Member Articles

Kinder Morgan Reaches a Deal to Divest Stake in Canadian Spin-Off

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Image Shown: A look at Kinder Morgan Inc’s (KMI) massive oil & gas infrastructure operations that crisscross North America. The natural gas midstream giant is selling its Canadian segment by divesting its 70% equity stake in Kinder Morgan Canada and the US portion of the Cochin pipeline to Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PBA). Image Source: Kinder Morgan Inc – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI), a giant in the natural gas midstream space, finally reached a deal to sell the remaining stake in its Canadian spin-off. On August 21, Kinder Morgan announced that it had sold its 70% equity stake in TSX-listed Kinder Morgan Canada Limited (KMLGF) along with the US portion of … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 23

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 23. 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 $0.84 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.80. Atrion (ATRI): now $1.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.35. Avnet (AVT): now $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Canadian Banc Corp (CNDCF): now CAD 0.0875 per share monthly dividend, was CAD 0.0865. Canadian Imperial Bank (CM): now CAD 1.44 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 1.40. Community Bank System (CBU): now $0.41 per share … Read more

What’s on the Valuentum Team’s Mind?

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Let’s get the Valuentum team’s thoughts on recent developments. No changes to newsletter portfolios. Last Friday, August 16, Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan said in a Bloomberg interview, “We have nothing to fear about a recession right now except for fear of recession.” We sat down with the Valuentum team to get their thoughts. Let’s go around the horn. Callum Turcan: Interesting take, and I get why he thinks that way. The feedback loop of recession fears prompting businesses to invest less which in turn hurts consumer spending by weakening wage growth/employment growth rates thus leading to additional reductions in business investment. However, I think we are past the point of fear being the main enemy. Poor industrial … Read more

Target Stuns, Shares Jump Higher

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Image Shown: Shares of Target Corporation (TGT) leapt higher on August 21 on the back of its strong performance during the second quarter of FY2019. In particular, the retailer’s comparable same store sales growth was quite impressive given the hard comparison period, with e-commerce and same-day fulfillment leading the way. By Callum Turcan On August 21, Target Corp (TGT) reported very strong second quarter FY2019 earnings (three months ended August 3) that sent shares up ~20% on the trading session. For starters, comparable store sales growth clocked in at 3.4% year-over-year and was up 9.9% on a two-year basis (adding comp growth from the second quarter of 2018 and 2019 together). That indicates this was much more than just a … Read more

Home Depot, Lowe’s Largely Unfazed By Lumber Price Deflation

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Image Source: Mike Mozart The home improvement retailing market appears very, very healthy, and while consumers could have already taken advantage of ultra-low rates to do home repairs, additional Fed cuts certainly won’t hurt the backdrop for home improvement retailers. Home Depot and Lowe’s continue to put up solid results. By Brian Nelson, CFA On August 20, Home Depot (HD) reported decent second-quarter results, with total reported sales advancing 1.2% on a year-over-year basis thanks to solid comparable store sales expansion of 3% (3.1% in the U.S.). Net earnings came in at $3.17 per share, growing 3.9% from the same period a year ago. Though many viewed the comp performance as somewhat disappointing, management noted that it experienced “accelerating comp … Read more

Nvidia Beats Low Expectations and Shares are Rewarded Accordingly

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Image Source: Nvidia Corporation – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Nvidia Corporation (NVDA), like the rest of the semiconductor industry, has been on a wild ride over the past few years. On the one hand, the industry has benefited from the cloud-computing build out and the rise of smartphones, along with the emergence of autonomous driving, the internet of things (“IoT”), machine learning, and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, semiconductors are now contending with headwinds from the bust in the cryptocurrency craze, the sharp slowdown in data center investments due in part to ongoing trade wars, and other factors like excess inventory. Expectations were very low for Nvidia heading into its second quarter FY2020 earnings, released August 15, which … Read more

Owens-Illinois’ Debt Load Is Daunting, We Are Staying Away From This Value Trap

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Image Source: Owens-Illinois Inc – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Owens-Illinois Inc (OI) is a global manufacturer of glass packaging products, and we see the firm as a major beneficiary of the shift in consumer preferences towards non-plastic packaging options for health and environmental reasons. As of this writing, shares of OI yield 1.9% on a forward-looking basis after management initiated a new dividend policy that saw common quarterly payouts commence in 2019. While Owens-Illinois’ share price below $11/share, as it is at the time of this writing, appears cheap at first glance because shares are trading at a steep discount to our $17 per share fair value estimate, we caution that its technicals are telling another story. Investors were … Read more

No Recession At Walmart; Estee Lauder Not Cheap

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Image Source: Mike Mozart Walmart’s results were quite reassuring regarding the health of the economy. There are also pockets of significant strength, with prestige beauty being catapulted by a “selfie generation.”  By Brian Nelson, CFA No Recession At Walmart Following what can best be described as “carnage” across the retail sector when Macy’s reported August 14, Walmart (WMT) eased some of the concerns in the retail sector when the bellwether reported August 15. Although Amazon (AMZN) seems to get most of the attention when it comes to assessing the health of the consumer, Walmart remains twice as large, as measured by revenue. Walmart generated ~$514 billion in revenue during its last fiscal year, while Amazon hauled in ~$233 billion. If the … Read more

Investors Aren’t Sold on Lear’s Ostensibly “Cheap” Valuation and Neither Are We

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Image Shown: While Lear Corporation appears attractive at first glance, its technical performance tells a different story. The market is concerned that the global synchronized downturn that has emerged will get worse, which would weigh on Lear’s expected financial trajectory. Global automotive sales are already coming under pressure, and there’s not much Lear, as a leading auto parts supplier, can do about that. We think the market might be right on this one. By Callum Turcan On August 16, we updated our reports for the auto parts supplier industry and those updated reports can be accessed here. Lear Corporation (LEA) stood out right away. The company supplies auto parts to customers all around the world, namely electrical power management systems … Read more

Our Reports on Stocks in the Broad Line Semiconductor Industry

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Image Source: Laineema Structure of the Broad Line Semiconductor Industry The broad line semiconductor industry is characterized by intense competition, rapid technological change, and frequent product introductions. The number and variety of computing devices have expanded rapidly, creating a connected landscape between suppliers and competitors. New market segments have emerged rapidly (smartphones, tablets), and constituents must continuously innovate to maintain share as traditional PC demand faces pressure. Though some firms may gain advantages via the combination of their manufacturing/test facilities with their design teams, we think the structure of the group is poor. We’ve optimized our tehnology coverage. To access the reports, please select here.