Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending September 1

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending September 1. 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 Andeavor (ANDV): now $0.59 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.55. Atlantica Yield (ABY): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Bank of America (BAC): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.075. Bank of Hawaii (BOH): now $0.52 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS): now CAD 0.79 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.76. Canadian Western Bank (CBWBF): now $0.24 … Read more

ETF Analysis: Banks and Financials

Please select the image below to download the report. Tickerized for ETFs under coverage and stocks included in the XLF.

Malkiel Balks, Yellen Talks

Let’s first address how research in the financial industry is becoming more and more open to combining value and momentum considerations. We’ll also cover a few takeaways from the stress tests and some ‘strong’ talk from Fed Chair Janet Yellen. By Brian Nelson, CFA It was 1973, and a Princeton economist by the name of Burton Gordon Malkiel had just published A Random Walk Down Wall Street, a book that would turn into one of the most influential studies in support of the efficient markets hypothesis. The book would suggest that asset prices typically exhibit signs of a “random walk,” and as a result, an investor could not consistently outperform market averages in part due to powerful reversion-to-the-mean tendencies. Three … Read more

Valuentum’s 3 Breakthroughs in the Field of Finance and More

Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson pauses for a picture before speaking at the CFA Society of Houston in March 2017. By Valuentum Editorial Staff Let’s cover Valuentum’s 3 major breakthroughs in the field of finance. The first one is big and may challenge you to rethink everything you think you know about investing. 1. On a logical framework, Valuentum has debunked John C. Bogle’s landmark syllogism that has paved the way for the concept of index investing. Index investing has been built on a logical shortcoming, whether supported by evidence or not. We think it is important that the investment community know of this. Read (pdf): The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds (2018), Brian Nelson, CFA See video documentation: /FALLACY_of_Index_Funds To … Read more

Crisis In Wall Street Stock Research; The Solution? Independent Investment Research

Image Source: Sam Valadi “New Wall Street Conflict: Analysts Say ‘Buy’ to Win Special Access for Their Clients… Securing face time for investors with top executives has become a vital revenue source for securities firms…” – Wall Street Journal, January 19, 2017 By Brian Nelson, CFA It is no surprise that buyside firms tend to prefer sell-side institutions that can get them access to the head honchos of companies. Buyside analysts and portfolio managers are talented, and some may have even come from the sell-side (in a previous life, if you can get them to admit it). In many cases, they know exactly what they’re doing (how to analyze a company or industry), and perhaps they have been doing so … Read more

The Coming “Goldman Sachs Era”

Valuentum covers recent developments in the financials sector, including hopes for a relaxation of certain prohibitive Dodd-Frank rules that, if repealed, could pave the way for improved economic returns across the banking sector during the Trump administration. A look back at the month of September 2008, and how Goldman Sachs may very well shape the financial markets during the next few years are two other areas in the piece. Financials stocks have come roaring back since Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States. We’ve participated. By Brian Nelson, CFA It’s been more than 8 years now. The month of September 2008 shaped my view of the financials and banking sector more than any other month possibly could–The … Read more

Podcast: Why ETFs and Roasting the Banks

The Valuentum analyst team talks about why we don’t like the business models of banking entities, why they are currently destroying economic value, but also why the team includes exposure in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. What gives? Find out in this ~9 minute podcast. If you cannot view the video, please view the transcript that follows. Tickerized for holdings in the exchange traded funds, XLF and KBE, and for various financials-oriented ETFs.  Kris Rosemann: Hello and welcome to the Valuentum Securities podcast. My name is Kris Rosemann Associate Investment Analyst at Valuentum. With me is Chris Araos and Brian Nelson President of Equity Research and ETF Analysis at Valuentum. Today, we are going to have a quick discussion over … Read more

Breaking the Bank…

Image Source: Tony Webster By Brian Nelson, CFA Financial institutions (XLF, KBE) are unique entities. In good times, the growth of pre-tax pre-provision earnings and return on equity often have more influence over banking entities’ stock prices than anything else, but in bad times, the health of their loan/derivative books and the strength of their capital bases are the most important factors when it comes to buying and selling activity. Throw in outsize leverage, huge derivatives books, and market psychology, and you have, in my opinion, still one of the riskiest sectors out there. As followers know, we don’t like firm-specific exposure to the banking sector. We perform valuation exercises on banks in a rather straightforward way, using a residual … Read more

Video: An Overview of Our 16-page Stock Research Reports

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Deutsche Bank Another Example of Necessary Confidence in Banking Sector

By Kris Rosemann Let’s walk through the situation with Deutsche Bank (DB) from mid-November through today. The “5 Cs of credit” — character, capacity, capital, collateral, and conditions — is a widely-followed framework and generally-accepted guideline for lending to consumers, but for corporate entities, we think another C is much more important: confidence. In almost every situation where a bank has encountered trouble, it has resulted from a loss of confidence in the sustainability of the entity as a going-concern. The loss of confidence could originate from counterparties, intermediaries, depositors or clients, or from any other core stakeholder. Lack of confidence typically spreads quickly. Quite simply, if the market does not have confidence in a banking entity, that banking entity will … Read more