Canadian Western Bank (TSE:CWB) -- Expected Dividend Increase

If Mr. Pollock and the board stick true to their target payout ratio of 25%, a dividend increase should be expected in the next quarter. With EPS for the last quarter coming in at $0.52, the dividend should increase to at least $0.13 (a 18% increase!).

I currently have a very small position in CWB, but significantly increasing this position will be a top priority (enough to DRIP the dividends -- so at least an additional 150 shares) when I start growing my portfolio in the coming months.

Thanks MoneyGardener!

I want to dedicate a post to the author of The Money Gardener at http://themoneygardener.com/. His blog has been somewhat of an inspiration by giving me a better understanding and many insights into how dividends can benefit my portfolio over time.

I am still quite young (just finishing university!) and relatively new to investing, but I look forward to posting my dividend progress in much the same way that he posts his monthly net worth.

From the Money Gardener's background Info:

"The Overriding Goal is to Make Money Less Important in our Lives. Not to be cliché, but one might use the word 'FREEDOM'. "

Money Gardener, I couldn't agree more! All the best and thanks again.

Dividend Goals

The purpose of this blog is to track my progress over the coming years. I am very fortunate to be finishing university debt free and will soon be starting a well paying job, thereby allowing me to significantly grow my portfolio (and those dividend cheques!). Those who begin to follow my blog will start to see some significant jumps in the dividend income chart that I posted below over the coming months, which will hopefully continue on a quarterly basis.

For the purpose of this blog I will outline my two main dividend goals:

1) Achieve quarterly dividend payments of $250 by the end of 2010.

2) Achieve quarterly dividend payments of $1000 by the end of 2011.

The significant jump in 2011 is the result of being able to partially invest a full year's income. At this point I will be 24 years old... So I am hoping this income will grow and DRIP nicely over many years to come.

I will provide further detail on these goals, stock selection criteria, purchases and progress in later posts.

Thanks for reading!

Portfolio Background -- Growth in Dividends

The following graph summarizes the growing distributions that my portfolio has provided over the past two years. It should be noted that I have not made any changes to the portfolio over this time and that the growing trend is a result of the DRIP that I have set up (PWF, TRP), as well as increased distributions.

Dividend Growth Profile Premise

The purpose of this blog is to track my quarterly dividend income, along with additions or deletions to the portfolio.

Please check back regularly for updates.

Current portfolio:

TRP: 106 shares (DRIP: purchased 100 shares in August, 2008)

PWF: 106 shares (DRIP: purchased 100 shares in August, 2008)

CWB: 85 shares (purchased in July, 2008)

Quarterly yield: $88.85