Laboring Through My Long-Term Portfolio

I also own General Electric (GE). Speaking of dividend growth, this one is technically worse than the Mouse, even though, for some reason, I get more irritated by the latter's refusal to generate a higher yield. GE had to cut its quarterly payout severely back in 2009 after the conglomerate felt the wrath of the financial crisis. Recently, the business reported a decent second quarter; the GE Capital Finance division did okay. Nevertheless, the price action over the last year could have been better, as could the price action over the last several years.

Microsoft (MSFT) originally began as a trade for me back in the spring when the share price was much higher than where it closed at last Friday. I sort of became stuck with it, you could say. Just for that reason alone Microsoft is not my best investment idea. But I have to go back to the dividend thesis again. There has been talk that the software company should pay a higher dividend; I would tend to agree. Its rate of 2.1% just doesn't translate into a stellar enough yield. Come on, CEO Steve Ballmer, you can do better than that! Convince the board to become more friendly to the shareholders.

And now, the stock in my portfolio that I respect the most: Coca-Cola (KO). The beverage icon has an awesome dividend history. Because of it, I have never shied away from adding to my position. Coke brings in the cash and makes it a habit of increasing the quarterly payout every year. I can't guarantee that trend will continue, but my assumption is that there's a solid chance that it will. This holding pays me quite nicely to be an owner. And you know what? If you don't own Coke now, here's something to consider: the dividend yield is a relatively attractive 3%.

Bottom line: I think I can make an effective argument that, even though its share price hasn't grown over the last decade, Coca-Cola works pretty hard at keeping its investors happy through rising dividend payments. There's really a lot to be said about a dividend backed by powerful brand equity; if the business model remains steady and continues to slowly but surely grow, then a cool income stream, in addition to capital appreciation, might be in the offing somewhere down the line.

Disclosure: I own Disney, Coca-Cola, GE, Microsoft; positions can change without notice.