Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Dec 7, 2021

Dividend Growth Stocks Soar!
Image: Every stock in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio is in the green today, with a little less than an hour left in the trading session! Image Source: Seeking Alpha. What a day for dividend growth stocks!

Nov 12, 2021

Hard Work and the Trust That Binds
Image: Terry Johnson. It’s easy to forget how much we’ve been through the past two years. Often, we forget how helpful the warning that markets were going to crash was the weekend before they did on February 22, 2020, “Is a Stock Market Crash Coming? – Coronavirus Update and P/E Ratios,” how we thought dollar-cost-averaging made sense at the bottom in March 2020, and how we went “all-in” in April 29, 2020, “ALERT: Going to “Fully Invested” – The Fed and Treasury Have Your Back,” when we saw the writing was on the wall for this blow off top. If nothing else, these three moves alone during the past couple years have paid for a lifetime of subscriptions.

Nov 3, 2021

Large Cap Growth Has More Room To Run
“The stylistic area of large cap growth has been one of our favorite areas because of the strong net cash rich, free cash flow generating, secular growth powerhouses that make up much of the space. The image is a rundown of the key Valuentum statistics for the top 15 holdings of the Schwab U.S. Large Cap Growth ETF (SCHG). We believe where large cap growth goes, so does the broader market, considering the hefty weightings of some of these stocks in other broad-based indices. Based on the high end of our fair value estimate range for this group of bellwethers, the broader U.S. markets still have room to run, to the tune of 7%+, despite the many highs already reached during 2021. Though traditional valuation multiples may seem stretched by most measures, many market bellwethers have huge net cash positions and tremendous free cash flow growth potential. We expect the equity markets to continue to be led by large cap growth.” – Brian Nelson, CFA

Nov 3, 2021

Newmont’s Third Quarter Earnings Disappoints Though Management Remains Very Shareholder Friendly
Image Shown: Though Newmont Corporation’s third quarter earnings disappointed, the gold miner remains very shareholder friendly. Image Source: Newmont Corporation – Third Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. One of our favorite mining plays is the gold miner Newmont Corporation, which has producing assets around the world including in Australia, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Mexico, Peru, Suriname, Canada, and the US. Newmont has a robust development pipeline in those countries via new producing mines and expansion projects (roughly 88% of Newmont’s reserves are in the Americas and Australia), along with potential upside in Japan, Ethiopia, Colombia, and elsewhere. The company’s management team is incredibly shareholder friendly (its quarterly payout has grown from $0.14 per share in 2019 to $0.55 per share currently and the firm is actively buying back its stock), and Newmont’s free cash flow generating abilities are impressive. We like Newmont as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. As of this writing, shares of NEM yield a nice ~4.1%.

Jun 7, 2021

Favorite Miner Newmont Shines Bright
Image Source: Newmont Corporation – June 2021 IR Presentation. On January 13, 2020, we added shares of Newmont Corp as an idea to the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. The gold miner has a top-notch asset base located in favorable mining jurisdictions with ample reserves to maintain and potentially grow its production base over the coming years. Other than gold, Newmont also produces silver, lead, copper, and zinc. We continue to view Newmont as one of the best positioned miners out there and see the company as a way to hedge against growing inflationary pressures. Shares of NEM yield ~3.1% on a forward-looking basis.

Jun 1, 2021

ICYMI -- Video: Exclusive 2020 -- Furthering the Financial Discipline
In this 40+ minute video jam-packed with must-watch content, Valuentum's President Brian Nelson talks about the Theory of Universal Valuation and how his work is furthering the financial discipline. Learn the pitfalls of factor investing and modern portfolio theory and how the efficient markets hypothesis holds little substance in the wake of COVID-19. He'll talk about what companies Valuentum likes and why, and which areas he's avoiding. This and more in Valuentum's 2020 Exclusive conference call.

May 13, 2021

Markets Back on Track – Seeking Net-Cash-Rich, Free Cash Flow Generators with Pricing Power!
Image Shown: The pricing action of ideas in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio May 13. Image Source: Seeking Alpha.  We remain intensely focused on the cash-based sources of intrinsic value—net cash on the balance sheet and future expected free cash flow—when it comes to identifying price-to-fair-value-estimate mis-pricings as well as in assessing long-term dividend health. We think it may be tempting to rotate into some names where fair value estimate revisions have occurred, but the margin of safety around many energy/commodity producers and banking entities may be too large even for conservative investors. We expect most energy/commodity producers to continue to endure boom-and-bust cycles, and banking entities to do the same, as the latter act more like utilities this day and age. Once implicitly nationalized during the Great Financial Crisis, and used as an extension of government programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 crisis, outsize economic profit spreads may remain limited for banks/financials given the punitive regulatory environment. Facebook, of course, remains our top idea for long-term capital appreciation potential. Newmont Mining remains our favorite dividend growth-oriented “inflation hedge” followed by garbage hauler Republic Services and its CPI-indexed contracts. AT&T remains our favorite high yield dividend idea, boasting a free-cash-flow covered ~6.5% dividend yield, and we prefer only diversified exposure to the energy and banking sectors through the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) and Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF). We’ll be looking to deploy the ~10%-20% cash “positions” in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio in the coming months. The High Yield Dividend Newsletter remains “fully invested,” and Exclusive idea generation remains robust. If you haven’t already, please be sure to have a look at the video in this article to see how we assess the cash flow statement and balance sheet to uncover stocks with strong net cash positions and solid future free cash flows that handily cover expected cash dividend payments. We apply this laser-focus on financial statement analysis across our idea-generation suite of publishing products.

May 11, 2021

Stock Markets Still Healthy, Big Cap Tech and Large Cap Growth Safe Havens
 Image Shown: Facebook’s shares are trading below the low end of our fair value estimate range at the time of this writing. The social media giant registers a 10 on the Valuentum Buying Index as it boasts a tremendous financial position with respect to net cash on the balance sheet and future expected free cash flows. Image Source: Valuentum. It’s easy to get spooked sometimes by the market’s volatility, but what we’ve witnessed the past few days is nothing compared to the volatility during the COVID-19 crisis and the Great Financial Crisis before it—and what we eventually expect the proliferation of price-agnostic trading to do to the markets in the years ahead. We continue to like the areas of big cap tech and large cap growth thanks to their strong competitive positions, solid net cash profiles, and robust and growing future expected free cash flow. Facebook remains our top idea for capital appreciation potential. Newmont Mining is our favorite “inflation hedge” within the metals and mining arena, and investors that would like greater exposure to energy and financials may look to more diversified ETFs to gain access to the broader themes of rising energy resource prices and net interest margins. AT&T is a top equity consideration for the high-yield dividend crowd. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be looking to put some of the dry powder that we raised in January 2021 “to work” in some of the areas we outlined in this article. In the meantime, we’re going to continue to watch this orderly sell-off that’s being driven by valuation model adjustments (to factor in higher inflation expectations) and modest deleveraging from cryptocurrency volatility. All is well.

May 10, 2021

Inflation! How to Think About Value Duration
Image Shown: Longer-duration free cash flow stocks are more impacted by changes in inflationary expectations and interest rates (up or down) than stable and/or stable and growing free cash flow generators. This example shows the impact of falling interest rates (10%-->5%) on stable versus longer-duration hypothetical future free cash flow streams, all else equal (the opposite would directionally be applicable in a rising interest rate environment). There's nothing 'all else equal' in the real world though. In the event of rising inflationary expectations, we would still expect speculative technology stocks to take the biggest hit. On the other hand, we would expect strong and growing free cash flow powerhouses that can price ahead of inflation such as big cap tech to handle the environment well. Though banks, energy, and the metals and mining sectors may lead the market for some time, we still like large cap growth and big cap tech for the long run. What many may be overlooking is that, for those with pricing power, higher inflationary expectations translate into higher product and service prices, too. Big cap tech (and their pricing power) is well-positioned to handle such an environment. We’re not overreacting in any respect, and we’re not going to chase commodity prices or commodity producers higher. Commodity prices are simply too difficult to predict in almost all cases, and banking entities are far too susceptible to boom-and-bust shocks for us to get comfortable with their long-term investment profiles. All in, we’re sticking with companies with strong net cash positions and future expected free cash flows (and solid dividend health, where applicable). Some of the strongest companies that have these characteristics can be found in large cap growth and big cap tech. Facebook remains our top idea for long-term capital appreciation potential. In the meantime, we’re comfortable watching the market chase a rotation into more speculative areas.

Apr 8, 2021

The Best Years Are Ahead
The wind is at our backs. The Federal Reserve, Treasury, and regulatory bodies of the U.S. may have no choice but to keep U.S. markets moving higher. The likelihood of the S&P 500 reaching 2,000 ever again seems remote, and I would not be surprised to see 5,000 on the S&P 500 before we see 2,500-3,000, if the latter may be in the cards. The S&P 500 is trading at ~4,100 at the time of this writing. The high end of our fair value range on the S&P 500 remains just shy of 4,000, but I foresee a massive shift in long-term capital out of traditional bonds into equities this decade (and markets to remain overpriced for some time). Bond yields are paltry and will likely stay that way for some time, requiring advisors to rethink their asset mixes. The stock market looks to be the place to be long term, as it has always been. With all the tools at the disposal of government officials, economic collapse (as in the Great Depression) may no longer be even a minor probability in the decades to come--unlike in the past with the capitalistic mindset that governed the Federal Reserve before the “Lehman collapse."