Bakken Production Is Booming and Continental Resources Is a Winner

 Key Takeaways: ·        Continental Resources is an oil and gas E&P with the largest shale position in the Bakken. ·        Production and proved reserves have significant room to grow. ·        A supermajor oil company like Exxon or Chevron could be interested in acquiring Continental. ·        We believe shares have 35% upside from current levels. Production of shale oil in the Bakken (1) continues to grow rapidly, and the long-term production fortunes in the region remain as positive as ever. Let’s take a look at Continental Resources (click ticker for report: ), a firm we believe has 35% upside from current levels and one that recently made our list of The 25 Cheapest Stocks on the Market. (1) The Bakken field … Read more

Exxon Misses, ConocoPhillips Raises Production, and Shell Writes Down North American Shale Assets

As Valuentum members are aware, we think the oil majors each have their own respective strengths and weaknesses. Exxon Mobil (XOM) has consistently earned the best economic returns (ROCE) among peers, but its stock price is rich, trading at the high end of our fair value estimate range (at the time of this writing). ConocoPhillips (COP) continues to raise its production forecasts and is the second-best value-creator (ROCE) in the group. However, Chevron (CVX) has the strongest balance sheet among peers (it has the only net cash position), and by extension, is better-positioned to raise its dividend during the troughs of future energy-price cycles. Meanwhile, BP (BP) continues to deal with the aftermath of its well-publicized 2010 oil spill in … Read more

Clean Energy Fuels: An Interesting Long-Term Play on Natural Gas

This article appeared on Seeking Alpha. Please view disclosures: https://seekingalpha.com/article/279549-clean-energy-fuels-an-interesting-long-term-play-on-natural-gas  Before the Chesapeake (CHK) announcement earlier this week that it would invest $1 billion over the next 10 years in the proliferation of natural gas vehicle technologies, we had some serious concerns about Clean Energy’s (CLNE) financial health. After all, the cost of developing natural gas fueling stations is not small potatoes, and the current number of these facilities is undoubtedly insufficient in the U.S. Clean Energy’s major barrier to success, in our opinion, is that it needs more places for natural gas vehicles to fill up such that demand for the purchase of natural gas vehicles will increase, and the firm would then subsequently reap the benefits of this self-reinforcing trend through its … Read more

Seeking Balance: What’s Happening in the Crude Oil and Iron Ore Markets

Image Source: Sollven Melindo Commodity prices are notoriously volatile as the global markets often struggle to maintain a sustainable balance of supply-demand. Let’s take a look at some recent developments and coming events that are impacting the prices of crude oil and iron ore. By Kris Rosemann We’re not rushing to add any commodity-based exposure at the moment. We have some of course – but we’re not looking to add more to the newsletter portfolios. For starters, the iron ore pricing market appears to be setting itself up for another period of pain, and we’re preaching serious levels of caution for those considering the space as iron-ore prices have already begun to descend from the peak of the puzzling early-2017 … Read more

Historic Oil Deal Reached

Image Source: Chevron Corporation (CVX) – March 2020 Security Analyst Meeting Presentation By Callum Turcan Over the Easter holiday weekend, members from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (‘OPEC’), non-OPEC members that are part of the OPEC+ group (countries that in the recent past have joined forces with OPEC to curtail global oil supplies in a formal manner), and non-OPEC members outside of the OPEC+ group such as Brazil (EWZ), Canada (EWC), and the United States (SPY) came to an agreement to cut their collective oil output by north of 10 million barrels per day. Global oil and other raw energy resource prices (USO, BNO) have been simply demolished year-to-date due to a combination of demand destruction from the ongoing … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week May 14

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending May 14. 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 AirBoss of America (ABSSF): now CAD 0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.07. Alerus Financial (ALRS): now $0.16 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15. CapStar Financial (CSTR): now $0.06 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. Chesapeake Energy (CHK): now $0.34375 per share quarterly dividend. Companhia Siderurgica (SID): now $2.00 per share annual dividend, was $0.002. Curtiss-Wright (CW): now $0.18 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.17. … 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

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

Efficacy of the Dividend Cushion Ratio

A version of this article was originally published September 2019. The Dividend Cushion ratio is one of the most powerful financial tools an income or dividend growth investor can use in conjunction with qualitative dividend analysis. The ratio is one-of-a-kind in that it is both free-cash-flow based and forward looking. Since its creation in 2012, the Dividend Cushion ratio has forewarned readers of approximately 50 dividend cuts. We estimate its efficacy at ~90%. By Valuentum Analysts  Key Takeaways: The Dividend Cushion ratio is a helpful tool to use to cushion your dividend growth or income portfolio against potential dividend cuts. The ratio also helps to assess the growth potential of a company’s dividend, above and beyond current expectations of payout … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of August 5

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 5. 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                1847 Holdings LLC (EFSH): now $0.1313 per share dividend (post one-for-four reverse split), was $0.05. AdvanSix (ASIX): now $0.145 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.125. Alpine Summit Energy Partners, Inc. (ASEPF): now $0.03 per share monthly dividend. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (AY): now $0.445 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.440. Bank of Marin Bancorp (BMRC): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Blue Owl Capital … Read more