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Dividend Increases for the Week Ending August 22

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 22. 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 Altria (MO): now $0.52 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.48. American Financial Group (AFG): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Brinker (EAT): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Chemical Financial (CHFC): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. Commercial Bancshares (CMOH): now $0.19 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.165. Evans Bancorp (EVBN): now $0.34 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.31. G&K Services … Read more

Holy Guacamole! McDonald’s Wishing It Had Kept Chipotle

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Very few investors probably remember that Chipotle (CMG) used to be owned in part by McDonald’s (MCD). McDonald’s had originally taken a stake in Chipotle in February 1998, when Chipotle had but 14 restaurants in Denver. The maker of the Big Mac would go on to own 90% of the subsidiary and eventually spin it off in an initial public offering in January 2006. McDonald’s would receive ~$1.5 billion from the sale, but with Chipotle’s market capitalization now at over $20 billion, it’s clear the burger-and-fries behemoth exited way too early. The most recently-reported results by both restaurants tell the diverging story quite well. McDonald’s reported relatively disappointing second-quarter results Tuesday. The performance can best be described as flat. Global … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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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

Restaurant Industry Update

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The fast-food (quick-service) breakfast wars have intensified. It has become a high-stakes game for all participants, and most have gone all-in to capture market share, to use poker parlance. The NPD Group, a leading global information firm, noted that the pace of expansion for fast-food breakfast across the restaurant industry has been a key bright spot, and executives across the industry are taking note: Quick service, which accounts for about 80 percent of total restaurant morning meals, showed the strongest increase in breakfast visits of all restaurant segments with a 4 percent increase in the year ending December 2013 period compared to year ago, reports NPD CREST, which every day tracks how consumers use restaurants and other foodservice outlets. Morning … Read more

2 Pieces of News You Never Expected on Cyber Monday

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Monday is shaping up to be a unique news day following excellent online retail sales over the holiday weekend. Amazon’s (AMZN) flying drones and Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) “Italian” burgers seem to have stolen the show today. Amazon’s Flying Drones During a 60 Minutes interview, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said that the firm is experimenting with fulfilling small orders using drone aircraft, a service dubbed Prime Air. In what sounds more like science fiction than a strategic endeavor, Bezos hopes the drones will allow Amazon to deliver products in as little as 30 minutes, giving its same-day efforts a boost. The “flying drone” service is scheduled to be in place within 4-5 years and will require approval from the Federal Aviation … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending August 23 Included Altria and Gap

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Below we provide a list of firms that upped their dividends for the week ending August 23. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports, please click here (or use our ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header). Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Altria Group (MO): now $0.48 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.44. Brinker International (EAT): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Chemical Financial Corp (CHFC): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21 Community Bank System (CBU): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.27. Delta Natural Gas (DGAS): was $0.19 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.18. Dillard’s (DDS): now $0.06 per share … Read more

2,350-2,750 on the S&P? Could the Coronavirus Catalyze a Financial Crisis?

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Image: We think a rather modest sell-off in the market to the target range of 2,350-2,750 on the S&P 500 is rather reasonable in the wake of one of the biggest economic shocks since the Global Financial Crisis. The chart above shows how far markets have advanced since 2011, and an adjustment lower to the target range of 2,350-2,750 is rather modest in such a context and would only bring markets to late 2018 levels (note red box as the target range). The range reflects ~16x S&P 500 12-month forward earnings estimates, as of February 14, adjusted down 10% due to COVID-19. When companies like Visa talk about a couple percentage points taken off of growth rates, one knows that … Read more

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

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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