LGF

Looking to Trim Apple; Star Wars Mania Continues

by

Let’s get this out of the way. We’re not worried about Apple (AAPL) at all. The company is sitting on a mountain of net cash and is simply a free cash flow machine. We think the iPhone-maker’s products continue to fly off the shelves, and this holiday season for Apple may be the best in its storied history. But sometimes the market is just not fair…and for a company trading at less than 10 times forward earnings, excluding net cash, is borderline an injustice. Still, we plan to take some more profits on the company in the newsletter portfolios if we catch a strong updraft in the markets. We continue to value shares north of $140 each, and as the … Read more

Creed, Apple, and the Fitbit

by

By Brian Nelson, CFA Hanging out in malls on Thanksgiving isn’t really our thing at Valuentum, but what we’re hearing thus far is that “Thanksgiving shopping was a bust.” It even felt as though tourism was down a bit as traditional near-impassable auto traffic was surprisingly absent in at least one key family destination, the gateway to the Smokies in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and maybe keeping travelers from commuting through the city of Chicago was the potential for riots following the release of the dash cam video allegedly showing a police officer shooting a youth 16 times in November of last year. My trip from northern Illinois to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and back was rather uneventful, not that I am complaining about … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending September 18

by

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending September 18. 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 Artesian Resources (ARTNA): now $0.2216 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2183. Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT): now $0.62 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.52. Citizens Financial Services (CZFS): now $0.41 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.405. Elmer Bancorp, Inc. (ELMA): now $0.33 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.32. The First of Long Island (FLIC): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.19. Golden Enterprise (GLDC): now $0.03375 … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

by

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

3 Important Pieces of News on the Monday of This Shortened Holiday Week

by

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Sets November Records Lions Gate’s (LGF) shares are under pressure this morning as the market’s expectations of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second installment of the Hunger Games franchise, were just a bit too high, despite the film grossing approximately $160 million in North America over the weekend, setting a November record. Globally, the sequel catapulted to a $307.7 million opening, exceeding the original film’s $211.8 million debut in March 2012. The second Hunger Games movie grossed approximately $18 million in IMAX (IMAX) theaters worldwide and $12.6 million in 347 IMAX theaters in North America since the November 22 release. IMAX noted that this was the best three-day domestic opening for November in IMAX’s … Read more

Fourth of July Weekend Highlights the New Norm for Disney

by

The recently passed Fourth of July weekend once again brought moviegoers several new films to watch. Disney (click ticker for report: ) and Comcast’s Universal (click ticker for report: ) went head-to-head with The Lone Ranger and Despicable Me 2, respectively. The results are in, and the clear winner was Comcast’s Despicable Me 2, which earned a record $142 million during its first five days. The Lone Ranger wasn’t even close, grossing $48.9 million over its first five days—a number that wouldn’t look so bad, except that the film cost Disney an estimated $375 million to create and market. An Uneven Track Record Although we like Disney’s future prospects–given its robust pipeline of films related to The Avengers and Star … Read more

Regal Posts a Strong Quarter; Shares Look Undervalued

by

Movie theater owner/operator Regal (click ticker for report: ) announced strong fourth quarter results last week. Revenue jumped 18% year-over-year to $723 million, easily exceeding consensus estimates. Earnings were also stronger than consensus expectations, more than doubling compared to the year ago period to $0.28 per share (adjusted for certain items). The firm’s fourth quarter greatly benefitted from a favorable release slate, which tends to be one of the primary drivers of performance. In addition to more high-grossing films, management noted that the breadth of films also helped drive ticket sales during the quarter. Attendance grew 15% year-over-year, but average ticket prices were 2% higher and average concessions per patron jumped 3%. Regal’s price increases and large jumps in attendance … Read more

How to Think About Corporate Tax Reform

by

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

by

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