Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Nov 8, 2021

ALERT: High Yield Dividend Newsletter Portfolio Changes
Image: Mike Cohen. Calendar third-quarter results were solid for constituents in the High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, and we look forward to a bright 2022!

Dec 13, 2020

7 Hidden Dividend Aristocrats in Industrials
In the world of dividend growth investing, when a company hits the mark of raising its dividend for more than 25 consecutive years, it garners the coveted title of a Dividend Aristocrat. The accomplishment is so rare that only 65 companies in the S&P 500 have achieved this commendable feat--just 13%. Our strategic focus in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio is to identify companies with attractive valuations, respectable dividend yields and strong expected dividend growth prospects for the next 25 years. This perspective is embedded within the construct of our proprietary and forward-looking Dividend Cushion ratio that can be found in each company’s Dividend Report. In this article, however, let’s cover seven hidden and relatively overlooked Dividend Aristocrats from our Industrials coverage that have promising prospects to continue raising their dividends for many more years to come (three on the list have already raised their dividends for more than 60 consecutive years). The valuations of these seven companies may be a little stretched for our taste (at the time of this writing), but we think these stocks are worth keeping on your radar given their resilient business models, shareholder-friendly management teams, notable competitive advantages, and praiseworthy status as Dividend Aristocrats. Each of the companies’ 16-page Stock Report and Dividend Report can be downloaded following their respective profiles.

Mar 18, 2020

Banking Entities: The Technicals Tell the Story
Image: The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF has experienced a tremendous amount of pain in recent weeks.  What is clear is that temporarily shutting down large parts of U.S. economy is absolutely unprecedented, and there will be substantial knock-on effects and difficulties in getting things restarted. This is most especially true if the coronavirus re-emerges following the periods of social distancing around the world, or when the weather turns colder again in the fall, and humanity could be facing a different strand of the coronavirus. Don’t forget that all bank institutions use a lot of financial leverage by their very nature, and the Fed and Treasury can never truly stop a run-on-the-bank dynamic (i.e. that which happened to WaMu in 2008). We think BOK Financial is in particular trouble given its energy loan exposure. Others to avoid include Cullen/Frost Bankers, Cadence Bancorp, and CIT Group. The credit card entities, Capital One and Synchrony Financial may be worth avoiding. We’d stay far away from the regional banks given their exposure to small business pain amid COVID-19. We don’t think the fiscal stimulus on the table does much to help small businesses. Deutsche Bank may be the first of the big European banks to topple, and this weakness could eventually spread to the U.S. banks given counterparty risk. Most foreign banks, including Santander, Credit Suisse, UBS, ING, and BBVA remain exposed to crisis scenarios. We’re also witnessing some very troubling developments with banking preferred shares, with the bank-preferred-heavy ETF, Global X SuperIncome Preferred ETF dropping ~15% during the trading session March 18. The preferreds of HSBC and Ally Financial are top weightings in that ETF. Banking technicals are raising some major red flags across the board, and given actions by the Fed and Treasury, this crisis has all the makings of being worse than the Great Financial Crisis. In any financial crisis perhaps excepting a depression, there can come a time to invest new money in bank stocks. Though it seems likely we have not yet reached the bottom in the markets yet, the highest-ground bank franchises in the US are JPMorgan and Bank of America, in our view. While sharp declines in their equity values may be expected (no one truly knows how deep the coming flood will be), they’re likely to make it to the other side with most of their equity capital firmly intact. With all that said, however, one doesn’t have to hold banking equities. It may be time to phone Mr. Buffett before things really start to unfold.

Feb 28, 2019

Earnings Not So Hot, High Yield Dividend Newsletter Archives
No change to newsletter portfolios.