The DivGro Weekly—30.08.24

167 Consecutive dividend increases

Weekly Dividend Progress

This week we received further real-time, tangible evidence of outstanding business progress when Intuit raised its dividend by 15.6%. We also became entitled to our quarterly dividends from S&P Global and SBA Communications, all meaningfully higher than this time last year.

How We Are Tracking

Since DivGro's inception we have predicted and benefited from 167 consecutive dividend increases across our portfolio companies, with no decreases. The average rate of these dividend increases is 14.83%.

Intuit

Intuit, our formidable accounting and tax software force powering American households and small businesses, has created a superior dividend growth record of approximately 16 per cent per annum compounded since initiating dividends in 2011. How is this possible? With more than 100 million customers and thanks to an increasingly complex US tax system, Intuit enjoys a unique stranglehold on its customer base that reinforces competitors’ barrier to entry. For one, the costs in time and energy to learn a rival system and migrate records to a prospective competitor are so intensive that both customers and accountants are resistant to change — especially without the promise of perfect data transfer. That Intuit leverages this privilege expertly — by introducing a steady stream of incremental modules that further complicate switching efforts — also glues loyalists to the company. Plus, to fuel growth, Intuit now connects DIY tax filers who need occasional expert help with accountants who are already Intuit customers and have capacity, taking a clip from its matchmaking. The strategic pairing has excellent pay-offs: with this distribution channel already in place, fees earned from this marketplace are close to pure profit. These high-growth, high-margin initiatives, coupled with Intuit’s market dominance, reflect the company’s enviable position, primed to extend its superb dividend growth into the future.