IPCC

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending February 22

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This week was jam-packed with companies raising their quarterly cash dividends. Below we provide a list of firms that upped their dividends for the week ending February 22. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports, please click here. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.175. Analog Devices (ADI): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.30. Chemung Financial (CHMG): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Chesapeake Lodging Trust (CHSP): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Cheviot Financial Corp. (CHEV): now $0.09 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.08 Corrections Corp of America … Read more

Raising Our Fair Value Estimate on Berkshire Hathaway, Our Thoughts on the Insurance Industry

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Image Source: AIG Competitive Structure of the Insurance Industry Constituents in the insurance industry earn revenues primarily from insurance premiums, policy fees from life insurance/investment products, and income from investments. Operating expenses consist of policyholder benefits and claims incurred, interest credited to policyholders, commissions and other costs of servicing products, as well as general business expenses. An insurer’s profitability is dependent on its ability to price and manage risk on insurance and annuity products, to manage its portfolio of investments effectively, and to control costs through expense discipline. The insurance industry is highly competitive, with rivals numbering in the thousands–including stock companies, specialty insurance organizations, life insurers, mutual companies, other underwriting firms, and banks. Though risk-acceptance criteria, product pricing, and … Read more

How to Think About Corporate Tax Reform

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Nelson: The 16 Most Important Steps To Understand The Stock Market

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A previous version of this article appeared on our website July 21, 2013. Refreshed and updated throughout, as of July 2018. By Brian Nelson, CFA After earning my MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and training stock and credit analysts from large organizations over the past decade or so, I have heard just about every question (though I admit I am still surprised by many things and remain a very humble student of the markets). I’ve also spent years perfecting the discounted cash flow process for large research organizations such as Morningstar and studied under one of the most famed aggressive growth investors of all time, Richard Driehaus. My knowledge runs the gamut from value through … Read more

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

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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

There Is Milk At The Store

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This article first appeared in the September edition of the High Yield Dividend Newsletter. For more information about this publication, please see here. “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” — Winston Churchill By Brian Nelson, CFA Very few of us could have imagined that we’d witness the bull market that began on that fateful day in March 2009 that might very well mark a generational low. In 2009, major investment banks around the globe were struggling to survive, and the fallout in the mortgage markets left the banks holding paper that nobody wanted to own, let alone buy. The global financial system … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending February 26

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending February 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 Albmarie (ALB): now $0.305 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Assured Guaranty (AGO): now $0.13 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. B&G Foods (BGS): now $0.42 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.35. Best Buy (BBY): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. Boralex (BRLXF): now C$0.14 per share quarterly dividend, was C$0.13. Cambridge Bancorp (CATC): now $0.46 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.45. Carter’s, Inc. … Read more

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

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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 February 24

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending February 24. 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 Albemarie (ALB): now $0.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.305. AllianceBernstein (AB): now $0.67 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.45. Ares Management (ARES): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Argo Group (AGII): now $0.27 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Assured Guaranty (AGO): now $0.1425 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.13. Autoliv (ALV): now $0.60 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.58. Bank of Hawaii … Read more