Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending March 21
March 21, 2014
Let’s take a look at dividend increases/decreases for the week ending March 21.
Update: Digging Into the Valuentum Dividend Cushion
March 21, 2014
Sign Up to Receive our Dividend Growth Newsletter! Add the High Yield Dividend Newsletter to Your Membership! History has revealed that the best performing stocks during the previous decades have been those that shelled out ever-increasing cash to shareholders in the form of dividends. In a recent study by Ned Davis Research, S&P 500 stocks that initiated dividends or grew them over time registered roughly a 9.6% annualized return since 1972 (through 2010), while stocks that did not pay out dividends or cut them performed poorly over the same time period. Such analysis is difficult to ignore, and we believe investors may be well-rewarded in future periods by finding the best dividend-growth stocks out there. As such, we’ve developed a rigorous dividend investment
Carl Icahn Wants eBay to Spin Off PayPal in an IPO
March 20, 2014
CARL C. ICAHN RELEASES STATEMENT ON EBAY (EBAY) IPO 20% of PayPal We believe eBay could easily conduct an Initial Public Offering of PayPal, selling 20% to the public. eBay would retain 80% of PayPal with control. Before the transaction is consummated the companies could enter into a long-term, commercially viable contract, preserving all synergies. This type of relationship is customary in partial IPOs and would be particularly important for eBay as currently, outside of PayPal, there does not exist a global payment processing solution competent enough to service eBay’s users. Luckily for PayPal, competitors such as Google, Apple and many others do not yet have the same comparable scale and product offerings. (source) Valuentum’s Take There are a variety
You Can’t Trust Anonymity; Einhorn Sues
March 19, 2014
By Brian Nelson, CFA We’re writing this piece to make you aware of some troubling developments in this industry. The investment business, as we’ve highlighted many times in the past, is based on trust. During the past several years, there’s been an explosion of information overload on the worldwide web, and a lot of the financial and investment information is written by anonymous authors without analyst credentials and with unknown motives. We hold the belief that, if a writer cannot stand behind his work in his own name, then there’s something wrong. Not only are a lot of the articles on other financial websites written by biased and anonymous authors, but now at least one anonymous author has been dealing
Microsoft Almost Hits $40 Per Share
March 18, 2014
We tell our members exactly what we mean. For those that watch the Dividend Growth portfolio closely and analyze our 16-page reports, you’re well aware that we’ve been pounding the table on Microsoft’s (MSFT) undervaluation for some time. Image Source: Valuentum The software giant is just another great example of the process in action. In every 16-page report, the last page reveals the rating history on each company. Since the middle of 2012 (see below), we’ve been saying that Microsoft’s shares are going to buck the historical malaise and rise to $40+ on the basis of our fair value estimate. The software giant also registered a coveted 9 on the Valuentum Buying Index in September 2012. And its hefty dividend
Focus on Process over Outcome
March 18, 2014
We wanted to share an excellent piece on the importance of focusing on process over outcome in investing.
Valuentum Is Adding Sector Exposure…
March 18, 2014
We wanted to provide a brief update of the Best Ideas portfolio. We don’t want to make too much of the update, as we know that the future is the only thing that matters for our new members. But since the team updated the graphics, we thought we’d share. The first picture is the outperformance of the Best Ideas portfolio relative to the S&P 500 (SPY) since inception. The second is a measurement of the reward of the portfolio per unit-of-risk taken. Any portfolio that plots above the capital market line (CML) has a superior Sharpe ratio and risk-adjusted performance versus the market benchmark. This tells us that the Valuentum process is adding considerable value, as the Best Ideas portfolio
I’d rather lose half of my clients than lose half of my clients’ money.
March 17, 2014
“I’d rather lose half of my clients than lose half of my clients’ money.” – Jean-Marie Eveillard (First Eagle Global) Josh Brown, who runs the blog The Reformed Broker, wrote an excellent piece today on how irrational clients and customers can bring down even the best of money managers. We think it’s a very informative read. Pasted below is an excerpt from the intro, accompanied by the list of the top 25 most overvalued stocks on the market today on the basis of our research. There is a link to continue reading the piece from Josh at the bottom of the table, too. Something tells me there are some serious blow-ups on the horizon for professional managers. I feel this
Valuentum’s March Edition of Its Best Ideas Newsletter!
March 16, 2014
Alert: Adding to Positions in Altria and GE, by Brian Nelson, CFA Though we continue to be cautious on the overall future direction of the markets, we still believe that there are some very attractive ideas out there. Altria (MO) has been one of the best performers in the Best Ideas portfolio (see page 8), and we are excited every time the tobacco (and alcohol) giant pays its hefty quarterly dividend. There’s been some interesting news with respect to industry consolidation that you should know about, and we think it will serve as a fantastic catalyst for the company’s shares to leap past $40 (please see page 3). We’re also adding to portfolio holding General Electric (GE). The industrial giant plans
Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending March 14
March 14, 2014
Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending March 14. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Capstead (CMO): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.31. Colgate-Palmolive (CL): now $0.36 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.34. Douglas Dynamics (PLOW): now $0.2175 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2125. Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT (EARN): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS): now $0.325 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. General Mills (GIS): now $0.41 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.38. Gramercy (GPT): reinstates common stock dividend of $0.035 per share quarterly dividend. Hurco Companies (HURC): now $0.07 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. JMP Group (JMP): now $0.045 per share
