ABT

Expect Abbott to Raise Its 2014 Outlook Soon

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We’ve always liked Abbott (ABT). The company has been one of the most successful companies for more than 125 years. The firm has leadership positions in a number of attractive markets such as ‘Diagnostics’ – where it is #1 in immunoassay diagnostics and #1 in blood screening – and ‘Nutrition’ – where it boasts brand names such as Similac, Ensure, and PediaSure, leading to its #1 worldwide position in both worldwide adult nutrition and US pediatric nutrition. The firm’s ‘Branded Generics’ segment has strong positions in emerging markets, while its ‘Medical Devices’ segment is #1 in drug-eluting stents, #1 in bare metal stents, and #1 in LASIK. Abbott continues to execute nicely. On Wednesday, Abbott reported solid first-quarter results. On … Read more

Update: Digging Into the Valuentum Dividend Cushion

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Sign Up to Receive our Dividend Growth Newsletter! Add the High Yield Dividend Newsletter to Your Membership! History has revealed that the best performing stocks during the previous decades have been those that shelled out ever-increasing cash to shareholders in the form of dividends. In a recent study by Ned Davis Research, S&P 500 stocks that initiated dividends or grew them over time registered roughly a 9.6% annualized return since 1972 (through 2010), while stocks that did not pay out dividends or cut them performed poorly over the same time period.  Such analysis is difficult to ignore, and we believe investors may be well-rewarded in future periods by finding the best dividend-growth stocks out there. As such, we’ve developed a rigorous dividend investment … Read more

Deciphering Valuentum’s Dividend Lingo

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On January 25, Barron’s published an article called “Get Lucky: IQT’s Lucky 13 Portfolio.” In it, the publisher talked about the reasoning behind why 13 dividend-paying stocks were highlighted in the article. Let’s walk through the reasoning behind these 13 stocks and how the assessment of some of these dividend picks applies the Valuentum Dividend Cushion framework (click here), in part or in whole. Valuentum’s Brian Nelson also gives his quick thoughts on the comments of each company as if he were training a new analyst on how to interpret the article from an analytical standpoint. Abbott Labs (ABT): “a solid anchor position for any portfolio…Free operating cash flow is three times its dividend.” Nelson’s thoughts: Abbott is clearly a … Read more

Surveying Fourth Quarter Earnings at Health Care Firms

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The broader equity markets have been under pressure for much of January, and while it may be tempting to consider completely exiting stock investing for a time, we’re staying the course with both of our actively-managed portfolios. We had been expecting a contraction in price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples across the broader market (see our outlook here), and the performance thus far in 2014 has not been surprising. In case you may have missed it, I sent out some very important thoughts over the weekend to keep in mind as uncertainty and volatility increase through the course of 2014: Stay focused on @Valuentum portfolio holdings (best ideas), #asset allocation (cash) in portfolios and #prudence in allocating new capital. — Brian Nelson, CFA … Read more

Third-Quarter Industrial Earnings Support Exposure in Best Ideas Portfolio

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For starters, if you haven’t yet read through our piece on General Electric’s (GE) third-quarter earnings, it’s a must-read. The step-up in backlog and order trends at the industrial behemoth are quite remarkable, and we think GE’s performance bodes well for the sector as a whole. Still, let’s drill down on a few themes across the industrial space and how our Best Ideas portfolio is well-positioned to capture the strength of underlying trends. Danaher (DHR) Danaher reported third-quarter results Thursday that showed revenue expansion of 5.5% and diluted net earnings per share growth of 9%. The company generated 30 basis points of operating-margin improvement and generated more than $800 million in free cash flow, or about 17.8% of revenue (a very … Read more

Abbott’s Expansion Slowed By Supplier Recall; Raises Dividend

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On Wednesday, Abbott reported mixed third-quarter results as a supplier recall in August in its ‘International Nutrition’ business forced revenue to come up just a bit short of expectations. The firm’s top-line still advanced 4.3% on an operational basis led by strength in its ‘Diagnostic’ segment, where revenue jumped more than 10% on an operational basis (shown below). Image Source: Abbott Its ‘International Nutrition’ business revealed sales expansion of 3.4% on an operational basis – not a terrible showing, but a marked slowdown from the 7% growth rate recorded during the first nine months of the year (third quarter inclusive) and the 8.4% pace registered in the second quarter. Though we’re not too worried about this hiccup, we note the market disruption … Read more

AbbVie’s Humira Continues to Drive Strong Performance; Pipeline Advances

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On Friday, AbbVie (click ticker for report: ) reported better-than-expected second quarter results and revealed a number of advancements to its strong and growing pipeline. During the period, revenue advanced 4.4% (5.1% excluding currency) as the firm benefited from Humira’s global sales growth of 12% (16% growth in the US) and double-digit expansion from several other products including Synthroid, Creon, Zemplar and Duodopa. Excluding the decline in TriCor/Trilipix sales due to loss of exclusivity, sales would have jumped 10.3% in the period. Second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.82 beat the consensus estimate by a couple pennies. The global biopharmaceutical firm noted significant advancements in its pipeline. AbbVie has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for its genotype 1 … Read more

Abbott’s Nutrition Business Leads the Charge in Its Second Quarter

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On Wednesday, global healthcare company Abbott Labs (click ticker for report: ) issued decent second quarter results that revealed the strength of the firm’s international portfolio. Excluding changes in foreign exchange rates, worldwide sales advanced 4.2% thanks primarily to expansion in its international ‘Nutrition’ segment, which advanced over 18% on an operational basis (excluding currency) during the period. Growth in emerging markets, which now represent more than 40% of Abbott’s total sales, was impressive, jumping more than 13% from the same period a year ago. Second-quarter adjusted gross margins of 55% and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.46 both came in ahead of internal projections. Year-over-year comparisons were difficult given the spin-off of AbbVie (click ticker for report: ) … Read more

Inside AbbVie: A Look at a New Pharmaceutical Giant

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On January 1, medical giant Abbott (click ticker for report: ) will start trading as two firms, Abbott and AbbVie. The companies will form two distinct, publicly-traded businesses, allowing the market to value each company separately and uniquely. Pharmaceuticals will be housed in AbbVie, while medical diagnostics, baby food, and generic drugs will remain a part of Abbott. Let’s first dig into AbbVie. We’ll have a follow up article on the new Abbott in coming days. AbbVie Led by Humira Headlining the new pharmaceuticals business is the blockbuster drug Humira, which had over $7.9 billion in sales in 2011 alone. Though originally approved for rheumatoid arthritis in 2003, the drug has been approved to treat Crohn’s disease, plaque psoriasis, ulcerative … Read more