Aerospace and Automotive Demand Powering Most Industrials

Air travel growth and pent-up demand from delayed auto sales due to the Great Recession have provided a boom in spending within the commercial aerospace and automotive industries in recent years, respectively. The ever-increasing global population continues to be a driving force behind the expansion and adaptation of power end markets, and innovative solutions to meet growing global energy demand will continue to be a source of growth for industrials despite fluctuations in the energy-price markets. Such drivers in part have propelled the underlying performance of industrial giants GE (GE) and Honeywell (HON), among others. Winners and Losers Are Developing in Commercial Aerospace We expect commercial aircraft production and deliveries to continue to increase for at least the next three … Read more

The Market Top?

For those that are following along closely, you shouldn’t be surprised if the market corrects 5%-10% in the coming months. Let’s talk about this. From a technical standpoint, it may not be too far of stretch to say that we’re likely going to test the bottom of the S&P 500 (SPY) uptrend, and that could feasibly mean a drop to the 200-day moving average (blue line above). My technical alerts are telling me that with respect to the S&P 500, we’ve just dipped below the 50-day moving average, an arbitrary simple rolling average but one that is no less self-fulfilling than value investing itself. Don’t panic though. We’ve cut through the 50-day moving average many a time before during this … Read more

GE Sees Top In Real Estate?

Image Source: Jeff Turner Perhaps to no surprise to those following the General Electric (GE) story closely, the industrial conglomerate is looking to shed operations tied to the financial markets and work to reignite its moaty and cash-rich industrial businesses. We’ve long been fans of this strategic endeavor, and we’re not changing our tune now. On April 9, the Wall Street Journal reported that GE is “close to selling off most of its $30 billion in real-estate holdings,” and we view this as not only a natural extension of the company’s 75/25 industrial/financial goal, but also a de-risking maneuver in light of the possibility for meaningfully higher interest rates in coming years. We’ve previously made the case that rising net … Read more

GE Continues Move to Industrial Focus

General Electric (GE) continues to make moves to reduce its dependence on GE Capital, the company’s financial segment. The firm signed an agreement March 15 with global investment firms Värde Partners and KKR, along with Deutsche Bank (DB) to sell GE Capital’s Australia and New Zealand Consumer Lending Business at a value of A$8.2 billion. The division of GE provides personal loans, credit cards, and retail finance services and has a solid customer base in both personal and retail finance in Australia and New Zealand. Though we have no issues with GE Capital’s financial position (the company’s Tier I capital ratio stood at a healthy 12.7% at the end of 2014), management will continue to scale back the division to … Read more

Yes, We Had Removed PCP Before the Fall

Call it luck. Call it experience. Call it what you will, but we removed Precision Castparts (PCP) from the Best Ideas portfolio in late September at nearly $240 per share, roughly 20% higher than current levels. Now one of our favorite watch list ideas, the metal bender said in a regulatory filing released January 16 that its third-quarter fiscal 2015 results would come in a bit light due primarily to lower demand from the oil and gas end markets. The executive suite also pointed to de-stocking from a single commercial aerospace customer, year-end customer inventory management actions, and an extended equipment upgrade as reasons for why revenue would come in the range of $2.42-$2.47 billion and earnings per share from … Read more

General Electric Is Still in Good Shape

General Electric (GE) continues to represent a rare opportunity for dividend growth investors. Most (not all) dividend growth investors seem to dedicate their analysis to what has happened to the dividend in the past, instead of thinking about what will happen to the dividend in the future – not next quarter or next year, but over the next 5, 10, 20 years. Holdings in the Dividend Growth portfolio aren’t chosen because they are heroes of yesteryear, but instead, they are chosen because we think they will be the best dividend growth performers in the future. In this light, we think GE continues to be shunned by new dividend growth investors that are looking to its dividend cut in 2009 as … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending December 12

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending December 12. 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 Abbott (ABT): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Avago Technologies (AVGO): now $0.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. Banco Latinoamericano De Comercio (BLX): now $0.385 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.35. BioMed Realty (BMR): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY): now $0.37 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.36. Buckle (BKE): now $0.23 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Capella … Read more

Performance of the Valuentum Buying Index

Note: A more recent analysis of the Valuentum Buying Index rating system can be accessed at the following link: /Value_and_Momentum_Within_Stocks_Too Two separate studies have reinforced the efficacy of the Valuentum Buying Index, both as a portfolio optimization tool and as an idea generator. If you cannot view the video, please consult the transcript that follows. To view Valuentum’s updated YouTube page, please see here.  The studies referred to in this video can be accessed as follows: Why Valuentum Buying Index Ratings Matter: /20141003_1 Valuentum’s Performance on Seeking Alpha: /20141009 Please be sure to read the studies closely in addition to watching the video or consulting the transcript below. Brian Nelson, CFA: This is Brian Nelson from Valuentum Securities. I’d like to talk … Read more