Member Articles

Verint Systems: An Overlooked Idea on Cybersecurity

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Image Source: Verint The Best Ideas Newsletter idea is trying to break through the mid-$40s level, which has been illusive since late 2015. By Brian Nelson, CFA Verint Systems (VRNT) put up a very strong fiscal second-quarter (ended July 31) in early September when it beat bottom-line expectations by $0.14 and the top line by over $5 million. Not only did the top and bottom line come in ahead of expectations, but management increased its earnings-per-share outlook for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2018, to $2.75 at the midpoint. With shares trading at ~$40 each, that means Verint sports a multiple under 15 times current-year fiscal earnings, comparatively cheap (on a forward basis, the S&P 500 is trading over … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending September 29

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending September 29. 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 Express Company (AXP): now $0.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. BancFirst (BANF): now $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.19. Bank of South Carolina (BKSC): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. CSB Bancorp (CSBB): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Emera (EMRAF): now CAD 0.565 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.5225. The First of Long Island (FLIC): now $0.15 per … Read more

Will Texas Tea Hit $75 Per Barrel By Year’s End?

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Image Shown: The performance of the VanEck Vectors Oil Refiners ETF (CRAK) since its launch in August 2015. We’ve witnessed our fair share of fits and starts from energy resource pricing during the past few years, but could the global crude markets finally be rebalancing? Let’s talk about our thoughts on whether the outlook for energy resource pricing is improving in a sustainable way. By Kris Rosemann and Brian Nelson, CFA It may have taken longer than we initially anticipated, but crude oil prices (USO) appear to be on the verge of making a sustained recovery, though we always caution that sentiment can change on a dime, especially in the speculation-heavy commodity price markets. If you recall, we thought the … Read more

Amazon Casts a Large Shadow Over the Pharmacy Industry

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Image Source: Mike Mozart It is our belief the food retailing industry is in the midst of widespread disruption with Amazon’s attempt to break into the supermarket game with its audacious purchase of Whole Foods. The Whole Foods acquisition is not likely to be an isolated one-off event; instead, it may be a harbinger of Amazon’s ambition to break into new markets, thus expanding its overall percentage of retail sales. We update our views on Amazon and how the company may eventually impact newsletter portfolio holding CVS Health. By Alexander J. Poulos Emulating the Costco Model Amazon’s (AMZN) purchase of Whole Foods (WFM) may be the initial step towards emulating the uber-successful Costco (COST) model where the bulk of profits … Read more

Our Reports on Stocks in the For-Profit Education Industry

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Image Source: GotCredit  Structure of the Education Services Industry The higher education industry is fragmented with no single private or public institution garnering significant market share. The for-profit education space competes primarily with traditional four and two-year degree-granting accredited colleges and universities. Industry participants are exposed to significant regulation on both the federal and state level and must maintain institutional accreditation to participate in Title IV programs. Risks to federal student funding aid programs and “gainful employment” challenges pose addition threats to the business. We don’t like the significant regulatory risks of the industry. Please click on a company name below to view the corresponding equity report: Adtalem Global Education (ATGE) << Our Dividend Reports

Boeing, Visa Top Dow Performers Thus Far in 2017

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Image Source: Ken Mist Two of our favorite ideas have been leading the pack. By Brian Nelson, CFA We don’t send newsletter notifications often. In fact, they are few and far between. But when we do highlight an idea for the newsletter portfolios, we want it to be a good one. On Friday, 24/7 Wall Street reported that Boeing (BA) had increased its lead as the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s (DIA) top performer during 2017, with the year-to-date mark reaching nearly 65%, as of the end of last week. If you recall, on January 26, we “added” the idea to the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio at $168.44, making it perhaps one of the best large-cap ideas highlighted anywhere during 2017. … Read more

How Strong Is Caterpillar’s 2.5% Dividend Yield?

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Image Shown: A 10+ year share-price chart of Caterpillar. The stock has recently set new all-time highs. Caterpillar’s stock has reached new all-time highs! How excited should income investors be? By Brian Nelson, CFA Caterpillar (CAT) is one of our favorite companies from a fundamental perspective, if we look past the cyclicality of its operations and exposure to potential weak credits at its captive finance arm. No matter how you slice it or dice it though, the company’s dealer network is a significant competitive advantage, and the executive team’s ability to manage costs through the course of the economic cycle continues to be impressive. That its shares have now surged past $120+ to all-time highs, levels that it had only … Read more

AT&T’s 5% Dividend Yield: Is It Sustainable?

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Image Source: Mike Mozart The question on everyone’s minds: Is AT&T’s dividend sustainable? By Brian Nelson, CFA AT&T (T) has been on a spending spree. Its agreement to acquire Time Warner (TWX), the merger with DirecTV, and wireless acquisitions in Mexico are just a few tie-ups the company has pursued in recent years. Regardless of what you think about the incremental financial risk associated with a larger balance sheet, AT&T has increased its quarterly dividend for 30+ consecutive years and has frequently returned $20+ billion to shareholders annually through dividends and share buybacks. The company’s Dividend Cushion ratio is 0 (which isn’t great), but let’s put some color around that number. Per AT&T’s dividend report: Key Strengths AT&T has paid … Read more

Microsoft’s Dividend Growth Doesn’t Disappoint

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Image Source: Valuentum By Brian Nelson, CFA We’ve been talking Microsoft (MSFT) for years. Those that know anything about our Dividend Cushion ratio know that we’ve used the software giant as one of the key examples for what constitutes an entity with a strong dividend growth profile. From Microsoft’s tremendous free cash flow generation and fortress balance sheet (strong net cash position) to its moaty business model and beyond, it’s hard to paint anything about its dividend in a negative light. Here’s what we had to say about the company in July when it reported fiscal fourth-quarter results: Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Microsoft reported solid fiscal fourth quarter results July 20. The company that recently acquired LinkedIn remains a … Read more