ConocoPhillips Is Buying Concho Resources
October 20, 2020
Image Shown: An overview of the pro forma asset base of ConocoPhillips and Concho Resources Inc. Please note that Concho Resources’ main operations are in the Permian Basin in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico, a region that ConocoPhillips seeks to grow its exposure to. ConocoPhillips has an expansive upstream portfolio with operations worldwide, though its North American position is set to become a much larger part of its company-wide profile. Image Source: ConocoPhillips – ConocoPhillips & Concho Resources Transaction Announcement IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 19, ConocoPhillips (COP) announced it was acquiring Concho Resources Inc (CXO) through an all-stock deal. If the deal goes through as planned, each share of CXO will be exchanged for 1.46 shares
Global Net Lease’s Yield Is Flashing Signs of Trouble
October 19, 2020
Image Shown: An overview of Global Net Lease’s asset base. Image Source: Global Net Lease – Second Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Global Net Lease (GNL) is a real estate investment trust (‘REIT’) focused on single tenant net-leased commercial properties in the US, Canada, and Europe. Sale and leaseback transactions are a common way the REIT grows its business. At the end of June 2020, a little less than two thirds of its annualized rental income came from properties in the US and Canada. Global Net Lease generated a little less than half of its annualized rental income from both office properties and industrial/distribution properties, with the remainder coming from retail properties. Shares of GNL yield
PepsiCo Earnings Update
October 19, 2020
Image Shown: PepsiCo Inc’s expansive snacks and beverage portfolio is home to 23 brands that generated $1+ billion in annual retail sales in 2019. We are big fans of PepsiCo’s business model but caution that the firm’s net debt load needs to be closely monitored going forward, especially given management’s generous approach to dividends and share repurchases. Image Source: PepsiCo Inc – CAGNY 2020 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Dividend aristocrat PepsiCo Inc (PEP) reported third-quarter fiscal 2020 earnings (period ended September 5, 2020) that beat both top- and bottom-line consensus estimates. PepsiCo’s organic revenue growth, a non-GAAP metric, stood out. During the fiscal third quarter and the first three quarters of fiscal 2020, PepsiCo’s organic revenue growth clocked in
Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week October 16
October 16, 2020
Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending October 16. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week A.O. Smith (AOS): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Albertsons Companies (ACI): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend. Avient (AVNT): now $0.2125 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2025. Century Bancorp (CNBKA): now $0.16 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. Century Bancorp, Inc.B (CNBKB): now $0.07 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.06. Cummins (CMI): now $1.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.311. IDACORP (IDA): now
Our Thoughts on the Potential Acquisition of Concho Resources by ConocoPhillips
October 15, 2020
Image Source: ConocoPhillips – November 2019 Annual & Investor Meeting Presentation By Callum Turcan According to Bloomberg, the super-independent ConocoPhillips (COP) is currently talking with Concho Resources Inc (CXO) about acquiring the company. We do not expect that such a deal will come with a significant premium, and furthermore, and we expect that such a deal will likely be funded with equity. Our reasoning is underpinned by recent M&A activity in the oil patch, such as the all-stock acquisition of Noble Energy by Chevron Corporation (CVX) through a ~$5 billion deal that was completed in early-October. That deal involved Chevron paying a ~12% premium (based on ten-day average closing stock prices) at the time of the announcement, though please note
Johnson & Johnson Once Again Raises Guidance
October 15, 2020
Image Shown: An overview of Johnson & Johnson’s financial performance during the third quarter of fiscal 2020. Image Source: Johnson & Johnson – Third Quarter of Fiscal 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 13, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported third quarter fiscal 2020 earnings (period ended September 27, 2020) that beat consensus non-GAAP EPS estimates and consensus GAAP revenue estimates, though its GAAP EPS fell short of consensus estimates likely due to turbulence created by the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. Johnson & Johnson’s GAAP revenues were up 2% year-over-year last fiscal quarter while its GAAP gross margin stayed broadly flat at 66.9%. A sharp reduction in other expenses resulted in Johnson & Johnson’s GAAP net income more
Our Thoughts on Apple Launching Its First-Ever 5G-Capable iPhone
October 14, 2020
Image Shown: Shares of Apple Inc have surged higher year-to-date. By Callum Turcan On October 13, Apple Inc (AAPL) announced its first-ever lineup of 5G-capable iPhones along with a new smart home speaker offering HomePod Mini. While the 5G-capable iPhone announcement was largely expected, we appreciate the good news all the same. We include shares of Apple as a holding in both our Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios and are big fans of the name. The HomePod Mini offering represents Apple’s way of staying competitive with similar offerings from Amazon Inc (AMZN) and Alphabet Inc (GOOG) (GOOGL). The Big News Apple’s four new iPhone offerings (iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro
JPMorgan, Citigroup Third Quarters Not Terrible, But Still No Reason to Own Financials
October 13, 2020
Image: Banks and financials were among the most aggressively beaten down groups during the COVID-19 crash, and the sector failed to participate meaningfully in the bounce back. The leveraged and arbitrary nature of banking business models makes them much less attractive than entities with strong net cash positions on the balance sheet and solid expected future free cash flows. Source: Kastner, David, Charles Schwab. “Schwab Sector Views: Changes Are Coming.” 18 June 2020. By Brian Nelson, CFA Better-than-feared third-quarter reports are not going to change our minds on the banking and financials sector. The group has been among the worst performing sectors amid the COVID-19 market crash and failed to bounce back meaningfully since the March bottom. Banks are being
Disney Moves Higher
October 13, 2020
Image Shown: Shares of Walt Disney Company, a holding with a modest weighting in our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, are recovering. The ongoing pandemic created significant headwinds for Disney, though stellar paid subscriber growth at its Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ video streaming services are helping offset some of those headwinds. By Callum Turcan On October 12, Walt Disney Company (DIS) announced a major restructuring that fundamentally places a greater focus on its direct-to-consumer (‘DTC’) strategy, which rests on its video streaming services. We have written about Disney’s impressive video streaming performance in the past (link here). Please note beyond Disney+ and EPSN+, Disney owns 67% of Hulu with Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) owning the remaining 33% stake. Greater Emphasis on Streaming
Great Day in the Markets!
October 13, 2020
Image: The Invesco QQQ Trust, an exchange-traded fund based on the NASDAQ 100 index, had a great day during the trading session October 12, as it leads all major indexes on the year. — By Brian Nelson, CFA — First of all, a warm welcome to our new members. We recently posted a website overview video on our website here, and please be sure to view our stock report walk-through . At Valuentum, we’re financial publishers, so please be sure to read through how many members use our services here. — The trading session October 12 was a sight to see. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.88%, the S&P 500 jumped 1.64%, while the NASDAQ powered ahead an incredible 2.56%. As many of our
