Our actively managed dividend growth portfolio is a rules-based, quantitative selection process. We built strict buy and sell disciplines, all based on purely objective math. Our research leads us to believe rising dividends are the best opinion-free clue to improvements – in a business and for its stakeholders.

But some of the company’s stories we have learned along the way are too good not to share. Often, when a dividend gets raised again there is an interesting reason behind it.

Each quarter, during our report card season of company earnings conference calls that we are on to check our homework, we scribble a lot of notes to the side of our math. These time-sensitive updates have taught us some timeless lessons we enjoy keeping track of in our dividend Raises & Reasons series below.

As always, when we share any of our work (right & wrong) it should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell, or a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any of the securities mentioned. Companies we have written about may or may not still be a current holding in our actively managed portfolios.