LMT

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending September 27

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends for the week ending September 27. 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 (or use our ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header). Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Accenture (ACN): now $0.93 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.81. Alico (ALCO): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.06. Bank of South Carolina Corp (BKSC): now $0.13 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. Banner Corp (BANR):  now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. Campbell Soup (CPB): now $0.312 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Hingham Institution for Savings (HIFS): now$0.27 per share … Read more

Flashback 2008: Brian Nelson and Pat Dorsey — the Morningstar Years

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We think it’s important to know the people you’re working with at Valuentum. We’re not some robot behind the scenes that only lives in the Internet. We’re hard-working individuals with families just like you. Let’s take a flashback in time to when Valuentum’s current President of Equity Research Brian Nelson called for Boeing’s shares to hit $110 in 2008, while he was working as a Senior Analyst at Morningstar. Shares are just a few dollars away from that level today. Source: http://www.youtube.com/user/MorningstarInc?feature=watch << Learn more about Brian Nelson, CFA Aerospace & Defense – Prime: BA, FLIR, GD, LLL, LMT, NOC, RTN Aerospace Suppliers: AIR, ATRO, COL, HEI, HXL, PCP, SPR, TDY, TXT

Headline Risk Entering the Market

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The summer months have been relatively uneventful, with the exception of concerns relating to the Federal Reserve’s coming tapering of its bond-buying program and quibbles between hedge fund giants over a company that makes protein shakes—we’re talking about Herbalife (HLF) in the latter example. Even the sequester proved to be a largely underwhelming event so far through 2013. As a result, the market has focused on fundamentals, awarding strong performance and punishing poor performance (almost irrespective of valuation parameters). However, the market remains fully valued at current levels, with the forward price-to-earnings ratio on S&P 500 companies in-line with its 10-year average at 14.1 times, and the distribution of our Valuentum Buying Index ratings tilting decidedly negative. The forward price-to-earnings … Read more

House Defense Appropriators Ignore Sequestration

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To download the 155+ page fiscal 2014 Defense Appropriations bill, please click here. On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee released the subcommittee draft of the fiscal year 2014 Defense Appropriations bill. The bill provides for $512.5 billion in non-war funding, an amount that completely ignores the level that would be caused by automatic sequestration spending cuts (to the tune of over $28 billion). The House’s proposal is also $5.1 billion below fiscal 2013 levels and $3.4 billion below President Obama’s request. In any case (whether the bill in current form is implemented or if sequestration takes hold and further spending cuts are put in place), the trajectory of defense spending for fiscal 2014 relative to fiscal 2013 is down. The … Read more

Revenue Upside at Defense Contractors May Now Be Capped

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On Thursday, defense contractors Lockheed Martin (click ticker for report: ) and Raytheon (click ticker for report: ) reported mixed fourth-quarter results. Though both ended the year with strong backlogs, we think cautious commentary regarding sequestration risk may put a cap on future revenue upside (relative to expectations). Lockheed Martin’s bottom-line missed the mark during the fourth quarter, but revenue came in slightly better than expected. The defense contractor issued 2013 guidance of $44.5-$46 billion in sales and $8.80-$9.10 in earnings per share, both ranges higher than consensus estimates. The firm ended 2012 with a record backlog of $82.3 billion (implying a book-to-bill ratio of 1.03 for the year), representing roughly 1.75 times expected 2013 revenue (Image Source: LMT 4Q Earnings … Read more

A Dual Focus on Valuation and Yield Is the Best Way to Combat Changes in Future Dividend Tax Rates

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With a potential hike in the dividend tax rate just around the corner, there is no more important time than now for income investors to evaluate their existing portfolio holdings to determine whether they are well-positioned for a higher-tax environment. Assuming there are no changes to the current trajectory, the top dividend tax rate is expected to rise to 39.6% next year (up from 15% currently), and the highest-income earners will see a Medicare surtax on top of that. Evaluate All Aspects of a Dividend Investment First of all, we think those investing in high-yielders (firms) at any price (HYAAP) may be most affected by this change in tax rates. These high-yielders at any price (HYAAP) tend to be favorites of those at or near retirement, particularly given the paltry payouts on fixed … Read more

Boeing Reports Solid Third Quarter; Commercial Aerospace Backlog Remains Strong

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On Wednesday, aerospace giant Boeing (click ticker for report: ) reported excellent third-quarter results that showed solid backlog trends and improving cash flow. We continue to think aerospace is one the strongest sectors in the global economy, boasting significant visibility as a result of the tremendous backlogs of the airframe makers. We do not expect to make a change to our fair value estimate of Boeing at this time. Boeing’s revenue advanced 13% during the period thanks to commercial airplane sales, which jumped 28% on higher delivery volume. Operating earnings rose roughly 6% in its commercial business, while defense earnings were roughly flat from the year-ago period. Excluding pension expense, earnings per share advanced 5% during the quarter. We continue … Read more

Overweighting Outperformers

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Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio (trading session October 21, interim) — Image: The performance of ideas in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio during the trading session October 21. Many of the higher-weighted ideas in the newsletter portfolio (weightings shown here) are propelling the portfolio to relative outperformance. The Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio comprises a portfolio constructed of Valuentum’s best ideas. These are companies that have scored favorably on the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI) and have been included in the newsletter portfolio with consideration of sector diversification and market/economic risk. The Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio is found in the Best Ideas Newsletter, which is released on the 15th of each month. Its archives can be accessed here. Source: Seeking Alpha. — Hi everyone, — As … 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