HES

Valuentum Exclusive Success Rates Trump Even the Best Quant Hedge Funds

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Image: President of Investment Research Brian Nelson, CFA By Brian Nelson, CFA A new book, “The Man Who Solved the Market,” hit bookshelves last year, and thus far it has been a hit. The text goes into the story of quant hedge fund Renaissance Technologies and its hedge fund, the Medallion Fund, which has put up mammoth returns since inception. Though the book focuses more on the life and times of founder Jim Simons and dedicated only a page or two to the fall of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), another quant fund that went belly-up during the late 1990s, it was nonetheless a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable read. But why I am bringing up one of the most successful quant … Read more

Devon Energy Completes High-Grading Process, Free Cash Flows Remain Elusive

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Image Shown: An overview of Devon Energy Corporation’s remaining asset base, which consists of upstream oil and gas operations spread across four major unconventional plays in the US. Image Source: Devon Energy Corporation – December 2019 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Times are tough in the oil & gas patch, especially for upstream producers of raw energy resources like Devon Energy Corporation (DVN). Not only are global oil prices low, which drags down natural gas liquids pricing for products like propane and butane, but North American natural gas supplies are trading at rock-bottom prices as well. Devon Energy has attempted to cope by divesting less economical assets and shifting all of its focus towards its best well locations, a process … Read more

Apache Comes Up Empty in Suriname, Shares Plummet

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Image Source: Apache Corporation – November 2019 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On December 2, Apache Corporation (APA) announced that its first exploration well off the coast of Suriname (a small nation in northern South America) was a dud. The Maka Central-1 well was drilled to a total depth of 6,200 meters (~20,300 feet) in Block 58 and drilling activities commenced in late-September. While the well was testing two Upper Cretaceous plays, neither play appeared to have commercial level of hydrocarbons (more information will be provided by management on this issue in the near future) so Apache opted to drill down to a total depth of 6,900 meters (~22,600 feet) to test a third Cretaceous play. This news sent shares … Read more

High Yield Dividend Newsletter Portfolio Holding BP Sees Cash Flow Profile Improvements Ahead

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Image Source: BP plc – Third quarter 2019 earnings infographic If you may wish to add the High Yield Dividend Newsletter to your membership, please click here. By Callum Turcan On October 29, BP plc (BP) reported third-quarter 2019 earnings, and shares of BP have since climbed higher due in part to the energy giant’s nice cash flow profile and likely due to the improving outlook for a narrow US-China trade deal. We include BP in our High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio as a way to play the raw energy resource market and generate sizable income streams while taking advantage of the protection its large midstream (pipelines, storage facilities, etc.), downstream (refineries and petrochemical plants), and retail (gas stations/convenience stores) operations … Read more

ICYMI: Interview with Valuentum’s President Brian M. Nelson, CFA

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Catch up with Valuentum’s President Brian M. Nelson, CFA in a recent interview with dividend growth investor Arne Magnus Lorentzen Ulland of the blog stockles. By Brian Nelson, CFA Recently, I was interviewed by Arne Magnus Lorentzen Ulland of the blog stockles. Arne is a dividend growth investor like many of you, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the interview he put together. I’m very grateful for his interest. His questions were fantastic. We discuss why and how I incorporate independence and integrity into the service at Valuentum. We go into detail regarding why Valuentum views stocks the way it does, and how Valuentum combines enterprise valuation and the information contained in prices in its stock-selection process. I discuss the pitfalls … Read more

Saudi Arabia Attacked, Oil Prices Shoot Higher

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Image Shown: Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure was attacked over the weekend, causing WTI and Brent to rally at the start of the trading session. By Callum Turcan Disaster struck this weekend when several drones took out the Abqaiq oil processing facility and the massive onshore Khurais oil field in Saudi Arabia (KSA) on Saturday, with WTI and Brent both surging on the news once trading resumed at the start of the week. The Khurais oil field produces around 1.5 million barrels of crude per day and the Abqaiq oil processing facility is the largest in the world. Saudi Arabia’s oil production capacity was reduced by 5.7 million barrels of crude per day due to these attacks and the country is … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending September 6

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending September 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 Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Trust (FINS): now $0.1181 per share monthly dividend, was $0.1171. Brady (BRC): now $0.2175 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2125. DMC Global (BOOM): now $0.125 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.02. Eaton Vance Floating Rate Income Trust (EFT): now $0.0770 per share monthly dividend, was $0.0760. Eaton Vance Senior Floating-Rate Fund (EFR): now $0.0770 per share monthly dividend, was $0.0760. Eaton … Read more

BP Says Goodbye to Alaska After 60 Years

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Image Source: BP plc – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On August 27, BP plc (BP) announced it was selling its entire Alaskan operations to privately held Hilcorp Alaska (an affiliate of Hilcorp Energy Company) for $5.6 billion. BP sold Hilcorp some of its Alaskan assets five years ago and both companies have had a working relationship since then. This truly marks the end of an era as BP was long a staple of Alaska’s oil & gas industry. BP operates the Prudhoe Bay oil field, one of the largest in the world, which was responsible for over half of Alaska’s oil production in 2018. Additionally, BP is a major shareholder in the company that owns the 800-mile long Trans … Read more

Our Reports on Refining Stocks

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Image Source: Rongy Benjamin Structure of the Refining Industry Results of firms in the refining industry are primarily affected by the relationship, or margin, between refined product prices and the prices for crude oil and other feedstocks. The cost to acquire feedstocks and the price at which refiners can sell refined products depends upon several factors beyond their control, including the supply/demand of crude oil and other refined products—which in turn depends on the availability of imports, production, inventories, political affairs and economic considerations. Refining margins are difficult to predict, and we expect them to continue to be volatile in the future. We’ve dropped coverage of the Refining industry: HES, HFC, MPC, PSX, VLO.

Checking Out ARAMCO, Saudi Arabia’s Sleeping Giant

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Image Source: Trending Topics 2019 By Callum Turcan Recent events have piqued our interest in the actions of Saudi Arabian Oil Company, better known as ARAMCO (ARMCO), the giant in charge of the Gulf nation’s hydrocarbon industry. Saudi Arabia is reportedly restarting ARAMCO’s IPO according to comments made by the Saudi Energy Minister, reviving a plan the country had previously put on ice primarily due to expectations that the company wouldn’t fetch a high enough valuation to suit the needs of the Kingdom. Many view ARAMCO as the most valuable company in the world, but whether this is a USD$2 trillion company or not is in the eye of the beholder (many see that target as overly ambitious, as do … Read more