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Dec 30, 2019

Dividend Growth Newsletter Portfolio Delivers Again in 2019
 The story of the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio this year was one dominated by big tech. Apple trounced the return of what could be considered our benchmark by about 80 percentage points. It basically beat the S&P Dividend ETF SDPR by a factor of about 5 times! 2019 was simply the year to own Apple, and my goodness we had it right near the top of both the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. You would think this was a no-brainer, as everyone loves Apple, but many a portfolio manager did not own Apple this year. Apple also upped its dividend 5%+ during 2019...

Dec 13, 2019

Oracle’s Dividend Growth Trajectory Remains Solid
Image Source: Oracle Corporation – Financial Analyst Meeting Presentation, September 2019. On December 12, Oracle Corp reported second quarter earnings for its fiscal 2020 (period ended November 30, 2019). Massive share repurchases reduced Oracle’s diluted outstanding weighted-average share count from 3,908 million in the first half of fiscal 2018 to 3,370 million in the first half of fiscal 2019. That played a key role in boosting Oracle’s EPS performance (diluted GAAP EPS was up 12% year-over-year in the first half of fiscal 2020) as its revenues were broadly flat during this period. We continue to like Oracle in our Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio given the strength of its free cash flow profile and promising outlook. Shares of ORCL yield 1.7% as of this writing, and its strong Dividend Cushion ratio of 2.7x provides for a solid payout growth trajectory. Shares of Oracle sold off initially on its weaker than expected sales performance last quarter, but we remain optimistic on its future potential as we’ll cover in this note.

Nov 22, 2019

Dividend Growth Newsletter Portfolio Holding Microsoft Secures a Big Win
Image Shown: Shares of Microsoft Corporation continue to make new highs and we think MSFT may test the upper end of our fair value range given the company’s improving growth outlook. Shares of Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Microsoft continue to climb higher. We think shares could test the upper end of our fair value estimate range, which currently sits at $166 per share, comfortably above where Microsoft’s stock is trading at as of this writing (~$149 per share). Recent events have augmented the company’s free cash flow potential, with an eye towards the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (‘JEDI’) contract win. Shares of MSFT yield ~1.4% as of this writing.

Oct 24, 2019

Dividend Growth Newsletter Portfolio Holding Microsoft Posts a Nice Quarter
Image Source: Mike Mozart. We continue to like Microsoft’s free cash flow growth potential and see the firm sporting a great dividend growth trajectory given its pristine balance sheet and quality cash flow profile. Shares of MSFT yield ~1.5% as of this writing.

Oct 12, 2019

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

Oct 9, 2019

Oracle Makes a Big Push Into the Cloud
Image Source: Oracle Corporation – September 2019 IR Presentation. On Monday October 7, Reuters reported that Oracle Corporation planned to hire an additional ~2,000 workers to support the tech giant’s cloud expansion strategy. These new jobs would be centered around San Francisco, Seattle, and India. We continue to like Oracle as a holding in our Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio and are excited to see how its push into new international cloud computing markets will pan out. Our fair value estimate stands at $55 per share, roughly where ORCL is trading at as of this writing, with the top end of our fair value estimate range sitting at $66 per share (Oracle could test the upper bounds of our range should its cloud computing growth story pick up steam).

Sep 15, 2019

Oracle’s Cloud Business Solid; CEO Hurd Taking Some Time Off
Oracle's strong Dividend Cushion ratio reflects considerable free cash flow generation in excess of cash dividends paid. Fiscal first quarter free cash flow of $5.6 billion covered cash dividends paid of $795 million more than 7 times.

Aug 15, 2019

Our Reports on Stocks in the Software Industry
We've optimized our technology coverage.

Aug 7, 2019

Join the Conversation on the Market Plunge
The Valuentum team shares its thoughts on the recent surge in volatility and collapse in interest rates amid a trade and currency war between two of the largest economies in the world, the US and China.

Jul 1, 2019

New Highs! The December Call Has Been Well-Rewarded
"The less the prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we must conduct our own." - Warren Buffett (2018)