VBI Ratings Not as Impressive As We Would Have Liked in 2022

Image: How the VBI rating system has ranked equities so far this year. By Brian Nelson, CFA At Valuentum, we use the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI) to source ideas into diversified simulated newsletter portfolios, and the VBI may be most applicable to the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, where we generally like to include ideas when they register a high VBI rating and remove them when they register a low VBI rating. We always use the VBI in a portfolio setting and never by itself. But what about the Valuentum Buying Index ratings, themselves? How did they “perform” during 2022 in one of the worst years for stock market investors in history? Well, not as spectacular as we would have … Read more

8 Announcements and Top Research You May Have Missed

8 Announcements. This article was sent to members via email March 27. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, Brian here. Trust you are doing great! Here are eight announcements I want you to be aware of: Everything we do is for our members. We’re very proud of the outperformance of the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, that we’ve never had a dividend cut in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, that our high-yield ideas are holding up very well, and the success rates of the Exclusive capital-appreciation ideas and short-idea considerations are running at approximately 80%. We’re proud to be your research partner. The odds of a Fed rate cut are going up as yield-curve inversion continues to threaten. The risks are more behavioral in … Read more

Chevron’s Promising Cash Flow Growth Outlook

Image Source: Chevron Corporation – May 2021 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan The outlook for the global energy complex is bright and getting brighter as public health authorities utilize widespread coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) vaccine distribution efforts to put an end to the pandemic. We added shares of Chevron Corporation (CVX) to the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios on June 27 (link here) in order to gain exposure to the ongoing recovery in the global energy complex via a high-quality integrated oil major. Shares of CVX yield ~5.1% as of this writing. Asset Overview Chevron’s collection of upstream assets (involved in the extraction of raw energy resources from the ground) includes operations all over the world with some notable … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of November 1

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 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                          AbbVie (ABBV): now $1.64 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.55. Adecoagro (AGRO): now $0.174 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.168. Amcor (AMCR): now $0.1275 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.1250. Associated Banc-Corp (ASB): now $0.23 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Atlas Energy Solution (AESI): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. Balfour Beatty plc (BLFBY): now $0.0803 per share semi-annual dividend. Banco … 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 5

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending February 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 3M (MMM): now $1.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.025. A-Mark (AMRK): now $0.07 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. Allegion (ALLE): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.28. Armada Hoffler Properties (AHH): now $0.18 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.17. AvalonBay Communities (AVB): now $1.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.25. … Read more

Top Research and Ideas You May Have Missed

Is Quant Value Giving Intrinsic Value Investors a Bad Name? Surely, you don’t believe Warren Buffett’s “style” is out of favor? By Brian Nelson, CFA I need to make sure that you’re aware of something very important. The media and perhaps many investment professionals define the concept of “value” as companies with low price-to-book (P/B) ratios, and the concept of “growth” as companies with high price-to-book ratios. This definition of “value” and “growth” and their corresponding returns have been magnified in writings throughout the media and across quantitative research, even in prestigious journals. Warren Buffett has been rallying against most quantitative applications and how “growth” and “value” are defined in popular media and quantitative research for decades.  Here’s one of the Oracle’s most … Read more

The Market Doesn’t Go Straight Up

Key Takeaways: ·     Though we fall short of prognosticating on the immediate moves of the stock market, we think the near-term risk-reward of the broader market is growing more and more negative. Why? o    Market volatility is back due to Fed speak and poor data and pricing action from Asia. Typically, market hiccups signal that a change in price direction is near (we’re no longer going straight up). o    The significant out-numbering of poor scores on our stock-selection methodology, the Valuentum Buying Index, relative to good scores suggests to us that a higher degree of caution may be in order. o    According to Factset, the forward price-to-earnings ratio on S&P 500 constituents registers a 14.4x reading (as of last Thursday), above … Read more

ExxonMobil’s Great Earnings Report and Promising Growth Outlook

Image Shown: An overview of ExxonMobil Corporation’s strategy to generate shareholder value going forward. Image Source: ExxonMobil Corporation – Second Quarter of 2021 Earnings IR Presentation By Callum Turcan We added shares of ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM) as an idea to both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios back on June 27 (link here) to gain greater exposure to the ongoing recovery in the global energy complex. On a day-to-day, month-to-month basis, raw energy resources pricing (crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids) will bounce around (commodity prices are inherently volatile). However, what we have been interested in the most is the sharp recovery seen in raw energy resources pricing since the start of 2021. That includes … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of November 4

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 4. 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                Air Lease (AL): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.18. Amcor (AMCR): now $0.1225 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.1200. American Financial (AFG): now $2.00 per share special dividend, was $0.63. AmerisourceBergen (ABC): now $0.485 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.460. Arbor Realty Trust (ABR): now $0.40 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.39. ARC Resources (ARX:CA): now CAD 0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more