NKE

Nike: An Attractive Candidate in a Declining Market

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Nike looks like an attractive investment candidate in a falling market Nike is one of the most recognizable brands on earth. With sales of over $20 billion in fiscal year 2011, it’s easily the largest athletic retailer on the planet. After growing revenues 9% in a tough retail environment, and on an enormous base of $19 billion, we think Nike is a best-in-class company, and we are initiating coverage with a fair value of $95. This implies a multiple of about 18x 2012 earnings, and earnings per share growth of over 18%. Fourth quarter profit reveals operational strength It’s not often we get excited when a company has its gross margin fall over 300 basis points in a single quarter, … Read more

Big 5 Sporting Goods Looks Extremely Undervalued, But Proceed With Caution

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This article appeared on Seeking Alpha. Please view disclosures: https://seekingalpha.com/article/277117-big-5-sporting-goods-looks-extremely-undervalued-but-proceed-with-caution If you read nothing else, consider these 3 points: Big 5 is disproportionately affected by unemployment in its key home states The company continues to grow slowly and conservatively Big 5 finds homes in niche markets that Dick’s (DKS) and The Sports Authority aren’t interested in What Big 5 does Big 5 is a small sporting goods retailer with 396 stores in 12 western states. The vast majority of its shops are concentrated in California and Nevada. They sell shoes, apparel, athletic gear, and accessories. For shoppers in bigger cities, one might find The Sports Authority or Dick’s Sporting Goods, as Big 5’s stores operate on a much smaller scale. The … Read more

Stumbles in Europe, Footwear, and Rising Input Costs Could Keep Shares of Under Armour at Bay

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This article appeared on Seeking Alpha. Please view disclosures: https://seekingalpha.com/article/277905-under-armour-solid-company-but-shares-are-significantly-overvalued  We wanted to provide subscribers with our thoughts on Under Armour (UA). Although we expect the company to follow Nike’s excellent results and post solid performance in its second quarter, the shares look significantly overvalued to us in the $75-$80 range. The risk-reward balance is not in investors’ favor at these levels. Apparel Remains Strong… If we can gather anything pertinent about Under Armour from Nike’s (NKE) earnings released Monday, we can see that athletic apparel, specifically in North America, is on fire. Year-to-date, Nike’s North American apparel sales are up 21%, including a second-quarter surge of 28%. This is consistent with the apparel growth we’ve seen at Adidas (ADDYY.PK) and Lululemon (LULU). Under Armour, with a smaller base than Nike, … Read more

Valuentum’s Comprehensive Report on Retail Brands

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Key Takeaways ·        Valuentum sees four major brand segments o   Ultra-Luxury §  Richemont, Burberry, LVMH, Gucci (Kering), Chanel, Hermes §  Rich heritage brands, economically resilient consumer o   Luxury §  Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany §  Valuable brands, semi-strong barriers to entry o   Aspirational §  Michael Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Coach, North Face §  Popular with younger consumers, strong brand loyalty o   Established §  Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, lululemon, PVH, Express §  Price competitive, exposed to fashion ·        Our favorite dividend idea: Coach ·        Fallen Stars: Guess, Bebe ·        Valuentum’s Take: Brand value is only part of the investment equation Branding has been a powerful force in both marketing and investing for the past century. Companies work hard … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending November 17

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending November 17. 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 Agilent (A): now $0.149 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.132. American Equity (AEL): now $0.26 per share annual dividend, was $0.24. AmerisourceBergen (ABC): now $0.38 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.365. Aramark (ARMK): now $0.105 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.103. Bancroft Fund (BCV): now $0.41 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Black Hills (BKH): now $0.475 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.445. Brown-Forman (BF.B): now … 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

2,350-2,750 on the S&P? Could the Coronavirus Catalyze a Financial Crisis?

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Image: We think a rather modest sell-off in the market to the target range of 2,350-2,750 on the S&P 500 is rather reasonable in the wake of one of the biggest economic shocks since the Global Financial Crisis. The chart above shows how far markets have advanced since 2011, and an adjustment lower to the target range of 2,350-2,750 is rather modest in such a context and would only bring markets to late 2018 levels (note red box as the target range). The range reflects ~16x S&P 500 12-month forward earnings estimates, as of February 14, adjusted down 10% due to COVID-19. When companies like Visa talk about a couple percentage points taken off of growth rates, one knows that … Read more

Update: Frequently Asked Questions About Valuentum Securities, Inc.

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What is Valuentum Securities? Valuentum (val∙u∙n∙tum) [val-yoo-en-tuh-m] Securities Inc. is an independent investment research publisher, offering premium equity reports and dividend reports, as well as commentary across all sectors/companies, a Best Ideas Newsletter (spanning market caps, asset classes), a Dividend Growth Newsletter, modeling tools/products, and more. Independence and integrity remain our core, and we strive to be a champion of the investor. Valuentum is based in the Chicagoland area. Valuentum is not a money manager, broker, or financial advisor. Valuentum is a publisher of financial information. How do I subscribe to Valuentum’s investment research services? 1)    Click the following link: signup-page. 2)    Select your membership plan. 3)    Enter your contact details. 4)    Click ‘Sign Up.’ 5)    Complete your purchase. 6)   Your payment profile may be recurring, so please check … Read more

How to Think About Corporate Tax Reform

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8 Announcements and Top Research You May Have Missed

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8 Announcements. This article was sent to members via email March 27. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, Brian here. Trust you are doing great! Here are eight announcements I want you to be aware of: Everything we do is for our members. We’re very proud of the outperformance of the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, that we’ve never had a dividend cut in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, that our high-yield ideas are holding up very well, and the success rates of the Exclusive capital-appreciation ideas and short-idea considerations are running at approximately 80%. We’re proud to be your research partner. The odds of a Fed rate cut are going up as yield-curve inversion continues to threaten. The risks are more behavioral in … Read more