EMR

Emerson Beats Estimates But the Firm Issues Cautious Guidance

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Dividend growth gem Emerson Electric (click ticker for report: ) reported better than expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter Tuesday morning. Adjusted earnings per share jumped 7% year-over-year to $1.11 per share, which was much higher than consensus estimates. Revenue growth remained subdued, ticking up just 2% year-over-year to $6.7 billion. We don’t expect to make a change to our fair value estimate. The firm’s process management segment continues to be a standout component, with sales growing 18% year-over-year on a reported basis (21% ex-currency) to $2.4 billion. Every geographic region performed well, with the US growing 16%, Asia up 24%, and Europe up 11%. Improvements in the supply chain, as well as cost control initiatives, helped operating margins … Read more

Stay the Course; This is Not Lehman II, S&P Downgrade Meaningless

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As we had indicated a few weeks ago, investors should turn off the political news related to the debt ceiling debate, and we now encourage investors to stay the course with their investment strategy, despite the media’s attempt to amplify yet another containable crisis. When we first published our report suggesting that there was no cause for worry about the debt-ceiling deadline, we received quite a number of questions about how we could be so confident. Well, first of all, there is a degree of common sense: 1) the President could take it upon himself to invoke the use of the fourteenth amendment, which indicates that the US must make good on all of its debts and 2) politicians had already lived through the mistakes … Read more

Emerson: “Washington is arranging the chairs on the Titanic”

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Emerson Electric (EMR), a diversified industrial manufacturing company, posted decent fiscal third-quarter results Tuesday, but management’s comments regarding the ongoing debt problems in Europe and the US suggest the firm is less than satisfied with internal performance, and we agree. There are better plays in the industrial sector than Emerson, in our opinion. Net sales advanced 16% (10% organic) in the period thanks to solid international performance, while net earnings jumped 17% from the year-ago quarter. Emerson’s operating profit margin was essentially flat, falling 30 basis points from the same period a year ago due to acquisition-related costs. The firm noted that the pace and momentum of the industrial-led recovery has slowed, but we view this as a temporary phenomenon and … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending November 6

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending November 6. 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 Abengoa Yield (ABY): now $0.43 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.40. Amerisource Bergen Corp (ABC): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Andersons (ANDE): now $0.155 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. Atmos Energy (ATO): now $0.42 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.39. Calavo Growers (CVGW): now $0.80 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.75. CDK Global (CDK): now $0.135 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of November 8

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 8. 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 $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21. Aker BP (AKRBF): now $0.600 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.174. American Financial (AFG): now $4.00 per share special dividend, was $0.80. Arch Capital (ACGL): now $5.00 per share special dividend. Artesian Resources (ARTNA): now $0.3014 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2955. Atmos Energy (ATO): now $0.87 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.81. … Read more

Stock Market Outlook for 2021

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By Valuentum Analysts February 8, 2021 2020 was one for the history books. We covered our thoughts and reflections on the past year in our “2020 Won’t Soon Be Forgotten” article (link here), and now we are looking towards the future. Global health authorities should be able to bring an end to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic sooner than many had expected as several vaccines have already been improved for emergency use and several others appear increasingly likely to get approved. Global vaccine distribution activities are currently underway, and this should allow the world to slowly return to pre-pandemic activities. Before then, immense stimulus measures launched primarily in developed nations should support global economic activities until the public health crisis … Read more