LUV

Three Huge Red Flags for the Airlines, Hotels

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The airline industry is a good barometer of global economic activity as it not only gauges leisure travel but also business activity. We picked up three important red flags recently that may weigh on shares of the airline group (and by extension the hotel space). For those that don’t know us, we’re not at all fans of the investment prospects of the airline industry, but nonetheless, we pay very close attention to airlines for unique economic insights. Read about our recent call on cyclicals here, in case you missed it. 1. Ebola. According to CNN, the first case of Ebola has been diagnosed in the US. Just like the SARS and West Nile virus before it, the news will likely … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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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

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending May 16

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending May 16. 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 ACE Limited (ACE): now $0.65 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.63. Albany International (AIN): now $0.16 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15. American Express (AXP): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. Anadarko Petroleum (APC): now $0.27 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.18. Arctic Cat (ACAT): now $0.125 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Clorox (CLX): now $0.74 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.71. Gentex … Read more

The Dichotomy of Airlines and Aerospace

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On Monday, top insurance idea AIG (AIG) announced that it would sell International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) to aircraft leasing firm AerCap Holdings (AER) for $5.4 billion, consisting of $3 billion in cash and the balance in newly-issued AerCap common shares. Though we think ILFC was one of the crown jewels of AIG’s business particularly considering the prospects for global air travel demand in coming years, the price is fair and opportunistic, especially since AerCap is risking its investment-grade status to facilitate the deal. We don’t think better terms could have been had by either party, given financial constraints, and shares of both entities are moving higher on the news. The combined AerCap-ILFC will be #2 on the world stage … Read more

Why Airline Stocks Are Not Long-Term Investments

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The worst sort of business is one that grows rapidly, requires significant capital to engender the growth, and then earns little or no money. Think airlines. Here a durable competitive advantage has proven elusive ever since the days of the Wright Brothers. Indeed, if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down. — Warren Buffett, annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, 2008. The airline industry has undergone meaningful changes since the beginning of the last decade. The painful restructuring of labor agreements and balance sheets by most of the legacy carriers via Chapter 11, the significant mega-mergers of Delta (DAL)/Northwest, UAL (UAL)/Continental, US Airways (LCC)/America West, … Read more

Delta Buys 49% of Virgin Atlantic Airways

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As we touched on last week, Delta Airlines (click ticker for report: ) acquired a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways from Singapore Airlines for approximately $360 million. The deal seems to make sense for both parties, as it gives Virgin better access on US routes and Delta access to London’s Heathrow airport. The valuation, a haircut from what Singapore paid, doesn’t seem unreasonable, in our view. Given Delta’s semi-decent balance sheet, we doubt the deal will materially impact financial standing. One would think the market really likes the deal, given that shares of Delta are up more than 6%. However, we believe the airline market is rallying on reports that the rumored merger between AMR Corp (American Airlines) and US … Read more

Search Dividend Reports by Company Name: Q to Z

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Going forward, please use the ‘Symbol’ search box to download stock and dividend reports of companies you are interested in. The ‘Symbol’ search box can be found in our website header. Image shown from above. Use the active search box in the website header above. Learn more about your membership >>  Note: We have now discontinued this list. Please use the ‘Symbol’ search box in the website header for stock and dividend reports. Please read about our Valuentum Dividend Cushion score (ratio) here. Just having access to this valuable metric alone could save your income portfolio thousands of dollars! The past meets the future as we showcase the Valuentum Dividend Cushion scores of Dividend Aristocrats in this article (click here). The dividend reports below … Read more

Rundown of Third-Quarter Airline Earnings: Southwest, American Airlines, Alaska Air

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As followers of Valuentum know, we’re not too fond of airline stocks. We view them as merely speculative bets on changes in the macro-economy and jet-fuel prices—two factors largely out of airline executives’ control. Though we’ve made some money in our Best Ideas Newsletter entering into put contracts in American (AMR) and the Guggenheim Airline ETF (FAA) a number of weeks ago, we cover the group—to a large extent—to serve as a reminder to investors that airline stocks are merely speculative instruments and not long-term investments. Below, we summarize the third-quarter performance of Southwest (LUV), American (AMR), and Alaska (ALK) below:   Southwest Southwest posted a net loss in its third quarter Thursday, which compares to net income of over … Read more

AMR Likely to Split Massive Order Between Boeing, Airbus

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This article appeared on Seeking Alpha. Please view disclosures: https://seekingalpha.com/article/280307-amr-likely-to-split-massive-order-between-boeing-airbus As we outlined a few weeks ago in “AMR’s Big Order to Pressure Cash Flow, Boeing in Precarious Position,” we indicated the increasing likelihood that AMR (which holds American Airlines) may split a massive $15 billion-plus order between Boeing (BA) and Airbus to replace its aging fleet of narrowbodies. This would represent a huge shift at the major carrier, as AMR currently flies all-Boeing aircraft. Verbatim from our July 1 report: Boeing is in a rather precarious position. Airbus has claimed all along that it will capture customers currently flying the 737 with its A320neo (new engine option), an upgrade to its A320 that has the option to sport more fuel-efficient engines. The … Read more