GIS

Earnings Roundup: Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark

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We love the business models of consumer staples, but recent fundamental performance hasn’t been great, and valuations are a bit stretched. Unilever is blaming natural disasters in the US for its underlying sales growth shortfalls, Procter & Gamble has to deliver now that it defeated Nelson Peltz, and Kimberly-Clark’s meager top-line expansion may not support its valuation. A good business does not always make a good stock. By Brian Nelson, CFA Consumer staples stocks (VDC, FSTA, XLP) are fundamentally-sound entities that sell everyday items that consumers need regardless of the ups and downs of the economic cycle. That makes their business models quite resilient through thick and thin, but it also means that many are household companies that everybody knows … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending June 30

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending June 30. 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 8point3 Energy Partners (CAFD): now $0.2642 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2565. China Southern Airlines (ZNH): now $0.638 per share annual dividend, was $0.53. Commerce Union Bancshares (CUBN): now $0.06 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.055. Darden Restaurants (DRI): now $0.63 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.56. First Bancorp (FNLC): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. General Mills (GIS): now $0.49 per share quarterly … Read more

Amazon To Buy Whole Foods: Not Creative Destruction, Just Destruction

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Image Source: Mike Mozart Amazon announced plans to buy Whole Foods. We’re viewing the news as affirmation of our decision to stay largely away from retail exposure in the newsletter portfolios. We think a bidding war for Whole Foods is possible, mostly to keep it and its real estate out of the hands of Amazon, potentially setting up for a true “winner’s curse” scenario. The winner will overpay. By Brian Nelson, CFA We’re not pleased, but then again, it’s okay. Amazon (AMZN) announced June 16 that it will buy high-end grocer Whole Foods (WFM) for $42 per share in cash. Though we mentioned that Amazon was expanding into the grocery store market anecdotally, we must say that it still is … Read more

Valuentum’s 3 Breakthroughs in the Field of Finance and More

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Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson pauses for a picture before speaking at the CFA Society of Houston in March 2017. By Valuentum Editorial Staff Let’s cover Valuentum’s 3 major breakthroughs in the field of finance. The first one is big and may challenge you to rethink everything you think you know about investing. 1. On a logical framework, Valuentum has debunked John C. Bogle’s landmark syllogism that has paved the way for the concept of index investing. Index investing has been built on a logical shortcoming, whether supported by evidence or not. We think it is important that the investment community know of this. Read (pdf): The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds (2018), Brian Nelson, CFA See video documentation: /FALLACY_of_Index_Funds To … Read more

General Mills a Reminder of the Dividend Growth Bubble

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By Kris Rosemann We have not been shy about our concerns with the current overheated state of the market, “A Kleenex? Consumer Staples Trading At Nosebleed Levels (August 2016)”: At arguably no time in the history of the stock market have investors been willing to pay so much for each unit of earnings to capture a dividend yield of just a few percentage points. Negative interest rates across much of the world have created this scenario. In many ways, the strongest business models have become some of the most risky stocks, to no fault of their own. What do the bulls say though — as long as everybody keeps buying these steady-eddy companies to capture yield, share prices will continue … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending July 1

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending July 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 Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK): now $0.16 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.155. Darden Restaurants (DRI): now $0.56 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. Empire Resources (ERS): now $0.04 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.025. General Mills (GIS): now $0.48 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.46. Global Water Resources (GWRS): now $0.022 per share monthly dividend, was $0.02. Worthington (WOR): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending March 13

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending March 13. 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 Children’s Place Retail Stores (PLCE): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.1325. Discover Financial Services (DFS): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS): now $0.375 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.325. Equity Residential (EQR): now $0.5525 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. General Mills (GIS): now $0.44 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.41. Goldman Sachs (GS): now $0.65 per share … Read more

4 Friday Earnings Reports for Your Radar

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Let’s dig into a number of reports from firms in the news Friday.   Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF)   Investors in teen retail stocks are literally trying to catch lightning with respect to fashion trends. Predicting fashion in any demographic isn’t easy, but we’d point to anticipating teen behavior as the most difficult analytical proposition within any retail segment. It shouldn’t be surprising that fundamentals within the teen retail space are volatile, and Abercrombie & Fitch’s third-quarter update matched such a profile. During the period, net sales in its third quarter fell 12% and comparable store sales dropped 10%.   From the release: Sales during the quarter were below expectations with comparable sales in September and October being significantly weaker … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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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

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending March 14

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending March 14. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Capstead (CMO): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.31. Colgate-Palmolive (CL): now $0.36 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.34. Douglas Dynamics (PLOW): now $0.2175 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2125. Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT (EARN): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS): now $0.325 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. General Mills (GIS): now $0.41 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.38. Gramercy (GPT): reinstates common stock dividend of $0.035 per share quarterly dividend. Hurco Companies (HURC): now $0.07 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. JMP Group (JMP): now $0.045 per share … Read more