of $2.56 with an Avoid recommendation.  The 3 YHOO brokers have a 12-month price target of $3.42 and a rating of 3.2 where 1.0 is a strong sell and 5.0 is a string buy.

My YTD dividends are up by $308.60 on a monthly average from last year.  That represents a 39.17% increase to date year over year.  I attribute the increased dividends to a few companies raising their dividends and to my purchasing additional dividend paying stocks.  During January, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $1.096.51.

Please notice that PGF is an ETF and pays dividends monthly.  The annualized dividend yield for PGF is based upon the simple and false assumption that it will pay the same dividend each month for the next 12 months.  The actual annualized dividend yield may be more or less than illustrated here.

ANH, MFA and NLY are mortgage REITs that make their money on interest rate spreads.  Their current high annualized dividend yields on my basis are probably at risk when the Fed begins to raise its discount rates.  As of this writing, my current basis, excluding dividends, for some of these stocks is now below their current market price, which increases my yield on those stocks.  From time to time, I attempt to sell Covered Calls on these stocks to reduce my basis, which, to some extent, will help mitigate any possible future reduction in their dividend payouts.  I find myself just holding some of these stocks while I wait for their price to rise to a point that I am comfortable selling new Covered Calls.  If I do not sell new Covered Calls I am content to capture the nice dividend for an indefinite period.  Notably, PGF, NLY, ANH and MFA fall into this category.

I use my basis per share to determine the simple and annualized percentage return because I feel that it gives me a better representation of the value of the dividends as they relate to my portfolio.  My basis may be above or below the market price which causes my return to be lower or higher than published yields for a stock.  I calculate my basis per share as my acquisition price less any option premiums received on those shares.  I do not use dividends to reduce my basis.

I contemplated adding an additional 100 shares to the lot of four to reduce my basis, which would also increase my dividend yield.  However, I feel a little uneasy about ALSK.  There is a lot of debate about ALSK, most of which is negative or neutral at best.  Look ALSK up on Yahoo and read some of the linked posts.  So, in the end, as tempting as it was, I decided not to add additional exposure at this time.  I will consider the question again in April.

On a positive note, ALSK pays a good dividend at about 6.85% and 6.41% on my prior basis.  My next annualized return will be a little higher because of my reduced basis.  The dividend is actually about 8.01% on the current market price.  That dividend is possibly a red flag about the company but I am going to continue to hold it for its dividends and the occasional option premiums I collect.  ALSK is certainly not as strong as the major national competitors are and has some greater competitive challenges.  Despite my hesitation to buy additional shares, I have no compelling reason to dump ALSK at this time.

S&P has a 12-month price target of $8.00 and has a hold recommendation while MarketEdge has a price opinion of $7.31 with a Neutral recommendation.  The 3 YHOO analysts have a 12-month price target of $8.00 and a rating of 2.8 where 1.0 is a strong sell and 5.0 is a string buy.  There seems to be a consensus around the $8 price target, more or less.

My YTD dividends are up by $137.00 on a monthly average from last year.  That represents a 22.67% increase to date year over year.  I attribute the increased dividends to a few companies raising their dividends and to my purchasing additional dividend paying stocks.  During October, I received notice of the following dividends paid in various accounts for a total of $1,305.59.

Please notice that PGF is an ETF and pays dividends monthly.  The annualized dividend yield for PGF is based upon the simple and false assumption that it will pay the same dividend each month for the next 12 months.  The actual annualized dividend yield may be more or less than illustrated here.

ANH, MFA and NLY are mortgage REITs that make their money on interest rate spreads.  Their current high annualized dividend yields on my basis are probably at risk when the Fed begins to raise its discount rates.  As of this writing, my current basis, excluding dividends, for some of these stocks is now below their current market price, which increases my yield on those stocks.  I attempt to sell Covered Calls on these stocks to reduce my basis which, to some extent, will help mitigate any possible future reduction in their dividend payouts.  I find myself just holding some of these stocks sometimes while I wait for their price to rise to a point that I am comfortable selling new Covered Calls.  If I do not sell new Covered Calls I am content to capture the nice dividend for an indefinite period.  Notably, PGF, NLY, ANH and MFA fall into this category.

I use my basis per share to determine the simple and annualized percentage return because I feel that it gives me a better representation of the value of the dividends as they relate to my portfolio.  My basis may be above or below the market price which causes my return to be lower or higher than published yields for a stock.  I calculate my basis per share as my acquisition price less any option premiums received on those shares.  I do not use dividends to reduce my basis.