Firms Raising Their Dividends In The Week Ending April 19

Quite a few firms raised their dividends during the week ending April 19. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week: Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.06. A.O. Smith (AOS): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Cardinal Financial (CFNL): now $0.06 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. CSX (CSX): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. Discover Financial Services (DFS): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. Donegal Group (DGICA): now $0.1275 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.1225. El Paso Pipeline Partners (EPB): now $0.62 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.61. First Republic Bank (FRC): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Kinder Morgan (KMI): now $0.38 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more

Why We Don’t Like Dividends of Banking Firms: 4 Very Good Reasons

Untermyer: Is not commercial credit based primarily upon money or property? Morgan: No, sir. The first thing is character. Untermyer: Before money or property? Morgan: Before money or anything else. Money cannot buy it … a man I do not trust could not get money from me on all the bonds in Christendom. –Mr. JP Morgan’s testimony before the Pujo Committee (questioning from Samuel Untermyer), 1912-1913 Reason #1: A Bank Run Is Always Possible Though the history of banking dates back to as early as 2000 BC in Babylonia, the makings of the present-day banking system in the US really didn’t take hold until the beginning of the 20th century. Some financial historians may argue for a later date, but we … Read more

Stock Market Outlook for 2021

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

The Best Years Are Ahead

By Brian Nelson, CFA — The wind is at our backs. — The Federal Reserve, Treasury, and regulatory bodies of the U.S. may have no choice but to keep U.S. markets moving higher. The likelihood of the S&P 500 reaching 2,000 ever again seems remote, and I would not be surprised to see 5,000 on the S&P 500 before we see 2,500-3,000, if the latter may be in the cards. The S&P 500 is trading at ~4,100 at the time of this writing. — The high end of our fair value range on the S&P 500 remains just shy of 4,000, but I foresee a massive shift in long-term capital out of traditional bonds into equities this decade (and markets … Read more

8 Announcements and Top Research You May Have Missed

8 Announcements. This article was sent to members via email March 27. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, Brian here. Trust you are doing great! Here are eight announcements I want you to be aware of: Everything we do is for our members. We’re very proud of the outperformance of the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, that we’ve never had a dividend cut in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, that our high-yield ideas are holding up very well, and the success rates of the Exclusive capital-appreciation ideas and short-idea considerations are running at approximately 80%. We’re proud to be your research partner. The odds of a Fed rate cut are going up as yield-curve inversion continues to threaten. The risks are more behavioral in … Read more

4 Very Good Reasons Why We Don’t Like Dividends of Banking Stocks

Untermyer: Is not commercial credit based primarily upon money or property?Morgan: No, sir. The first thing is character.Untermyer: Before money or property?Morgan: Before money or anything else. Money cannot buy it … a man I do not trust could not get money from me on all the bonds in Christendom. –Mr. JP Morgan’s testimony before the Pujo Committee (questioning from Samuel Untermyer), 1912-1913   Image: Bank Run in Michigan, USA, February 1933. Source: Public Domain. By Brian Nelson, CFA It’s sometimes easy to lose sight of the fragility of a banking firm’s business model. Let’s examine the reasons why we don’t like banking firms’ dividends. Reason #1: A Bank Run Is Always Possible. Reason #2: Others Have Tried to Invest in Bank Dividends and Have Failed. Reason #3: … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending Apr 28

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending April 28. 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 AmeriGas Partners (APU): now $0.95 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.94. Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. (AMP): now $0.83 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.75. Ames National Corporation (ATLO): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21. Apollo Global Management (APO): now $0.49 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.45. Aspen Insurance Holdings (AHL): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Altra Holdings (AIMC): now $0.17 per … 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

VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT: 2021 Valuentum Exclusive Call: Inflation Is Good

Valuentum’s President Brian Michael Nelson, CFA, explains why investors should not fear inflation, why government agencies such as the Fed and Treasury are prioritizing something other than price discovery, why the 10-year Treasury rate is a must-watch metric, and why Valuentum prefers the moaty constituents in large cap growth due to their net cash rich balance sheets, tremendous free cash flow generating potential, and secular growth tailwinds. Transcript: << Valuentum’s Best Ideas On behalf of the Valuentum team, I’d like to present to you our prepared remarks for the Valuentum Exclusive conference call for 2021. It is both an honor and a privilege to share our team’s work with you, and I personally am very grateful for your continued interest … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending April 17

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 17. 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 Autohome Inc. (ATHM): now $0.77/ADS annual dividend. Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (CCU): now $0.4355 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.1985. First Republic Bank (FRC): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.19. Costco (COST): now $0.70 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.65. Donegal Group (DGICB): now $0.1325 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.1275. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): now $1.01 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.95. Plumas … Read more