Household Durables Firms, Electronics Retailers Face Pressure
January 6, 2014
On Monday, the maker of the Sleep Number bed, Select Comfort (SCSS) sent shudders through the furniture and bedding manufacturing industry when it warned that not only would fourth-quarter sales miss the mark but that the challenging times would continue into 2014: Select Comfort Corp…reported that preliminary fourth-quarter 2013 total net sales grew 5% year-over-year to $231 million, with flat company-controlled comparable sales growth. The mid-point of the company’s fourth-quarter EPS guidance range of $0.18 to $0.26 assumed low-double-digit growth in total net sales and mid-single-digit growth in company-controlled comparable sales. Through November, company performance was trending consistent with the EPS guidance range, with solid sales results and expense controls. From Cyber Monday through the end of December, however, sales
Throw December Auto Sales Numbers Away; December Ice Storms and a Late Thanksgiving Holiday to Blame
January 5, 2014
The excuses for the subpar selling performance at automakers in December (up just 0.3%) were many: the frigid ice and snow storms that scared customers away; a late Thanksgiving holiday that stole sales from the month; and a shortened holiday shopping season that left consumers scrambling to buy holiday gifts for family and friends, as opposed to spending time car shopping. Though the impact of each contributing factor is difficult to measure, we think the combination of these items was the main culprit for disappointing December auto sales, not that the consumer has decided to forgo car purchases and that the upswing in auto sales has come to an abrupt halt. Some caution is starting to creep into the market—see
Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Two Weeks Ending January 3
January 4, 2014
Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the two weeks ending January 3. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports, please click here (or use our ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header). Firms Raising Their Dividends Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21. Firms Lowering Their Dividends Gold Resource Corp (GORO): now $0.01 per share monthly dividend, was $0.03.
Buffett Doubles Down on USG; Teva Expected to Appoint New CEO; Crude by Rail Transportation Comes under Scrutiny
January 3, 2014
The day after the New Year holiday was light with news, as expected, but there were three developments that we thought you should be aware of. We recently highlighted the third-quarter performance of USG (USG), the maker of wallboard under the SHEETROCK name, as it scored one of the highest ratings of a 9 on the Valuentum Buying Index in late October. Warren Buffett on Thursday announced that he has increased his stake in the firm, to 30.5% (more than double previously-reported figures). According to a recently-filed Schedule 13D/A, he now owns 43.4 million shares of the firm. USG continues to be significantly undervalued on the basis of our discounted cash-flow process, and we peg its fair value estimate north
Dividend Growth Investors Face Unique Risks in 2014
January 2, 2014
With 2013 now in the rear-view mirror, we can happily say that the Dividend Growth portfolio significantly exceeded its goals of an annualized return in the mid- to- high-single digits for the year. We know that you’ve been a part of this journey in 2013, and we wanted to congratulate you as well. In fact, the successful year would not have been so without you, and we wanted to extend a big thank you for that. If you haven’t been a member for that long yet, we’re expecting an exciting 2014, too! For one, dividend growth investors are enjoying a time like no other in the history of the equity markets. The attractiveness of dividend growth investing as a style
Merger Chatter Heating Up for the New Year
December 31, 2013
With corporate news slow as the New Year’s week unfolds, merger chatter has heated up to fill the void. On Monday, StreetInsider reported that the New York Times (NYT) may be catching the eye of a suitor. Chen Guangbiao, chairman of China Huangpu Renewable Resources Utilization Group Co, is reported to be interested in making a bid for the firm. The likelihood and the terms of an announcement, however, remain extremely vague, and we point to only one source. Newspaper outlets have certainly been of significant interest as of late, and the well-documented declines in newsprint circulation have done nothing to discourage buyers. For one, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently acquired the Washington Post’s namesake earlier this year in what
Quiet Trading This Week
December 27, 2013
If you haven’t yet read Part I of our Best Ideas piece, you can find it here. The holiday week was very quiet, as expected. However, a few news items did hit the wires that we’d like you to be aware of. First, we received word from ChannelAdvisor, a leading cloud-based e-commerce solutions provider, that same-store sales momentum across the e-commerce spectrum may have slowed in the third week of December. This runs counter to the strong data we’ve been receiving from the space through most of the holiday season. However, we believe the recent news release is something we’d categorize as “noise” (immaterial), especially given the significant date-shifting performed in the representation of the data. ChannelAdvisor had the following
Apple and Facebook Lead the Charge on Monday
December 24, 2013
On Monday, official news of an Apple (AAPL)-China Mobile (CHL) iPhone deal sent shares of Apple soaring. We had highlighted initial reports of the announcement December 5, and we fully expect the new business to be a strong fundamental catalyst for the iPhone maker. China Mobile is the largest mobile operator in China by users, and even a low-single-digit conversion rate to the iPhone will move the deal at Best Ideas portfolio holding Apple. The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be available in China Mobile and Apple stores across mainland China beginning January 17, 2014. We think consensus estimates for Apple’s earnings through the middle part of this decade are too low (on the basis of this transaction), and
Three Reasons Why Dividend Growth Investors Are Quite Savvy
December 23, 2013
A version of this article appeared on our website on October 1, 2013. There are many different approaches to investing, but we think dividend growth investors are quite savvy, especially when they combine a rigorous dividend growth process in the form of the Valuentum Dividend Cushion ratio with the valuation rigors behind the Valuentum Buying Index. Let’s examine the three reasons why we think dividend growth investors are a smart group in the age of ultra-low interest rates. #1. Fool Me Once, Shame on You…Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me Today’s dividend growth crowd has seen enough. First, they witnessed the dot-com bubble (1997-2000), a period in stock market history where firms’ stock prices soared in some cases as a result
