Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

Symbol Keyword

Feb 9, 2024

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of February 9
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Jan 8, 2024

Boeing In Negative Headlines Again; Part of 737 Max Fuselage Blows Out During Commercial Flight
Image: Boeing's shares have been quite volatile the past couple years. On January 6, Boeing received some more bad news. Part of a fuselage installed on one of its new eight-week old 737 Max 9 aircraft blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight. Boeing had been working hard to get back on track with customer perception of the safety of its 737 MAX line-up, and we view the incident as yet another hiccup in the firm’s relations with the public.

Mar 14, 2023

Norfolk Southern’s Environmental and Safety Troubles Plague Stock
Image: Norfolk Southern’s environmental troubles have sent its stock back to pre-pandemic levels. The company is yet another example of why companies cannot take for granted how their operations can negatively impact the environment. Image Source: TradingView. Neglecting the environment and employee and consumer/resident safety is a sure way for companies to end up in hot water. Norfolk Southern is under special investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for a series of accidents during the past couple years, punctuated by the derailment and chemical spill occurring in East Palestine, Ohio, in early February. Though the firm’s costs associated with the high-profile train derailment may be capped at $75 million, its reputation may be irreparably harmed. Norfolk Southern is a prime example of why ESG investing has an important role in the marketplace, as the company simply dropped the ball when it came to ‘Environmental’ and ‘Social’ considerations within the ESG construct.

Dec 14, 2022

Moderna’s Personalized Cancer Vaccine (PCV) Could Be a Game-Changer When Combined with Merck’s KEYTRUDA
Image: Moderna’s therapeutics pipeline continues to advance, and the company recently received positive news regarding its personalized cancer vaccine (PCV), ID # mRNA-4157, when combined with Merck’s KEYTRUDA. Image Source: Moderna. Moderna and Merck have revealed what could be a big breakthrough with respect to investigational cancer treatment, but we remind investors that the news is a Phase 2b study, and there is still a meaningful probability that the Phase 3 trial for the immunotherapy may be unsuccessful. Still, the Phase 2b results for the PCV-KEYTRUDA combination showed an impressive 44% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death in patients with late-stage melanoma, and the adverse effects from the combined PCV-KEYTRUDA therapy occurred in just 14.4% of patients, which was not terribly different than those receiving KEYTRUDA alone. There are a plethora of players dabbling in mRNA vaccine technology these days, and we remain excited about its future potential to improve patient outcomes, as much as we are about CRISPR gene-editing technology.

Oct 30, 2022

Something New!
Hi everyone: To stay true to our mission, you'll find something new regarding our methodology. In the coming weeks, you'll see this table in our work going forward.

Oct 19, 2022

New Payment Option! Valuentum Research Update!
We're excited to say that we're adding additional payment flexibility at Valuentum. Many members have expressed interest in paying via other providers, and we have added Square to the mix. You can use credit or debit card or bank (ACH) to pay via invoice. With all of the goings-on in the financial technology and payments space, we wanted to continue to provide members options to pay their memberships how they want and through who they want. You can always reach out to us at info@valuentum.com.

Feb 1, 2022

Structural Changes in the Airline and Aerospace Business
Image Source: Valuentum. The future profile for air travel demand will be negatively impacted in the long run (relative to pre-COVID-19 expectations) as increased leisure travel from the wealth effect may not completely offset reduced business travel growth impaired by digital solutions permanently disrupting the way companies conduct business. As with Warren Buffett, who recently wrote down the value of metal casting jet-engine supplier Precision Castparts (one of the best aerospace suppliers in the business), we believe intrinsic values of others in the aerospace supply chain have been permanently reduced as well. We’re staying away from airlines and aerospace with the exception of Honeywell, which offers diversified industrial exposure and a “call option” on a gradual aerospace recovery to a “new normal.” Honeywell is included in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio and showed that it can thrive in a business environment where aerospace demand may not live up to pre-COVID-19 long-term expectations. Honeywell yields ~1.9% at the time of this writing.

Sep 24, 2021

Honeywell’s Dividend Growth Supported by Promising Cash Flow Growth Outlook
Image Source: Honeywell International Inc – Second Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. We view Honeywell International as one of the best industrial plays out there and include shares of HON as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. Honeywell has exposure to the aerospace and downstream energy markets--industries that were hit hard by the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic but are now recovering in earnest--and to the proliferation of e-commerce and “smart buildings.” Furthermore, in the event that a bipartisan infrastructure bill currently awaiting approval in the US House of Representatives gets signed into law, Honeywell has exposure to the expected surge in domestic infrastructure investments. Our fair value estimate for Honeywell sits at $240 per share with room for upside as the top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $288 per share. As of this writing, shares of HON yield ~1.7%.

May 18, 2021

German Industrial Conglomerate Siemens Remains an Attractive Income Generation Idea
Image Shown: Siemens AG sees the global industrial economy staging a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn supports the firm’s outlook. The company raised its full-year guidance when Siemens published its latest earnings report. Image Source: Siemens AG – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. Siemens has identified a number of growth avenues and is leaning on its digital capabilities to bring various industrial processes into the 21st Century. Siemens generates strong free cash flow, has a promising growth outlook, and its ‘A-rated’ long-term credit rating is impressive. Shares of SIEGY have been on a nice upward climb during the past year, as investors continue to warm up to its promising growth story. There could be room for substantial upside as the global economy recovers from COVID-19, and investors get paid a nice ~2.5% dividend yield to have exposure to this global industrial powerhouse. We think Siemens could be an interesting income generation idea for consideration.

Feb 2, 2021

General Electric Provides Upbeat Outlook for 2021
Image Shown: An overview of GE’s cash flow forecasts on a divisional basis for 2021. Image Source: General Electric – Fourth Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation. The ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) has weighed negatively on the industrial sector for most of 2020, before the space started to recover during the latter part of the year. On January 26, industrial conglomerate General Electric reported fourth quarter earnings for 2020 that beat consensus top-line estimates but missed consensus bottom-line estimates. The company’s business operating segments are broken down into its various GE Industrial divisions (‘Power,’ ‘Renewable Energy,’ ‘Aviation’ and ‘Healthcare’) and GE Capital. What really impressed us was that GE Industrial’s free cash flow came in at $4.4 billion in the final quarter of last year which pushed the segment’s full year free cash flow up to a positive $0.6 billion in 2020. Management cited outperformance at GE’s Healthcare division and the ongoing turnaround at its energy portfolio as being key here during GE’s latest earnings call, which offset significant weakness at its Aviation division.