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Dividend Increases for the Week Ending August 22

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 22. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Altria (MO): now $0.52 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.48. American Financial Group (AFG): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Brinker (EAT): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Chemical Financial (CHFC): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. Commercial Bancshares (CMOH): now $0.19 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.165. Evans Bancorp (EVBN): now $0.34 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.31. G&K Services … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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Read: Keeping the Horse Before the Cart: Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ Rating The Economic Castle Focuses on the Magnitude of Economic Value Creation The Valuentum Economic Castle™ rating is an enhancement of the competitive advantage framework (commonly known as economic moat analysis) that has become widespread and ubiquitous within the investing world. Whereas an economic moat framework evaluates a firm on the basis of the sustainability and durability of its competitive advantages, Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ rating evaluates a firm on the basis of the firm’s future economic profit spread (return on invested capital less its weighted average cost of capital). The companies with the strongest Valuentum Economic Castle™ ratings are poised to generate the most economic value for shareholders in the … Read more

AIG Still Trades at a Meaningful Discount to Book Value

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On October 31, AIG (AIG) reported third-quarter net income of $2.17 billion and diluted earnings per share of $1.46, compared to $1.9 billion and $1.13 per share in the same period a year ago. Pre-tax income in the firm’s insurance operations were solid during the quarter, with ‘AIG Property Casualty’ and ‘AIG Life and Retirement’ advancing 33% and 38%, respectively, from the same period a year ago. Third-quarter after-tax operating income attributable to AIG came in at $1.42 billion, or $0.96 per share, compared to $1.62 billion, or $0.99, in last year’s quarter. Net income exceeded after-tax operating income as a result of valuation allowance releases associated with deferred tax assets (a non-core boost). Image Source: AIG Though we would … Read more

The Mortgage Refinancing Boom Could Be Ending

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Early Wednesday morning, the Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA) announced that refinancing activity declined 20% from one week earlier. Adjusted for the Labor Day weekend, total mortgage applications dropped 13.5% from the previous week. Consistent with the dramatic upward movement in interest rates, refinancing activity is down 71% since it peaked during the week of May 3, 2013. Why Do We Monitoring Refinancing Activity? When homeowners refinance, a couple outcomes can occur that pump more dollars into the economy. First, with a refinanced mortgage, owners may choose to take equity out of the home, allowing for large purchases like vehicles or even home remodeling. CoreLogic recently reported that 2.5 million more residential properties have returned to positive equity in the second quarter … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of February 28

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending February 28. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week                          AerCap (AER): now $0.27 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Affinity Bancshares (AFBI): now $1.50 per share special dividend. Allstate (ALL): now $1.00 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.92. American Financial (AFG): now $2.00 per share special dividend, was $0.80. AMERISAFE (AMSF): now $0.39 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.37. Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD): now EUR 1.00 per share annual dividend, was EUR 0.82. Aura … Read more

Raising Our Fair Value Estimate on Berkshire Hathaway, Our Thoughts on the Insurance Industry

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Image Source: AIG Competitive Structure of the Insurance Industry Constituents in the insurance industry earn revenues primarily from insurance premiums, policy fees from life insurance/investment products, and income from investments. Operating expenses consist of policyholder benefits and claims incurred, interest credited to policyholders, commissions and other costs of servicing products, as well as general business expenses. An insurer’s profitability is dependent on its ability to price and manage risk on insurance and annuity products, to manage its portfolio of investments effectively, and to control costs through expense discipline. The insurance industry is highly competitive, with rivals numbering in the thousands–including stock companies, specialty insurance organizations, life insurers, mutual companies, other underwriting firms, and banks. Though risk-acceptance criteria, product pricing, and … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending October 4

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending October 4. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week American Financial (AFG): now $0.45 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.40. Bank OZK (OZK): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. BlackRock Core Bond Trust (BHK): now $0.0676 per share monthly dividend, was $0.06. BlackRock Corporate High Yield Fund (HYT): now $0.0779 per share monthly dividend, was $0.072. BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust IV (BTZ): now $0.0839 per share monthly dividend, was $0.067. BlackRock Debt … Read more

ICYMI — Video: Will Hasty Policy Facilitate the Next Leg Down, or Do We Have It Coming Anyway?

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President of Investment Research and award-winning author of Value Trap: Theory of Universal Valuation Brian Nelson explains how US policymakers are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and how the market may be factoring in too high of a probability of a return to normalcy before 2021. This and more in the latest video report. Summary Make sure you review Value Trap on Amazon. Do so here. We think those that bought equities near the bottom of this swoon may be looking to take profits at present levels. The market is currently reflecting an 80%-85% probability of a return to normalcy before 2021, which we believe is too high at this time. Our main concern is that government … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of August 19

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 19. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week                American Financial (AFG): now $0.63 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.56. Apple Hospitality (APLE): now $0.07 per share monthly dividend, was $0.05. Brigham Minerals (MNRL): now $0.77 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.60. C&F Financial (CFFI): now $0.42 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.40. Cable One (CABO): now $2.85 per share quarterly dividend, was $2.75. Cboe Global Markets (CBOE): now $0.50 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more

Nelson: The 16 Most Important Steps To Understand The Stock Market

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A previous version of this article appeared on our website July 21, 2013. Refreshed and updated throughout, as of July 2018. By Brian Nelson, CFA After earning my MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and training stock and credit analysts from large organizations over the past decade or so, I have heard just about every question (though I admit I am still surprised by many things and remain a very humble student of the markets). I’ve also spent years perfecting the discounted cash flow process for large research organizations such as Morningstar and studied under one of the most famed aggressive growth investors of all time, Richard Driehaus. My knowledge runs the gamut from value through … Read more