Brian Nelson

There’s No Space Like Aerospace

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The recovery from the stock-market bottom in March 2009 has been five years in the making, but as the cyclical threat of an eventual global downturn looms, the aerospace industry is one of the few industries that we think will continue to be resilient in the face of such pressures. We expect commercial aircraft build rates to continue to climb at least through 2018. If the multi-year backlogs of unfulfilled deliveries at the large airframe makers aren’t enough, Boeing’s (BA) updated 20-year outlook for commercial aerospace demand, released June 10, was about as rosy as can be. The reason for such a long-range view has to do with the nature of aircraft building. When airframe makers build next-generation aircraft, they … Read more

Ford’s China Sales Continue to Impress

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June proved to be another great month for Best Ideas portfolio holding Ford (F) in China (1). First-half sales numbers, released Monday, increased to nearly 550,000 wholesale vehicles compared to just over 400,000 in the first half of 2013. Ford’s June sales alone increased 17%, to 87,783. The news showcases Ford’s continued sales momentum in the country, something we’ve been monitoring closely for some time. The Ford Focus, Ford Kuga, Ford Mondeo and the Ford EcoSport have been key sources of strength, with the Focus becoming a huge hit with consumers in the country. A latecomer to China, Ford may be trailing early-movers such as GM (GM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY), but the automaker’s rate of sales growth continues to significantly … Read more

Utilities Are Safe Income Vehicles…Most of the Time

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Many dividend growth investors have capital invested in steady-eddy utilities firms, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, we also have exposure to the Utilities Select SPDR ETF (XLU) in the Best Ideas portfolio and to PPL (PPL) in the Dividend Growth portfolio. Though the regulated ‘returns’ and steady performance of utility-entities are quite attractive, especially when they pay annual dividend yields of 3%-4% per annum or more, we think it is very important for investors of all types to understand that the dividends of utilities are not without risks. In fact, the nature of their capital structure sometimes exposes utilities to more risks than other entities, especially with respect to the dividend. Before we get started, it’s … Read more

GE ‘Wins’ Alstom’s Assets

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Over the weekend, General Electric (GE) announced that the Alstom Board of Directors has unanimously approved GE’s offer to buy the Power and Grid businesses of France-based Alstom. The US-based industrial giant’s bid prevailed over that of a convoluted offer from a Siemens (SI) and Mitsubishi consortium that had hoped to spoil the tie-up and prevent GE from strengthening its presence in Europe. Here are the details of the GE-Alstom transaction: GE’s offer to acquire the Power and Grid businesses of Alstom remains unchanged at $13.5 billion (€9.9 billion) enterprise value and $3.4 billion (€2.5 billion) of net cash, totaling $16.9 billion (€12.35 billion). The all-cash transaction is valued at 7.9 times pro-forma earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending June 20

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending June 20. 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 $0.72 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.70. Apollo Residential Mortgage (AMTG): now $0.42 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.40, First Bancorp (FNLC): now $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): now $0.13  per quarterly dividend, was $0.12. Horizon Bancorp (HBNC): now $0.13 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.11. John Wiley & Sons (JW.A): now $0.29 per … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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Read: Keeping the Horse Before the Cart: Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ Rating The Economic Castle Focuses on the Magnitude of Economic Value Creation The Valuentum Economic Castle™ rating is an enhancement of the competitive advantage framework (commonly known as economic moat analysis) that has become widespread and ubiquitous within the investing world. Whereas an economic moat framework evaluates a firm on the basis of the sustainability and durability of its competitive advantages, Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ rating evaluates a firm on the basis of the firm’s future economic profit spread (return on invested capital less its weighted average cost of capital). The companies with the strongest Valuentum Economic Castle™ ratings are poised to generate the most economic value for shareholders in the … Read more