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Valuentum’s Joint Outlook for the Railroad and Coal Industries

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Key Takeaways: North American railroads operate as an oligopoly, benefit from substantial barriers to entry, and boast significant pricing power. Free cash flow generation trends are strong at the largest operators–Union Pacific (UNP) and Canadian National (CNI)–but industry-wide free cash flow margins (free cash flow divided by revenue) average in the mid-single-digits as elevated maintenance capital costs weigh on conversion rates. Canadian National and Union Pacific are currently the most efficient operators (as measured by their respective operating ratios), while Genessee & Wyoming (GWR) and Canadian Pacific (CP) trail the pack. Coal is the single most important commodity to the railroads, accounting for more than 20% of class I railroad freight revenue. Though US coal volumes should advance over the … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 9

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 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 A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (AWRRF): now CAD 0.159 per share monthly dividend, was CAD 0.154. ALPS ETF Trust – Alerian Energy Infrastructure ETF (ENFR): now $0.3123 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2875. Audio Codes (AUDC): now $0.12 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.11. Badger Meter (BMI): now $0.17 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15. Barret Business (BBSI): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. … Read more

Stock Market Outlook for 2021

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By Valuentum Analysts February 8, 2021 2020 was one for the history books. We covered our thoughts and reflections on the past year in our “2020 Won’t Soon Be Forgotten” article (link here), and now we are looking towards the future. Global health authorities should be able to bring an end to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic sooner than many had expected as several vaccines have already been improved for emergency use and several others appear increasingly likely to get approved. Global vaccine distribution activities are currently underway, and this should allow the world to slowly return to pre-pandemic activities. Before then, immense stimulus measures launched primarily in developed nations should support global economic activities until the public health crisis … Read more

Top ESG Idea South32 Getting Closer to Launching Major Mining Project in Arizona

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Image Shown: South32 is targeting ample zinc, lead, and silver resources at the Hermosa project in Arizona that could be quite economical to extract should the Australian-based miner move forward with the endeavor. Image Source: South32 – January 2022 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Shares of South32 (SOUHY), one of our favorite miners, are up over 50% during the past year as of this writing and that is before taking dividend considerations into account. The Australian miner has a bright outlook after shedding virtually all its thermal coal assets last calendar year (completed in June 2021) and announcing in October 2021 that it would acquire a sizable economic interest in a Chilean copper mine. As a quick housekeeping item, South32’s … Read more

January 5-9: The Week That Was – Drowning in Crude

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By Brian Nelson, CFA The first full week of 2015 was a wild one! Monday and Tuesday brought some hefty losses to the indices, but the middle of the week helped recover most of the ground, only to give some of it back Friday. When all was said and done, however, the S&P 500 still closed comfortably above 2040, a huge leap from just 5-6 years ago. We’re still enjoying the good times, with economic data still coming in relatively sanguine. Like a frog in water, the markets are just waiting for the next shoe to drop, and the Federal Reserve is doing all that it can to assure investors that the Yellen-put is there to prop up the markets should … Read more

Shares of Our Favorite Miner South32 Skyrocketed During Past Year

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Image Shown: South32, an idea in our ESG Newsletter portfolio and one of our favorite miners, put up tremendous financial performance during the first half of fiscal 2022 as it capitalized on surging realized prices for its commodities sales. Image Source: South32 – First Half of Fiscal 2022 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Shares of the American depository receipts (‘ADRs’) of one of our favorite miners, South32 (SOUHY), have put up tremendous performance during the past year. According to data provided by Yahoo! Finance, shares of SOUHY are up over 50% during the past year on a price only basis while the S&P 500 (SPY) is up ~9% on a price only basis during this period as of late … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of April 28

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 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                          Adecoagro (AGRO): now $0.1626 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.1602. AGCO (AGCO): now $0.29 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. American Water Works (AWK): now $0.7075 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.6550. Ameriprise Financial (AMP): now $1.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.25. Avery Dennison (AVY): now $0.81 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.75. Banco Santander (SAN): now EUR 0.0595 per share final dividend, … Read more

Creditor Risk Aversion Rises Considerably in Energy, Metals & Mining Sectors

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Not all is well with commodity producers. Moody’s (MCO) has been very quick to point out that “the latest plunge by base metals prices and the renewed slide (in) crude oil prices are more ominous for corporate credit than was the earlier plummet by crude oil prices amid relatively steady industrial metals prices.” The credit rating agency’s industrial metals price index has dropped more than 10% in the past 20 days ending July 9, reaching levels not seen since the depths of the Financial Crisis in 2009. Moody’s industrial metals price index has fallen an incredible 25% since the same time stamp last year, something we’ve been witnessing anecdotally. The International Energy Agency recently warned that the bottom in crude oil … Read more