From a dividend perspective, the story in April was similar to the story in March.
Once again, dividend cuts stole the show. The end of the month, was particularly brutal, as Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) dropped a “66% dividend cut” bomb on their investors. The other major companies announced drastic reductions in CAPEX to hold on to maintain their dividend this quarter. So yes, it was very shocking when Shell announced their cut out of the blue and ahead of their peers.
The dividend cuts have been brutal. But is that going to stop us from investing? HECK NO! It caused the two of us to stop in our tracks and refocus our investing strategy to focus on companies that are:
- Dividend Aristocrats (or close to it) to focus on companies that have increased their dividend through various economic cycles
- In industries built to perform well during the pandemic
- Perform well in our Dividend Stock Screener
Read here to find out what companies actually increased their dividends in April.
