Starting Strong, Staying Conservative
Dividend stocks are the big winners of early 2026.
Editor’s Note: Thank you for reading the February 2026 Dividends Premium.
So far, 2026 has been mostly volatile and directionless for the S&P 500, and the related ETFs that dominate most Americans’ portfolios. The S&P 500 SPDR ETF is in the black, but only just barely with a gain of 1.47 percent.
Dividend stocks in contrast are tearing up the track. The 17 stocks in our Dividends Premium model portfolio have an average gain of 14 percent in barely six weeks. And most have yet to pay their first dividend in 2026.
There’s a lot more where that came from. But that’s only if we choose our targets and entry points carefully. And a fast start likely means we’re going to need to harvest gains in the coming weeks.
This month, I’m taking an initial position in a high yielding big pharmaceutical company. February’s other top fresh money buy is high yielding natural gas royalty company.
Have a question? I host Dividends Roundtable 24-7 on the Discord channel for all Dividends Premium members. Check it out.
Here’s to your wealth!--RC
Income Portfolio: Starting Strong But Staying Conservative
So far, our dividends and growth portfolio is starting off 2026 the way it ended 2025. The average year-to-date gain of 14 percent is the best beginning since inception in late 2018. And as of the close on Wednesday February 11, returns are at a new high-water mark of 98.05 percent.
The posted return assumes harvesting rather than re-investing dividends. And as my table “Portfolio Dream Buy Prices” highlights, it includes some rather extraordinary gains that aren’t usually associated with steady-as-she-goes dividend paying stocks.
But these returns are proof positive that high yielding stocks can produce outsized capital gains too. That’s provided we buy big dividend companies with strong, growing underlying businesses when they’re cheap. We don’t chase stocks that get away from us. And we have patience to wait for the market to recognize value.
High-quality stocks can languish at low prices for months or even years. And the Big Tech rally this decade has made it especially hard to wait around in underperformers, just as a Tech rally a quarter century ago convinced many to sell their dividend stocks.
But value recognition is happening right now for most of the 17 current portfolio positions. In fact, we now have an entirely different challenge:
Arrow Financial (NSDQ: AROW), Black Stone Minerals (NYSE: BSM), Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), Honda Motor (NYSE: HMC) and Mid-America Apartment (NYSE: MAA) are the only recommendations still selling for less than their highest recommended buy prices.
The other dozen positions are effectively holds, pending a drop in price or an increase to where they merit taking a profit.
Newmont Corp (NYSE: NEM) is still the stock I’m mostly likely to pare back on sometime in the next few weeks. The price of gold has been on a wild ride this year. And the world’s leading gold miner has followed along, as investor worries about inflation and the US dollar’s value have waxed and waned.
