Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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

Packaging Corporation of America Bets Big on Boise

Monday morning, Packaging Corporation of America (click ticker for report: ) announced that it will pay $12.55 per share in cash to acquire paper company Boise (BZ) for a total deal value of $1.995 billion. The deal increases PCA’s containerboard presence by 42% to 3.7 million tons, while also giving PCA a presence in the Pacific Northwest—an area previously underrepresented. Source: BZ 2012 10-K Though Boise has struggled with large amounts of excess capacity in its newsprint segment, we’ve seen the firm move capacity closer to production over the past two years, leading to stabilized profitability. Nevertheless, the small, Idaho-based player was unable to truly compete with national competitors. Further, Boise had a large net-debt position, leaving the company fairly … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending February 8

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending February 8. 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 3M (MMM): now $1.44 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.36. Affiliated Managers (AMG): now $0.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.30. Allegion (ALLE): now $0.27 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21. Alliance Data Systems (ADS): now $0.63 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.57. Allstate (ALL): now $0.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.46. Amdocs (DOX): now $0.285 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Archer Daniels Midland … Read more

How to Think About Corporate Tax Reform

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

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

Update: Frequently Asked Questions About Valuentum Securities, Inc.

What is Valuentum Securities? Valuentum (val∙u∙n∙tum) [val-yoo-en-tuh-m] Securities Inc. is an independent investment research publisher, offering premium equity reports and dividend reports, as well as commentary across all sectors/companies, a Best Ideas Newsletter (spanning market caps, asset classes), a Dividend Growth Newsletter, modeling tools/products, and more. Independence and integrity remain our core, and we strive to be a champion of the investor. Valuentum is based in the Chicagoland area. Valuentum is not a money manager, broker, or financial advisor. Valuentum is a publisher of financial information. How do I subscribe to Valuentum’s investment research services? 1)    Click the following link: signup-page. 2)    Select your membership plan. 3)    Enter your contact details. 4)    Click ‘Sign Up.’ 5)    Complete your purchase. 6)   Your payment profile may be recurring, so please check … Read more

The Dividend Cushion Meets the Dividend Aristocrats

By Brian Nelson, CFA At Valuentum, we know that forward-looking dividend analysis and opinion is all that matters for most income investors. That’s why we’ve provided the following screen of key constituents in the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) and their forward-looking Dividend Cushion ratio. After all, the past is just the past. The future is what counts. The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF is a fund that tracks the the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index, which is “designed to measure the performance of the highest dividend-yielding S&P Composite 1500 Index constituents that have followed a managed-dividends policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 20 consecutive years.” To access either the 16-page stock report or the dividend report of each firm in the following modified ‘Aristocrats’ … Read more

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

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

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending February 7

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending February 7. 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 3M (MMM): now $1.47 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.44. Activision Blizzard (ATVI): now $0.41 per share annual dividend, was $0.37. Aflac (AFL): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.27. Allegion (ALLE): now $0.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.27. Amdocs (DOX): now $0.3275 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2850. Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term (FINS): now $0.1112 per share monthly dividend, was $0.1097. … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending February 9

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending February 9. 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 Allegion (ALLE): now $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.16. Allergan (AGN): now $0.72 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.70. Allstate (ALL): now $0.46 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.37. ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP): now $0.2066 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2052. Anadarko Petroleum (APC): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): now $0.335 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. … Read more