How Some Members Use Valuentum’s Investment Services

By Brian Nelson, CFA Thank you for your membership to Valuentum. We serve a wide variety of investors, including dividend growth investors, value investors, and pure Valuentum investors, among others. Many different types of investors and professionals use our research and financial analysis in a whole host of applications from individual stock-selection to the evaluation of closed-end funds to an overlay in a money-management setting and beyond. We wanted to make sure that you know that, if you’re a dividend growth or income investor, that there are others that use our website to utilize the Valuentum process, fair value estimates and other metrics. Similarly, if you’re a practitioner of the Valuentum system, I wanted to make sure that you are … Read more

CFA Institute Blog: “Hide-‘Til-Maturity” Accounting

The Silicon Valley Bank collapse recalls the tussle over the accounting for financial instruments after the global financial crisis [GFC] in 2009, particularly the debate about whether some financial instruments should be carried at amortized cost (held-to-maturity, HTM) rather than at fair value (available-for-sale, AFS), or what is referred to as the “mixed measurement model.”  — Sandy Peters, CPA, CFA To read the article on the CFA Institute Blog >> —– Related: 4 Very Good Reasons Why We Don’t Like Dividends of Banking Stocks Banks & Money Centers: AXP, BAC, BBT, BK, C, DFS, FITB, GS, HBC, JPM, KEY, MS, NTRS, PNC, RF, STI, TFC, USB, WFC Valuentum does not believe the long-term dividend health of any financial institution can be accurately … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of November 25

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 25. 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                Banco BBVA Argentina (BBAR): now $0.0179 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.0172. COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. (CICOY): now $1.391 per share semi-annual dividend. Dream Residential Real Estate Investment Trust (DRR.U:CA): now $0.035 per share monthly dividend. E Split Corp. (ENS:CA): now CAD 0.13 per share monthly dividend. Eltek (ELTK): now $0.17 per share quarterly dividend. Employers Holdings (EIG): now $1.25 per share special dividend, … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week November 26

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 26. 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 Alpine Income Property Trust (PINE): now $0.27 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.26. Amcor (AMCR): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.1175. American Equity (AEL): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. Brigham Minerals (MNRL): now $0.40 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.35. Central Pacific Financial (CPF): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Chesapeake Energy (CHK): now $0.4375 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more

ICYMI: Valuentum’s Brian Nelson on the Latest Howard Marks’ Memo: “Something of Value”

Valuentum’s President of Investment Research Brian Michael Nelson, CFA, explains why there are not really value and growth stocks, why most of the research in quantitative finance is spurious and needs to be redefined on a forward-looking basis, and why enterprise valuation (not the efficient markets hypothesis) should be the organizing principle of finance. Nelson explains his views about valuation, what it means to be a value investor, and investing in the context of Oaktree Capital Howard Marks’ latest memo, “Something of Value,” January 11, 2021. Please don’t forget to give the second edition of the book “Value Trap” a 5-star rating on Amazon here. Thank you for your membership! —– Tickerized for holdings in the IWM. Valuentum members have … Read more

Value Is Not Static and the Qualitative Overlay Is Vital to Our Process

With prudence and care, the Valuentum Buying Index process and its components are carried out. Our analyst team spends most of its time thinking about the intrinsic value of companies within the context of a discounted cash-flow model and evaluating the risk profile of a company’s revenue model. We have checks and balances, too. First, we use a fair value range in our valuation approach as we embrace the very important concept that value is a range and not a point estimate. A relative value overlay as the second pillar helps to add conviction in the discounted cash-flow process, while a technical and momentum overlay seeks to provide confirmation in all of the valuation work. There’s a lot happening behind the scenes even before a VBI rating is published, but it will always be just one factor to consider. Within any process, of course, we value the human, qualitative overlay, which captures a wealth of experience and common sense. We strive to surface our best ideas for members.

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 16

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 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 CAE (CAE): now CAD 0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.10. Exchange Income (EIFZF): now CAD 0.19 per share monthly dividend, was CAD 0.1825. Farmers National (FMNB): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.09. Group 1 Automotive (GPI): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.26. IF Bancorp (IROQ): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.125. Magic Software (MGIC): now $0.156 per share … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending August 31

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 31. 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 Avnet (AVT): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.19. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS): now CAD 0.85 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.82. Cadence Bancorporation (CADE): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.125. Canadian Western Bank (CBWBF): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Capital Southwest (CSWC): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Cimarex Energy (XEC): now $0.18 per share … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending September 1

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending September 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 Andeavor (ANDV): now $0.59 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.55. Atlantica Yield (ABY): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Bank of America (BAC): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.075. Bank of Hawaii (BOH): now $0.52 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS): now CAD 0.79 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.76. Canadian Western Bank (CBWBF): now $0.24 … Read more

The Mortgage Refinancing Boom Could Be Ending

Early Wednesday morning, the Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA) announced that refinancing activity declined 20% from one week earlier. Adjusted for the Labor Day weekend, total mortgage applications dropped 13.5% from the previous week. Consistent with the dramatic upward movement in interest rates, refinancing activity is down 71% since it peaked during the week of May 3, 2013. Why Do We Monitoring Refinancing Activity? When homeowners refinance, a couple outcomes can occur that pump more dollars into the economy. First, with a refinanced mortgage, owners may choose to take equity out of the home, allowing for large purchases like vehicles or even home remodeling. CoreLogic recently reported that 2.5 million more residential properties have returned to positive equity in the second quarter … Read more