In the News: GE, O, EGO, CELG

There is a lot happening in the markets. Let’s have a look at some of the top news. By Kris Rosemann On January 16, General Electric (GE) announced a $6.2 billion write down related to its legacy reinsurance business, and market observers have taken to speculating about the fate of the industrial giant. Activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management, which has watched the market value of its 2015 investment in GE dwindle, is reportedly pushing the conglomerate to explore strategic alternatives. Peltz and Trian have been in the middle of a number of battles for strategic power at the top of a number of US-based behemoths including the recently formed DowDuPont (DWDP) and Procter & Gamble (PG), and Trian … Read more

Video: Quants! You’re NOT Measuring VALUE and Nelson’s Theory of Universal Value

President of Investment Research Brian Nelson defines the concept of universal value and shows how quantitative statistical methods are inextricably linked to those of fundamental, financial, business-model related analysis. Value does not exist in respective process vacuums! Value is universal. Find out why. Running time: ~10 minutes.  Tickerized for Valuentum’s stock and ETF coverage universe. Transcript Hi this is Brian Nelson from Valuentum Securities, and this is the tenth edition of a series that I call “Off the Cuff,” where I get in front of the camera and I talk for ten minutes. This is what we have to talk about today. We have to talk about this concept: The Theory of Universal Value. Value does not exist in vacuums … Read more

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

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

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending October 7

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending October 7. 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 American Financial (AFG): now $0.3125 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.28. Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK): now $0.165 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.16. Enterprise Products (EPD): now $0.405 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.40. FNB Bancorp (FNBG): now $0.16 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15. Genesis Energy (GEL): now $0.70 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.69. Ingersoll-Rand (IR): now $0.40 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more

Industrials Empty Tool Box Amid Tough Operating Environment

By Kris Rosemann How far we have come from the financial abyss! The US economy is now more than seven years removed from the credit crisis that sent shockwaves through the global financial system in the latter years of the past decade. In the fourth quarter of 2008, for example, real GDP in the US tumbled more than 8%, a figure not witnessed since the double-dip recession of the 1980s, and perhaps not surpassed since the time of the Great Depression. During the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009, many industrial entities, particularly those with finance subsidiaries faced dwindling credit health, and several including General Electric (GE) and Harley-Davidson (HOG) cut their dividends to shareholders. Others such as General Motors (GM) even … Read more

Stay In Tune with Our *NEW* Dividend Analysis

You may have noticed that, as we’ve been updating our dividend reports, we have been adding an additional page to the report (page 2) that focuses on pointed dividend analysis from the perspective of the income investor. There are several new sections on page 2 of the dividend report, but in this article we wanted to highlight the ‘Assessment of Company Dividend Strategy’ section. What we set out to accomplish in the two incremental paragraphs of this particular section is somewhat unique, and we wanted to offer a couple themes that will help explain the following unique perspective: what is good for the company over the long haul isn’t always good for the income investor in the near term.  Let’s … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending February 6

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending February 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 Armada Hoffler Properties (AHH): now $0.17 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.16. Artisan Partners (APAM): now $0.60 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.55. Assured Guaranty (AGO): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.11. Avista (AVA): now $0.33 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.3175. BCE (BCE): now C$0.65 per share quarterly dividend, wasC$0.62. Bemis (BMS): now $0.28 per share annual dividend, was $0.27. Brookfield Renewable Energy … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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

Third-Quarter Industrial Earnings Support Exposure in Best Ideas Portfolio

For starters, if you haven’t yet read through our piece on General Electric’s (GE) third-quarter earnings, it’s a must-read. The step-up in backlog and order trends at the industrial behemoth are quite remarkable, and we think GE’s performance bodes well for the sector as a whole. Still, let’s drill down on a few themes across the industrial space and how our Best Ideas portfolio is well-positioned to capture the strength of underlying trends. Danaher (DHR) Danaher reported third-quarter results Thursday that showed revenue expansion of 5.5% and diluted net earnings per share growth of 9%. The company generated 30 basis points of operating-margin improvement and generated more than $800 million in free cash flow, or about 17.8% of revenue (a very … Read more

Nelson Peltz Shakes Up Ingersoll Rand

Industrial conglomerate Ingersoll Rand (click ticker for report: ) announced plans to spin off the firm’s security division, buy back $2 billion worth of stock, and raise its dividend 31%, to $0.21 per share. The announcement is a reaction to the activist stake taken by Trian Fund Management, the fund co-founded by Nelson Peltz. Trian owns about 7% of the company. The security division will be a combined unit of the Securities Technology segment and the firm’s residential security business, which is currently housed in the Residential Solutions segment. Annual revenues are expected to be about $2 billion, and the new company will have strong margins and free cash flow, according to management. This creates another security pure play, as … Read more