Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Dec 14, 2021

Kroger Beats Estimates and Once Again Raises Guidance
Image Source: Kroger Co - Third Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. Kroger Co recently reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended November 6, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates, and the retailer also once again boosted its full-year guidance for fiscal 2021. Kroger’s operations include retail store brands such as City Market, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyers, Metro Market, and more, along with its private label brands of consumer staples offerings. Shares of KR have shifted meaningful higher since its latest earnings update as of this writing.

Nov 22, 2021

Tyson’s Pricing Strength Enables Margin Expansion During Turbulent Time
Image Shown: Tyson Foods Inc put up stellar results for fiscal 2021. Image Source: Tyson Foods Inc – Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. On November 15, Tyson Foods reported fourth quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended October 2, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates largely due to the firm’s impressive pricing strength, the focus of this article. The company is facing major headwinds from the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, from labor shortages to supply chain bottlenecks to rising input costs, though Tyson has adeptly navigated this turbulence while bolstering both its revenues and its margins.

Nov 18, 2021

Shares of Dividend Growth Idea Home Depot Roar Higher After Latest Earnings Update
Image Shown: Shares of dividend growth idea Home Depot Inc have surged higher year-to-date on the back of the home improvement retailer’s stellar operational performance and impressive free cash flow generating abilities. We liked what we saw in Home Depot’s latest earnings report published on November 16. Demand for home improvement activities appears to be holding up well, even as lockdown measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic ease up across North America. The outlook for housing activity and construction demand more broadly is quite bullish for several reasons including the need for US housing supply to catch up with new household formation and the large $1+ trillion US infrastructure fiscal stimulus bill that was recently signed into law. Home Depot has exposure to this upside via the Pro side of its home improvement retailing operations and its recently enlarged MRO business. We view Home Depot’s dividend growth trajectory quite favorably and continue to like shares of HD as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. In light of better-than-expected fundamental performance of late, we may tweak our cash flow valuation model of the firm. As of this writing, shares of HD are trading near the top end of our fair value estimate range (which currently sits at $397 per share).

Nov 17, 2021

Asset Allocators Fail, Advisors Should Pick Stocks, Save Investors $34 Billion Annually
Image: Most asset allocators can’t even keep pace with the underperforming 60/40 stock/bond portfolio. Highlight added by author. Image Source: Wealth Management. Let’s get this industry back on track. This isn’t about going all-in on cryptoassets or being reckless with one’s capital the past 10 years, but merely picking stocks as a risk/wealth management strategy that approximated the S&P 500 for the past 10 years, and how that has crushed not only the best that quant has had to offer in small cap value but also indexing and asset allocation. One hundred and seventy percentage points of difference relative to the 60/40 stock/bond portfolio, which itself beat many of the “best” asset allocators out there!!! This isn’t about taking on more risk, but rather that active stock selection should be viewed in the same vein as asset allocation. Why do we continue to publish the obviously-biased research in favor of indexing and asset allocation when stock selection could have delivered so much more for investors while saving them billions in annual fees from ETFs, etc. Today, the SEC has a lot on its plate regarding SPACs, cryptocurrency, new issues, ETF approvals and beyond, but in our view, the SEC shouldn’t necessarily be prioritizing 2 and 20 fees more than the index-fund fee chain, and it shouldn’t necessarily be trying to eliminate payment for order flow (PFOF) any more than it should seek to eliminate low-cost index funds. Let us not kid ourselves: It's clear why index funds and passive is winning -- the fees are tremendous! All things considered, if investors want to believe risk is volatility and suffer with indexing and asset allocators, that is their prerogative, but what worked in the past (deviations from equity selection as in the 60/40 stock/bond portfolio) bolstered by high interest rates in the 1980s is far from relevant today (and making up alternative assets isn't going to help). We don’t need more indexing and asset allocation books these days. We need more common sense. Stop selling index funds and start trying to help investors.

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.

Oct 14, 2021

Home Depot Teams Up with Walmart
Image Source: Home Depot Inc – Fiscal 2020 Annual Report. On October 6, Home Depot announced a partnership with Walmart, becoming the first retail giant to join Walmart’s GoLocal delivery program which was launched back in August 2021. The delivery program utilizes Walmart’s vast distribution and fulfillment network to provide same-day and next-day delivery services. We like Home Depot as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio as the firm’s stellar cash flow generating abilities and promising growth outlook underpin our forecasts that the company will grow its payout at a robust pace in the coming years. As of this writing, shares of HD yield ~2.0%.

Jul 14, 2021

10 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE AT VALUENTUM
Join Valuentum as it celebrates its 10th anniversary of putting investors first!

Jun 27, 2021

Two Alerts and Bull Market On!
Image Source: Mike Cohen. "We like stocks in an inflationary environment, and we love big cap tech and large cap growth in any environment." -- Brian Nelson, CFA

Jun 22, 2021

Kroger Raises Guidance After Solid Earnings Report
Image Source: Kroger Co – First Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. Grocers are facing tough year-over-year comparisons due to the pantry stockpiling dynamic seen in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, though demand for consumer staples products remains healthy. On June 17, Kroger Co reported first quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended May 22, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Kroger’s management team also noted how the grocer views the current inflationary landscape, which we will cover in this note.

Jun 18, 2021

ICYMI: Watch Valuentum's November 2019 Presentation on 'Value Trap' Now!
YOU WILL LEARN  ---  * The pitfalls of valuation multiple analysis and the risks of extrapolating some empirical quantitative conclusions.  * A critical framework to view and interpret stock price movements and stock valuation.  * The universal nature of enterprise valuation to all things finance from competitive advantage analysis to dividend-growth investing and beyond.