November has arrived with the usual mix of shorter days, cooler weather, and the family settling into fall routines. Football, hunting, and other activities keep the calendar full, and there’s plenty that needs doing around the house before winter. It’s been a while (4+ years!) since the last full Dividend Growth Digest on the site, but the portfolio itself has stayed on a steady path. Dividend growth investing continues to do what it does best: quietly compounding income while the rest of life stays busy.
Portfolio Snapshot
The DGI For The DIY portfolio continues to hold a diversified group of high-quality companies (currently 56 positions). Projected annual dividend income recently passed the $4,800 mark, which is 20% higher than when I made my last Dividend Growth Digest post in 2022.
The long-term compounding process of collecting rising payouts and reinvesting them continues to bear fruit. Actual income in 2025 finished at $4,335, just ahead of the long-range dividend income target that was set in 2017. The strategy remains unchanged: own quality growers, reinvest the cash flow, and avoid major shifts when headlines get noisy.
October Dividend Increase Announcements
October produced a solid slate of increases across the portfolio. There were eight announcements, with an average sequential increase of about 6.9% and an average year-over-year increase of roughly 8.0%. The average yield on the group was about 2.45%.
| Announce Date | Ticker | Previous Payout Rate | New Payout Rate | Sequential Increase | Year Ago Payout Rate | YoY Increase | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/01/26 | OZK | $0.4800 | $0.4900 | 2.08% | $0.4500 | 8.89% | 3.78% |
| 10/07/26 | SBUX | $0.6200 | $0.6300 | 1.61% | $0.6200 | 1.61% | 2.30% |
| 10/10/26 | LMT | $3.4500 | $3.6000 | 4.35% | $3.4500 | 4.35% | 2.42% |
| 10/13/26 | ADC | $0.2670 | $0.2710 | 1.50% | $0.2620 | 3.44% | 4.65% |
| 10/27/26 | V | $0.6700 | $0.7800 | 16.42% | $0.6700 | 16.42% | 0.71% |
| 10/28/26 | APH | $0.1250 | $0.1500 | 20.00% | $0.1250 | 20.00% | 0.76% |
| 10/30/26 | ABBV | $1.7300 | $1.8200 | 5.20% | $1.7300 | 5.20% | 2.47% |
| 10/30/26 | XOM | $1.0300 | $1.0700 | 3.88% | $1.0300 | 3.88% | 2.53% |
| Averages: | 6.88% | 7.97% | 2.45% |
October 2026 Dividend Increase Announcements
The standouts were clear. Amphenol ($APH) delivered a 20% raise and Visa ($V) followed with a strong 16.42% boost—both classic examples of higher-growth names still able to push meaningful increases. AbbVie ($ABBV) continued its steady pattern with a 5.2% raise, while Lockheed Martin ($LMT) and Exxon Mobil ($XOM) posted more modest but still positive mid-single-digit increases.
On the lighter side, Starbucks ($SBUX) and Agree Realty ($ADC) announced smaller sequential raises (1.61% and 1.50%). These are still increases, and both companies have long histories of growing the payout, but the pace was more conservative this round. Bank OZK ($OZK) was in a similar range on the sequential number but showed a healthier year-over-year 8.89% growth.
Overall, it was a productive month. The combination of double-digit raises from growth-oriented holdings and steady single-digit increases from more mature names is exactly the mix that keeps the portfolio’s income stream moving higher over time.
Looking Ahead to November Dividend Announcements
Two companies in the portfolio are expected to announce increases in November:
- Automatic Data Processing ($ADP) — around 11/13
- Vertiv ($VRT) — around 11/14
ADP is a company I’ve owned since 2019 and has long been a reliable raiser. It has grown dividends for 50 consecutive years, and grown payouts at a 12.1% annual rate over the last decade. I’m expecting another 9-11% increase with this announcement.
I added Vertiv last October as one of the new, higher-growth names for the portfolio. It started paying a $0.01 annual dividend in 2020 and has grown it to $0.25 since then. I’m hoping for another 50% boost with this payout, but admit that its track record isn’t long enough to know exactly what is in store.
Vertiv now trades more than 50% off its 52-week highs, and has a PE of just 24.6 versus a normal PE of ~33, a discount of 25%. It’s expected to grow EPS by 70% this year, and ~30% going forward. This definitely isn’t a stock for the faint of heart, but this appears to be a reasonable entry point for those who’ve been looking to get in.
Closing Thoughts
It’s easy to get pulled into the latest macro story or market narrative, especially as we are bombarded with concerns about wars, inflation, and elections. The Dividend Growth Digest series has always been a way to step back, review actual income progress, and reaffirm the simple process that has worked for years. Family life, work, and everything else keep moving, but the portfolio keeps quietly doing its job in the background.
Thanks for following along. Feel free to leave a comment with what you’re seeing in your own portfolios or any names that have stood out on your watch lists recently.