EVERYTHING DIVIDENDS + 3 TOP IDEAS

The Valuentum analyst team explains the difference between the adjusted Dividend Cushion ratio and its unadjusted counterpart. The success of the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio is covered, and Valuentum’s top 3 dividend growth ideas are unveiled. ~13 minutes. If you are unable to view the video below, please select the link here or view the transcript below. Kris Rosemann: Hello and welcome to the Valuentum Securities podcast. My name is Kris Rosemann and with me today is Chris Araos and Brian Nelson, the president of equity research and ETF analysis here at Valuentum, and today we’re going to be discussing the Dividend Cushion ratio, the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, and some of our favorite dividend ideas on the market today. So … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending January 16

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending January 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 Alliant Energy (LNT): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.51. Apogee (APOG): now $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT): now $0.10 per share monthly dividend, was $0.08. Consolidated Edison (ED): now $0.65 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.63. Core Laboratories (CLB): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. EPR Properties (EPR): now $0.3025 per share monthly dividend, was $0.285. … Read more

The Dividend Dilemma

One of the core tenets of the Valuentum process not only rests in the all-important price vs. value consideration (see Valuentum’s Brian Nelson talk about that here), but also in “letting winners run.” At first read, these two items appear to be at odds with each other. For example, we preach about getting stocks at a bargain, but yet, we don’t sell holdings when they start to move beyond our estimate of their fair value. What gives? At the Valuentum core, we prefer an entry point that corresponds to the time when shares have substantial valuation and pricing support (i.e. they have high Valuentum Buying Index ratings), and we prefer an exit point when shares have little valuation and pricing … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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

PPL Corp Reports Solid 3Q; Raises Midpoint of 2013 Earnings Forecast

Generally speaking, we like the utility industry. Utilities provide an essential service, generally operate in a near-monopoly position and benefit from significant barriers to entry due to the capital intensity of new projects and regulatory/environmental requirements. Regulatory frameworks differ across the grid, but most utilities benefit from an assured rate of return on capital investments through predetermined rate structures, where cost adjustments are made by authorities periodically. Most constituents also benefit from stable operations and generally lower debt financing, though we note credit ratings should be monitored closely. The strong industry backdrop was apparent in PPL Corp’s third-quarter earnings release, issued last Thursday. Though adjusted earnings from ongoing operations per share declined on a year-over-year basis during the period as … Read more

US Congress Is Getting Ready to Pass a Massive ~$2.2 Trillion Fiscal Stimulus Bill

Image Shown: US equities have started to recover some of their lost ground as the likelihood that the US Congress will pass a massive ~$2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus and emergency spending package, dubbed the CARES Act, has increased significantly over the past week as seen through the bounce in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). President Trump has clearly indicated that he intends to sign such a bill into law as soon as possible, with the US House of Representatives expected to take up the legislation this upcoming Friday morning on March 27. By Callum Turcan On March 25, the US Senate worked late into the night to secure a bipartisan compromise on a massive ~$2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus … Read more

We Continue to Be Big Fans of Ameresco

Update: We first covered Ameresco in detail through an article published back in August 2020 (link here) and followed up on that work in a subsequent article published in November 2020 (link here) and provided a brief update on the firm in a piece published in January 2021 (link here). Shares of AMRC have more than doubled since we published our first article covering the name as of mid August 2021, and we think there is ample room for additional capital appreciation upside.  Image Source: Ameresco Inc – August 2021 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Ameresco Inc (AMRC) provides its customers with an expansive slate of clean energy and energy efficiency solutions ranging from upgrades to energy infrastructure (e.g., battery storage, … Read more

The Dividend Cushion Meets the Dividend Aristocrats

By Brian Nelson, CFA At Valuentum, we know that forward-looking dividend analysis and opinion is all that matters for most income investors. That’s why we’ve provided the following screen of key constituents in the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) and their forward-looking Dividend Cushion ratio. After all, the past is just the past. The future is what counts. The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF is a fund that tracks the the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index, which is “designed to measure the performance of the highest dividend-yielding S&P Composite 1500 Index constituents that have followed a managed-dividends policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 20 consecutive years.” To access either the 16-page stock report or the dividend report of each firm in the following modified ‘Aristocrats’ … 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

NextEra Energy’s Promising Earnings Growth Outlook Underpins Dividend Growth Trajectory

Image Source: NextEra Energy Inc – Third Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 20, the electric utility firm NextEra Energy Inc (NEE) reported third quarter 2021 earnings that missed consensus top-line estimates but beat consensus bottom-line estimates. The company reaffirmed its medium-term guidance in conjunction with its earnings report. We include shares of NEE in the ESG Newsletter portfolio and continue to be huge fans of the name. NextEra Energy’s capital appreciation and dividend growth upside potential is quite substantial. Our fair value estimate for shares of NEE stands at $102 per share with room for upside, as the top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $124 per share of NextEra Energy. … Read more