Brian Nelson

Stellar Keytruda Growth Powers Merck Higher

by

Shares of pharmaceutical giant Merck continue to accelerate thanks in large part to the growth of its key oncology asset Keytruda. Even though Merck is a well-established entity, future growth is highly correlated to the continued expansion of Keytruda as it continues to gain market share thanks in large part to superior clinical data and label expansion. By Alexander J. Poulos Key Takeaways Keytruda remains a star performer powering Merck’s quarterly performance. We remain big fans of Keytruda’s potential as the recent clinical data underscores the best in class potential of the molecule. The performance of Keytruda is critical for Merck as sales deceleration in former growth properties begin to weigh on overall sales of the company. Why are we … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 31

by

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 31. 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 Avnet (AVT): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.19. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS): now CAD 0.85 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.82. Cadence Bancorporation (CADE): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.125. Canadian Western Bank (CBWBF): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Capital Southwest (CSWC): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Cimarex Energy (XEC): now $0.18 per share … Read more

Intel Unveils Plans to Take on Heightened Competition

by

Image source: Intel analyst presentation Shares of simulated newsletter portfolios idea Intel have faced material selling pressure in mid-2018 as a result of a number of reports of increased competition from rivals, namely AMD. We’re not worried and still like the company’s valuation profile. By Kris Rosemann Chip-making giant Intel’s (INTC) delays in its 10-nanometer chip program have the market concerned over its position relative to rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which is planning to launch its 7-nanometer chops in early 2019. Intel’s 10-nanometer are now not expected to be launched until late 2019 and likely won’t ship in material volume until 2020. Though the actual speed difference and overall performance between the two chips remain up for … Read more

ETF Analysis: Energy

by

Please select the image below to download the report.

The Days of the MLP Model Are Numbered

by

By Brian Nelson, CFA On August 24, Enbridge (ENB) announced that it would enter into a definitive agreement under which the entity would buy Spectra Energy Partners (SEP) at an exchange ratio of 1.111 common shares of Enbridge for each common unit of SEP, a near-10% increase from the exchange ratio announced a few months ago. As we have outlined in the past, most recently with respect to the following discussion on the Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) and Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) tie up, “ETE-ETP Rollup and Implied Distribution Cut,” consolidations are slowly eliminating the MLP model via simplification efforts and many combinations are coming with implied distribution/dividend cuts, something that couldn’t have been imagined in years prior. The story … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 24

by

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 24. 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 Altria (MO): now $0.80 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.70. American Financial Group (AFG): now $1.60 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.40. BancFirst (BANF): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21.                C&F Financial (CFFI): now $0.36 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.34. Canadian Imperial Bank (CM): now CAD 1.36 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 1.33. Capital City Bank (CCBG): now $0.09 per share quarterly … Read more

In the News: Pot, Pop, and Pricing Wars

by

By Kris Rosemann The Growing Pot Market As the number of states legalizing recreational marijuana continues to grow, investor interest in the space continues to rise and the public stigma around the substance continues to fall. According to a recent RBC note, roughly 83% of Americans believe marijuana should be legal in some capacity, suggesting further decriminalization and/or outright legalization is likely to take place in coming years, a notion supported by Canada’s recent nationwide legalization. RBC also estimates that legal marijuana sales in the US will grow at a 17% compound annual growth rate over the next decade to approximately $47 billion in legal annual sales. Current recreational sales of marijuana in the US, both legal and illegal, are … Read more

Honeywell Remains a Top Industrial Idea

by

Image Source: Honeywell It has been a long time since we explained to readers what we look at in stocks, and it’s probably a good time for a quick refresher. At Valuentum, we think a comprehensive analysis of a firm’s discounted cash flow valuation, relative valuation versus industry peers, as well as an assessment of technical and momentum indicators is the best way to identify the most attractive stocks at the best time to consider buying. We think stocks that are cheap (undervalued) and just starting to go up (momentum) are some of the best ones to evaluate for addition to the simulated newsletter portfolios. These stocks have both strong valuation and pricing support. Said differently, both the market likes … Read more

Pfizer: Lots of Moving Parts in a Generally-Inspiring Second Quarter

by

Image Source: Pfizer We came away generally impressed with the progress at Pfizer during the second quarter as the company begins to replace its current patent protected line-up with next-generation treatments. Pfizer continues to gain political favor with its decision to forgo price hikes on its product line-up while announcing a re-organization of the business structure. By Alexander J. Poulos Key Takeaways There has been lots of political intrigue as Pfizer seeks to gain favor with the White House via rolling back its annual drug price hikes. The company announced plans to split into three companies, which we view as the first step towards a complete split of the company. In the second-quarter earnings report, released July 31, Pfizer raised … Read more

EOG Resources “Firing On All Cylinders”

by

Image Source: Valuentum. In the above image, we show how we derive our $104 fair value estimate for EOG Resources. For those that know us, you know that we like to look at stocks as though they are pieces of a business. As with the investing greats Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett, we think each share of stock has something called intrinsic value. What we do each and every day is to strive to calculate what we think is an appropriate estimate of a company’s intrinsic value because we want to have a reasonable basis to derive what an investor might be willing to pay for shares. We’ve had a lot success with intrinsic-value investing during the past several years, … Read more