Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending June 23
June 26, 2017
Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending June 23. 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 ALPS | Dorsey Wright Sector Momentum ETF (SWIN): now $0.05305 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.03923. ALPS Alerian Energy Infrastructure ETF (ENFR): now $0.2405 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15615. ALPS Emerging Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (EDOG): now $0.312 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.095. ALPS Equal Sector Weight ETF (EQL): now $0.32887 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.27069. ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (IDOG):
Best Ideas, Dividend Growth Newsletter Alerts and More
June 20, 2017
Image Shown: The stock price performance of Boeing. Let’s take a look at recent news from newsletter portfolio holdings. We’re also parting with a “trade” we never should have made in the first place, and we’re letting go of one of our favorite restaurants in light of deteriorating technicals. This and more… By Brian Nelson, CFA Aside from predicting the ongoing inflation of the current equity market bubble in the US so far in 2017, we also thought crude oil prices (USO) would continue their recovery. Unfortunately, this hasn’t exactly worked out, and US crude oil prices have now entered a “bear market,” now falling below $43 per barrel. Are we saying that we know where crude oil prices are
Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending June 16
June 19, 2017
Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending June 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 Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.13. Capital Southwest (CSWC): now $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.19. Caterpillar (CAT): now $0.78 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.77. El Paso Electric (EE): now $0.335 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.31. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (FMAO): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. FedEx (FDX): now $0.50 per share quarterly
Amazon To Buy Whole Foods: Not Creative Destruction, Just Destruction
June 16, 2017
Image Source: Mike Mozart Amazon announced plans to buy Whole Foods. We’re viewing the news as affirmation of our decision to stay largely away from retail exposure in the newsletter portfolios. We think a bidding war for Whole Foods is possible, mostly to keep it and its real estate out of the hands of Amazon, potentially setting up for a true “winner’s curse” scenario. The winner will overpay. By Brian Nelson, CFA We’re not pleased, but then again, it’s okay. Amazon (AMZN) announced June 16 that it will buy high-end grocer Whole Foods (WFM) for $42 per share in cash. Though we mentioned that Amazon was expanding into the grocery store market anecdotally, we must say that it still is
I CARE
June 15, 2017
Image Shown: The S&P 500 from early 2009 through today, June 15, 2017. By Brian Nelson, CFA There it is — the upward-sloping chart of the S&P 500 (SPY) since the March 2009 panic bottom. What a sight to see… The past 8 years have marked an incredible bull market in US equities and one for the record books in many instances. The drivers behind the multi-year rally have been many — ultra-low interest rates and their magnifying impact on equity valuations, strong earnings growth from the doldrums of the Financial Crisis, and the proliferation of passive and dividend-growth strategies de-emphasizing the price-versus-value equation. “Money,” it seems, is chasing stocks at any price, and most of the trading on exchanges
Bristol-Myers Squibb Disappoints
June 14, 2017
Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb have come under intense selling pressure off the heels of disappointing performance at ASCO. Let’s examine the situation. By Alexander J. Poulos What is ASCO? ASCO is an acronym for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the premier organization for oncologists. ASCO typically holds its annual meeting in early June, which holds particular appeal for biotech (IBB) investors. Biotech outfits will often use the annual meeting for a full disclosure of study data, which can have an outsized impact on equity prices. The ASCO effect on Bristol-Myers Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) was the darling of the 2013 ASCO event, revealing stunning data for its flagship compound Opdivo. The equity took off leading into and well after the
Opinion: Is Amazon Prepared to Tackle the Pharmacy Market?
June 14, 2017
The meteoric rise of Amazon, both with respect to the breadth of its business operations and stock price, continues. On news of the rumor of its potential entry into the pharmacy market, entities speculated that may feel an impact immediately sold off. Though it’s much too early to estimate the extent of any impact Amazon’s entrance into the pharmacy market may bring, let’s take look at potential implications, courtesy of healthcare and biotech contributor Alexander J. Poulos. By Alexander J. Poulos Recent Amazon Hire Ignites Speculation Amazon (AMZN) has quietly added a leader to build an in-house Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) for its employees. Mark Lyons, formerly of Premera Blue Cross, has joined the e-commerce and web services giant, and
Dividend Increases for the Week Ending June 9
June 12, 2017
Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending June 9. 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 Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE): now $0.86 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.83. Canterbury Park (CPHC): now $0.06 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. Global Payments (GPN): now $0.0133 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.01. Legg Mason (LM): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. PetroChina Company Limited (PTR): now $0.4756 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.2692. Sabine Royalty Trust (SBR): now $0.2126 per share
Glossary of Valuentum Terms
June 10, 2017
Image Source: Courtney Collison The following terms are found in our 16-page stock reports and our dividend reports: Business Quality Matrix. We compare the firm’s ValueCreation and ValueRisk ratings. The box is an easy way for investors to quickly assess the business quality of a company. Firms that generate economic profits with little operating variability score near the top right of the matrix. Cash Flow Generation. Firms’ cash flow generation capacity are measured along the scale of STRONG, MEDIUM, and WEAK. A firm with a 3-year historical free cash flow margin (free cash flow divided by sales) greater than 5% receives a STRONG rating, while firms earning less than 1% of sales as free cash flow receive a WEAK rating.
Verint’s Cyber Intelligence Division Impresses
June 8, 2017
Image Source: Blogtrepreneur One of the latest additions to the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio experienced strong top-line growth in both of its operating segments during the first quarter, and we continue to like the company’s exposure to the cyber intelligence arena. By Brian Nelson, CFA Our thesis on Verint (VRNT) is unchanged after the company reported strong first-quarter 2017 results June 7 led by a Cyber Intelligence division that experienced revenue growth of 19% on a year-over-year basis. Verint is one of our favorite ideas to capitalize on the increased spending to prevent cybercrime. We do not expect to make any changes to our fair value estimate at this time, and we plan to continue to include the idea in