ANF

Mall Retail Armageddon?

by

We think investors should be extremely cautious if they are interested in any mall retailers. Mall REITs are starting to feel some of the pain, too. By Brian Nelson, CFA Our latest channel checks at the malls foreshadowed what eventually turned into a terrible showing during the first quarter for the department stores such as J.C. Penney, Kohl’s and Nordstrom, but the apparel names and other niche shops are feeling the pain, too. It is becoming eerie when visiting the malls these days. In some of the locations we’re visiting, hardly anyone is there! Generation Z may not pick up the slack from the millennial generation, and it is showing up in the numbers big time. Here’s a run down … Read more

Latest Channel Checks at Malls…Scary

by

We know malls come and go, and location is everything, but our latest visit to a few malls in the Chicagoland area leave us scratching our heads in a big way. One was eerily empty. By Brian Nelson, CFA A small sample set is never one to extrapolate, but our latest checks of malls in the northwest Chicagoland area came up a little surprising. We’re not sounding the alarm bells just yet, but we think some caution is in order for the largest mall REITs, including Tanger Factory (SKT), Macerich (MAC), Simon Property (SPG) and Taubman (TCO). Something just wasn’t quite right on our latest visit, and we attribute it primarily to failing anchor department stores, namely Carson Pirie Scott … Read more

Facebook’s Huge New Opportunity in Instagram Checkout, Reiterating Fair Value Estimate ~$230

by

Image Source: Facebook’s Instagram We continue to like Facebook, and we’re huge fans of Instagram Checkout. Many may not know it yet, but Instagram Checkout may mark the beginning of retailers’ websites becoming obsolete. The sell-off last summer in Facebook was a big gift for those that stuck with our thesis. Brian Nelson, CFA I think one of the things that financial advisors and financial planners do extremely well is explain the concept of patience to their clients. Can you imagine if a client cashed out upon every 15%-20% decline? That’d be a recipe for continuous disaster. On the path to the market setting broader market highs in 2018, there have been many disappointments along the way. There have been … Read more

The Dividend Cushion Ratio Was Ahead of Tupperware’s Cut

by

Image shown: Tupperware’s landing page at Valuentum after the company announced a ~60% dividend cut. Tupperware slashed its dividend before the Dividend Growth Newsletter hit your inboxes Friday evening. The company was included at the bottom of a list of companies with the highest multiplicative combination of Dividend Yield x Dividend Cushion ratio (mostly due to its outsize yield). The Dividend Cushion ratio flagged it as an outsize risk, nonetheless, and it was not included in any simulated newsletter portfolio. By Kris Rosemann On January 30, prior to the release of the February Dividend Growth Newsletter, Tupperware (TUP) announced that it would cut its dividend. The company had been yielding at a high-single-digit rate, but that was a red flag, as … Read more

Valuentum Stock Screeners

by

This article was sent to members via email December 29. That email can be accessed at the link that follows this article. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, I wanted to provide an update with respect to Valuentum’s stock screeners. We believe our stock screeners are among the most robust when it comes to providing forward-looking data, or data that is important with respect to the investment decision-making process. We publish screens in each of the monthly newsletters, but we also provide a basic weekly screener for download on the left column of the website, “Download Weekly Stock Screener (xls) — login required.”   We also have other products. The more robust DataScreener, for example, is part of the quarterly Financial … Read more

Market Mayhem — Alerts for Members

by

During these extremely volatile times, it’s important to stay focused. On December 15, we informed all of our members to “Pay Attention.” Shortly thereafter, we notified members of the potential for a stock market technical breakdown. This morning, we offered a pre-market briefing about the importance of thinking about portfolio protection. For Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=e2406cd6-c113-4344-8731-493f33fc44a4&id=preview For High Yield Dividend Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=b3ba530f-38b3-489a-ac96-2961dca89c6b&id=preview For Exclusive members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=ba6d90c0-4433-48b2-9b8a-aac4ddf9006e&id=preview We’re here for any questions. Please just let us know how we can help! Kind regards, Brian Nelson, CFA  brian@valuentum.com

Retail Margins Weighed Down by Labor, Transportation Costs

by

Image Source: Mike Mozart Selling pressure across retail came after several notable operators reported earnings November 20. Let’s take a look at what is driving investor reaction within the space. By Kris Rosemann A number of high profile retailers (XRT) reported earnings before the open November 20, and selling pressure ensued due in large part to margin weakness across the space. Higher transportation and wage costs were common themes, but top-line performance held solid for the group, generally speaking. A number of retailers from a variety of segments within the sector are feeling the damage to sentiment from the flurry of reports as the implications of the margin pressures are not expected to be unique to those specific retailers that reported … Read more

Valuentum’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Distribution

by

The weighted average cost of capital is one of the most subjective measures in corporate finance, but it is also one of the most important ones. “The most important item over time in valuation is obviously interest rates…If interest rates are destined to be at low levels…It makes any stream of earnings from investments worth more money. The bogey is always what government bonds yield….Any investment is worth all the cash you’re going to get out between now and judgment day discounted back. The discounting back is affected by whether you choose interests rates like those of Japan or interest rates like those we had in 1982…When we had 15 percent short-term rates in 1982, it was silly to pay … Read more

Study: Valuentum’s Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio

by

To read the study, please click on the image to download the pdf document (pdf).

ICYMI: Valuentum’s Improved Stock and ETF Web Pages

by

Valuentum has rolled out improved stock and ETF web pages on its website valuentum.com/. Now, subscribers can access key proprietary information on the stock and ETF web pages in addition to the customary stock and ETF reports. Dear reader, We have some exciting news that we can’t wait to share with you! At valuentum.com/, we have rolled out new stock and ETF pages that conveniently include a variety of our proprietary metrics from the Dividend Cushion ratio to the Economic Castle rating and beyond! There’s even mouseover functionality so you can learn about how we define the key metrics across our stock-selection and dividend growth methodologies. You’ll still have access to the stock and dividend reports on the landing pages, … Read more