COST

Kroger Beats Estimates and Once Again Raises Guidance

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Image Source: Kroger Co – Third Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Kroger Co (KR) recently reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended November 6, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates, and the retailer also once again boosted its full-year guidance for fiscal 2021. Kroger’s operations include retail store brands such as City Market, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyers, Metro Market, and more, along with its private label brands of consumer staples offerings. Shares of KR have shifted meaningful higher since its latest earnings update as of this writing. Earnings Update In fiscal 2020 (period ended January 30, 2021), Kroger put up banner performance due in large part to the “panic” … Read more

Tyson’s Pricing Strength Enables Margin Expansion During Turbulent Time

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Image Shown: Tyson Foods Inc put up stellar results for fiscal 2021. Image Source: Tyson Foods Inc – Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On November 15, Tyson Foods Inc (TSN) reported fourth quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended October 2, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates largely due to the firm’s impressive pricing strength, the focus of this article. The company is facing major headwinds from the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, from labor shortages to supply chain bottlenecks to rising input costs, though Tyson has adeptly navigated this turbulence while bolstering both its revenues and its margins. For reference, please note that Tyson’s fiscal year ends around late-September or early October. … Read more

Hard Work and the Trust That Binds

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Image Source: Terry Johnson By Brian Nelson, CFA We’ll have our traditional Valuentum Weekly email coming out on Sunday, and I’m excited to say our team is putting the finishing touches on our technology industry update, so we’ll have a whole bunch of fresh reports for you to look at Sunday evening/Monday morning. It’s easy to forget how much we’ve been through the past two years. Often, we forget how helpful the warning that markets were going to crash was the weekend before they did on February 22, 2020, “Is a Stock Market Crash Coming? – Coronavirus Update and P/E Ratios,” how we thought dollar-cost-averaging made sense at the bottom in March 2020, and how we went “all-in” in April … Read more

Large Cap Growth Has More Room To Run

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“The stylistic area of large cap growth has been one of our favorite areas because of the strong net cash rich, free cash flow generating, secular growth powerhouses that make up much of the space. The image is a rundown of the key Valuentum statistics for the top 15 holdings of the Schwab U.S. Large Cap Growth ETF (SCHG). We believe where large cap growth goes, so does the broader market, considering the hefty weightings of some of these stocks in other broad-based indices. Based on the high end of our fair value estimate range for this group of bellwethers, the broader U.S. markets still have room to run, to the tune of 7%+, despite the many highs already reached … Read more

Kroger Raises Guidance After Solid Earnings Report

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Image Source: Kroger Co – First Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Grocers are facing tough year-over-year comparisons due to the pantry stockpiling dynamic seen in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, though demand for consumer staples products remains healthy. On June 17, Kroger Co (KR) reported first quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended May 22, 2021) that beat both consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Kroger’s management team also noted how the grocer views the current inflationary landscape, which we will cover in this note. Earnings Update and Guidance Boost Though Kroger’s same-store sales fell by 4.1% in the fiscal first quarter, on a two-year stack basis (the sum of its same-store … Read more

ICYMI — Video: Exclusive 2020 — Furthering the Financial Discipline

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ICYMI — Video: Exclusive 2020 — Furthering the Financial Discipline — — In this 40+ minute video jam-packed with must-watch content, Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson talks about the Theory of Universal Valuation and how his work is furthering the financial discipline. Learn the pitfalls of factor investing and modern portfolio theory and how the efficient markets hypothesis holds little substance in the wake of COVID-19. He’ll talk about which companies Valuentum likes and why, and which areas he’s avoiding. This and more in Valuentum’s 2020 Exclusive conference call.   Note: This video was originally published August 2, 2020.    To watch the video >>   The Theory of Universal Valuation —– Valuentum members have access to our 16-page stock reports, … Read more

Walmart’s E-Commerce Growth Supports Long Term Dividend Strength

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Image Source: Mike Mozart By Brian Nelson, CFA On Tuesday, May 18, Walmart (WMT) reported first-quarter 2022 results for the 13-week period ended April 30, 2021. Leading the charge was a 37%, 47%, and 49% leap in e-commerce sales in its Walmart U.S., Sam’s Club, and Walmart International segments, respectively, with management noting that sales through its online channel have “more than doubled over the last two years.” Walmart continues to embrace e-commerce and omni-channel capabilities, and that bodes well for the long-term sustainability of its dividend payout, in our view. Walmart’s shares yield ~1.5% at the time of this writing, and they have years of dividend growth ahead of them, in our view. As one of the largest big … Read more

3 Strong Dividend Payers to Consider Within Consumer Staples

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By Brian Nelson, CFA Dividend growth may never go out of style. For one, there are tremendous compounding benefits to investing in dividend growers over the long haul, “3 Substantial Benefits of Dividend Growth Investing.” A focus on traditional cash-based sources of intrinsic value and dividend health is therefore essential to avoid tragic dividend cuts in your portfolio (see our walk-through of the cash-based sources of intrinsic value and how to find them in our article/video about Apple here). Three dividend growers that we do not include in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio but that have recently-reported calendar first-quarter 2021 earnings and may be worth considering in a diversified equity portfolio are Kellogg (K), Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Clorox (CLX). These three … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week April 16

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 16. 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 Agree Realty (ADC): now $0.217 per share monthly dividend, was $0.207. Aon (AON): now $0.51 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.46. AptarGroup (ATR): now $0.38 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.36. Artesian Resources (ARTNA): now $0.261 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.257. Banco Santander-Chile (BSAC): now $0.9285 per share annual dividend, was $0.4651. Cadence Bancorporation (CADE): now $1.25 per share special dividend, was $0.15. Costco (COST): … Read more

ALERT: Raising Cash in the Newsletter Portfolios

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January 27, 2021 ALERT: Raising Cash in the Newsletter Portfolios We are raising the cash position in the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and simulated Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio to 10%-20%. — By Brian Nelson, CFA — Our research has been absolutely fantastic for a long time, but 2020 may have been our best year yet. You can read the 2020 recap here. With the S&P 500 trading within our fair value estimate range of 3,530-3,920 (and the markets rolling over while showing signs of abnormal behavior), we’re raising the cash position in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio to 10%-20%. — For more conservative investors, the high end of this range may even be larger, especially … Read more