Member Articles

BREAKING: UAW-GM Reaches Deal, More Coming from Valuentum Soon…

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BREAKING: UAW-GM Reaches Deal, More Coming from Valuentum Later… please note that this note was written prior to the deal announcement today. Valuentum will have more to say about the deal soon. Image Shown: Shares of General Motors Company are beginning to recover as the company is reportedly getting closer to reaching a deal with the UAW, which would end a strike that is estimated to have cost the company over $1 billion according to some analysts. By Callum Turcan As the strike of ~46,000 United Automobile Workers (“UAW”) employees at US factories run by General Motors (GM) enters its second month, it looks like the chances for a breakthrough are growing. The Wall Street Journal reported that General Motors’ … Read more

JPMorgan Continues to Go from Strength to Strength

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Image Source: Gideon Benari  By Matthew Warren On October 15, JPMorgan (JPM) posted third-quarter earnings of $2.68 per share, ahead of the average analyst estimate of $2.45. Revenue of $30.06 billion advanced 8.1% compared to the same period last year and $1.7 billion ahead of consensus. Basically, the company managed to overcome very muted expectations for the quarter. Return on tangible common equity continued along at a high level of 18%, versus 17% in the same quarter last year. Importantly, the overhead ratio improved to 55% from 56% last year. The balance sheet remains very strong with a common equity Tier 1 ratio of 12.3%, up slightly sequentially. Loans were flat compared to last year but were up 3% excluding loan … Read more

Johnson & Johnson Raises Full-Year Guidance Yet Again

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Image Shown: Shares of Johnson & Johnson climbed higher on October 15 after reporting a nice third quarter earnings report and raising guidance for the full year. By Callum Turcan On October 15, Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter holding Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported third-quarter 2019 earnings that were positively received by the market. The healthcare giant once again boosted full-year non-GAAP sales and EPS guidance, which we appreciate, on the back of solid performance at its ‘Pharmaceuticals’ and ‘Medical Devices’ segments. Please note that Johnson & Johnson had already raised its guidance for 2019 twice before this latest increase, which we covered in this July 2019 piece here and this April 2019 piece here. During the third … Read more

Economic Commentary: Robots, Value Trap, and Politics on the Markets

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Tickerized for stocks in the DIA. Valuentum sat down for the latest installment of its periodic economic commentary, and the team tackled a wide array of topics, from robots on Wall Street, to President of Investment Research Brian Nelson’s new book Value Trap, to political influence on the markets and boyond. Let’s set the stage with a prompt from a recent Bloomberg article, “The Master of Robots…Coming for Wall Street:” “The problem is, computer-powered strategies are struggling to live up to the hype, with a Eurekahedge index of AI hedge funds lagging peers in recent years. That spells opportunity for the likes of Lopez de Prado with his outfit True Positive Technologies — a dig at the erroneous conclusions derived … Read more

ICYMI: Interview with Valuentum’s President Brian M. Nelson, CFA

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Catch up with Valuentum’s President Brian M. Nelson, CFA in a recent interview with dividend growth investor Arne Magnus Lorentzen Ulland of the blog stockles. By Brian Nelson, CFA Recently, I was interviewed by Arne Magnus Lorentzen Ulland of the blog stockles. Arne is a dividend growth investor like many of you, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the interview he put together. I’m very grateful for his interest. His questions were fantastic. We discuss why and how I incorporate independence and integrity into the service at Valuentum. We go into detail regarding why Valuentum views stocks the way it does, and how Valuentum combines enterprise valuation and the information contained in prices in its stock-selection process. I discuss the pitfalls … Read more

Apple Surges Higher!

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Image Shown: Shares of Apple continue to surge higher and were supported by positive US-China trade talk news on Friday October 11. By Callum Turcan One of our favorite companies, Apple (AAPL), has been off to the races with shares pushing up into the mid-$230s as of this writing. Apple is a top holding in both our Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios. We value Apple at up to $266 per share at the top end of our fair value estimate range, and shares of AAPL yield 1.3% as of this writing. Please note Apple’s fiscal year ends in late September. Let’s start out by covering an area Apple has had some trouble with over the past few … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending October 11

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending October 11. 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 A.O. Smith (AOS): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. American Corporation (AEE): now $0.495 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.475. ConocoPhillips (COP): now $0.42 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.305. Eaton Vance (EV): now $0.375 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.35. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD): now $0.4425 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.44. FS Bancorp (FSBW): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15. … Read more

5 Questions Answered by the Valuentum Team

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Image Source: Eric 1. On the 16-page Reports QUESTION: When I look at the company vitals information on the left side of the first part of each stock page, are the ‘Est. Normal Diluted EPS’ and ‘P/E on Est. Normal Diluted EPS’ essentially the same as 12-month forward EPS and 12-month forward P/E I see from other data sources (just worded differently and based on your estimates rather than “consensus figures”)? It seems like this would be the case, but I wanted to double check. Do you all back out the company’s net cash position when looking at this metric? ANSWER: Our normalized P/E ratios and EV/EBITDA ratios consider the companies’ current price relative to the average earnings or average EBITDA … Read more

Covering Best Ideas Newsletter Holding Berkshire Hathaway

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Image Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc – 2018 Annual Report By Callum Turcan As a top holding in our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.A) (BRK.B) Class B shares have room to run in our view. Our fair value estimate for BRK.B stands at $229 per share, significantly higher than where shares are trading at as of this writing (~$204 per share). Please note Berkshire Hathaway does not pay out a common dividend at this time. Covering a Tricky Balance Sheet The conglomerate splits its operations into two; ‘Insurance and Other’ and ‘Railroad, Utilities, and Energy,’ with Berkshire Hathaway breaking down the financial performance of each segment when possible. Berkshire Hathaway’s ‘Insurance and Other’ segment had a large net … Read more

Our Reports on Stocks in the Internet Content & Services Group

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Image Source: Christopher Structure of the Internet Software & Services Industry The Internet software/services industry is composed of a variety of companies with rapidly-changing business models. Most focus on improving the ways people connect with information, either via Internet search or by social media platforms, and generate revenue primarily by delivering cost-effective online advertising. Constituents earn significant returns on invested capital due to their capital-light operations, though competition remains fierce. We expect most companies in this group to look substantially different 10 years from now than they do today. Overall, we’re neutral on the structure. We’ve optimized our tehnology coverage. To access the reports, please select here.