Brian Nelson

Quick Update: Starbucks — What a Company

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Image Source: Starbuck’s 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders By Jessica Bishop With coffee being an integral part of so many people’s daily routine, Starbucks (SBUX) has captured the hearts of coffee drinkers everywhere and has become the face of upscale, high-end coffee with its tremendous brand recognition. Along with its brand comes its unmatched loyalty program, as people just can’t seem to get enough of Starbucks. It has taken great strides toward mobile advancements such as My Starbucks Rewards (MSR) that has gained more than 10 million active members (grew 28% in fiscal 2015 from fiscal 2014) in the US with card loads in North America alone at $5+ billion in fiscal 2015. The strength of its loyal customer base … Read more

Quick Take: Update on Sprint’s Leverage

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Image Source: Mike Mozart By Jessica Bishop Sprint (S) is not in good financial shape, and we view the company’s equity as a mere lotto ticket that likely won’t pay off. It’s probable that shares of Sprint may continue to converge toward $0 as the economic cycle matures. After all, these are good times, and the company is a mere penny stock. Investors have to be thinking: What’s going to happen when economic activity truly heads south? Our fair value estimate remains unchanged at $4 per share as of the latest update, however, and our relatively large fair value range reflects the tremendous risks of this overleveraged, capital-intensive business model that has only just begun to turn the corner with respect … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending June 17

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending June 17. 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 Ashford Hospitality Prime (AHP): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (FMAO): now $0.23 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Tracking ETF (ONEQ): now $0.54 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.49. Investar (ISTR): now $0.01 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.009. Mesa Royalty Trust (MTR): now $0.0358 per share monthly dividend, was $0.0221. Realty Income (O): now … Read more

What?!?! Microsoft Acquires LinkedIn; NO!

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Image source: LinkedIn It’s almost hard to believe that Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella would throw ~$26.2 billion of cash in the form of shareholder capital that could potentially go toward one of the best future dividend growth streaks in history at a large, Internet-based acquisition such as LinkedIn (LNKD), but it happened June 13. Unbelievable. We think most of the news outlets had to do a double-take before reporting the news (we did, too), and we’re not surprised that Microsoft’s shares are selling off on the announcement. Some are painting the deal optimistically, but we’re bummed out. We’re removing half of our position in Microsoft from the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio on the news at ~$50.18 per share for … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending June 10

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending June 10. 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 Advanced Drainage Systems (WMS): now $0.06 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): now $0.02 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.019. C.R. Bard (BCR): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. FedEx (FDX): now $0.40 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. H&R Block (HRB): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. National Fuel Gas Company (NFG): now $0.405 per share … Read more

Stay In Tune with Our *NEW* Dividend Analysis

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You may have noticed that, as we’ve been updating our dividend reports, we have been adding an additional page to the report (page 2) that focuses on pointed dividend analysis from the perspective of the income investor. There are several new sections on page 2 of the dividend report, but in this article we wanted to highlight the ‘Assessment of Company Dividend Strategy’ section. What we set out to accomplish in the two incremental paragraphs of this particular section is somewhat unique, and we wanted to offer a couple themes that will help explain the following unique perspective: what is good for the company over the long haul isn’t always good for the income investor in the near term.  Let’s … Read more

Recent Coverage Additions: FDC, ALLE, EW, UNH, SIMO

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First Data (FDC) First Data Corp provides e-commerce solutions for merchants, financial institutions, and card issuers across the globe through its three operating segments: Global Business Solutions (58% of 2015 revenue), Global Financial Solutions (21% of 2015 revenue), and Network & Security Solutions (21% of 2015 revenue). The firm limits its customer concentration risk through its diversified revenue base, and the majority of its revenue (particularly that of its Global Business Solutions segment) is of the recurring variety. The Global Business Solutions segment provides commerce solutions for businesses of all sizes and has an unparalleled distribution network. Management is particularly excited about what its Clover line can do for small business owners in the areas of point-of-sale hardware and software … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending June 3

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending June 3. 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 American Tower (AMT): now $0.53 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.51. Broadcom (AVGO): now $0.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.49. Colliers International (CIGI): now C$0.05 per share semi-annual dividend, was C$0.04. Cracker Barrel (CBRL): now $1.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.10. Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT): now $0.105 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.085. First National Bank Alaska (FBAK): now $20.00 per share quarterly … Read more

Cracker Barrel Delivers Big Dividend

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Image Source: Eli Christman Well, how do you like that? Our favorite dividend growth restaurant idea, Cracker Barrel (CBRL), which was recently added to the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio February 1, 2016, announced an impressive $3.25 per-share special dividend June 1, as it increased its quarterly payout 4.5%, to $1.15 per share ($4.60 on an annual basis, implying a forward dividend yield of 2.8%). Though many investors have pointed to McDonald’s (MCD) resurgence as the “story in retail,” we’re mighty pleased with what we’ve been seeing at the “old country store” and believe it to be a more resilient idea than the Golden Arches. Shares of Cracker Barrel surged June 1, breaching new all-time highs, and we’re expecting bigger things … Read more