MCD

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending September 19

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending September 19. 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 Apollo Residential Mortgage (AMTG): now $0.44 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.42. Artesian Resources (ARTNA): now $0.2151 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2119. Atlantic Tele-Network (ATNI): now $0.29 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.27. Blackstone Mortgage (BXMT): now $0.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.48. Covanta (CVA): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.18. Covidien (COV): now $0.36 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. Elmer … Read more

The Dividend Dilemma

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One of the core tenets of the Valuentum process not only rests in the all-important price vs. value consideration (see Valuentum’s Brian Nelson talk about that here), but also in “letting winners run.” At first read, these two items appear to be at odds with each other. For example, we preach about getting stocks at a bargain, but yet, we don’t sell holdings when they start to move beyond our estimate of their fair value. What gives? At the Valuentum core, we prefer an entry point that corresponds to the time when shares have substantial valuation and pricing support (i.e. they have high Valuentum Buying Index ratings), and we prefer an exit point when shares have little valuation and pricing … Read more

Holy Guacamole! McDonald’s Wishing It Had Kept Chipotle

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Very few investors probably remember that Chipotle (CMG) used to be owned in part by McDonald’s (MCD). McDonald’s had originally taken a stake in Chipotle in February 1998, when Chipotle had but 14 restaurants in Denver. The maker of the Big Mac would go on to own 90% of the subsidiary and eventually spin it off in an initial public offering in January 2006. McDonald’s would receive ~$1.5 billion from the sale, but with Chipotle’s market capitalization now at over $20 billion, it’s clear the burger-and-fries behemoth exited way too early. The most recently-reported results by both restaurants tell the diverging story quite well. McDonald’s reported relatively disappointing second-quarter results Tuesday. The performance can best be described as flat. Global … Read more

Yum! Brands, McDonald’s: ‘Big Trouble in Little China’

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Source: Dragon TV 00:27 / 08:28 Source: Dragon TV 00:35 / 08:28 Source: Dragon TV 01:19 / 08:28 The pictures above are allegedly from a Chinese plant of Shanghai Husi Food, owned by OSI Group, which is based in Aurora, Illinois. This link source will take you directly to the actual news footage from local Dragon TV (it is not translated to English, but the video is of high quality). Shanghai Husi Food is a key local meat supplier in China to KFC, owned by Yum! Brands (YUM), and McDonald’s (MCD)—as well as Starbucks (SBUX), but to a lesser extent. All three US-based restaurants have since halted buying meat products from the company. What makes this story worse is that … 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

Restaurant Industry Update

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The fast-food (quick-service) breakfast wars have intensified. It has become a high-stakes game for all participants, and most have gone all-in to capture market share, to use poker parlance. The NPD Group, a leading global information firm, noted that the pace of expansion for fast-food breakfast across the restaurant industry has been a key bright spot, and executives across the industry are taking note: Quick service, which accounts for about 80 percent of total restaurant morning meals, showed the strongest increase in breakfast visits of all restaurant segments with a 4 percent increase in the year ending December 2013 period compared to year ago, reports NPD CREST, which every day tracks how consumers use restaurants and other foodservice outlets. Morning … Read more

Thank you…

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By Brian Nelson, CFA Earlier this week, I received an email from a colleague and valued member of our services. I wanted to share it here for others to read. I haven’t included his name, but if he wants me to, I can add it in. It is filled with wisdom, experience and kindness. And it really made my year to read his words. The Valuentum community, I believe, is the best community of investors out there. Sir, if you do happen to read your own email on our site, we very much have appreciated your feedback, and we hope to continue to live up to your praises. We are dedicated, and our team has been rejuvenated by your words. … Read more

Deciphering Valuentum’s Dividend Lingo

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On January 25, Barron’s published an article called “Get Lucky: IQT’s Lucky 13 Portfolio.” In it, the publisher talked about the reasoning behind why 13 dividend-paying stocks were highlighted in the article. Let’s walk through the reasoning behind these 13 stocks and how the assessment of some of these dividend picks applies the Valuentum Dividend Cushion framework (click here), in part or in whole. Valuentum’s Brian Nelson also gives his quick thoughts on the comments of each company as if he were training a new analyst on how to interpret the article from an analytical standpoint. Abbott Labs (ABT): “a solid anchor position for any portfolio…Free operating cash flow is three times its dividend.” Nelson’s thoughts: Abbott is clearly a … Read more