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GE Pulls Back From 8-Year High, Russia Still Pumping

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By Brian Nelson, CFA The last week of each calendar quarter is often a busy one for the Valuentum team. Not only did we release the Dividend Growth Newsletter on the first of the month (download ), but we also released the financial advisor publications as well (see here). If you haven’t received them, please be sure to let our team know, and we’ll forward those along to you. These documents just scratch the surface of our research and analysis offering. Please don’t forget to RSVP for an upcoming orientation webinar here. We also wanted to make you aware of the update cycle for our ETF analysis. We’ve now released the 2016 versions for the Consumer Staples (), Consumer Discretionary … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending March 25

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Image shown: Raytheon’s 800XP Hawker; source: Eric Salard. Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending March 25. 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 8point3 Energy Partners (CAFD): now $0.2246 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.217. ALPS Alerian Energy Infrastructure ETF (ENFR): now $0.254616 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.0625. ALPS Cohen & Steers Global Realty Majors ETF (GRI): now $0.369625 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21087. ALPS Emerging Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (EDOG): now $0.11799 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.117604. … Read more

More Market Weakness: We Haven’t Hit Bottom Yet

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Global equity markets are falling yet again February 11, in part due to cautious comments from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen about the health of the global economy and the legality/efficaciousness of negative interest rates, “Dividend Growth ‘Bubble’ To Continue But For How Long? (Feb 2016).” Market onlookers continue to fear that the Fed has nothing left to give, “out of ammunition,” with the tank of accommodative policy empty, and it might just be. To us, however, the news flow is more of the same. The world continues to be awash in crude oil (USO), and many are now starting to think that what was once mostly an oversupply problem is now being compounded by a demand problem as … Read more

Cisco Hikes Payout 24%! Realty Income’s Dividend Coverage Solid

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By Kris Rosemann Two resilient dividend payers that reside in the newsletter portfolios, Cisco (CSCO) and Realty Income (O), reported quarterly results February 10. We were mighty pleased. Networking giant Cisco, a ~1.5% weighting in both the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, is a free-cash-flow generating machine. Concurrent with its fiscal second-quarter release, the company announced a remarkable 24% increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.26 per share (good now for a 4.5% forward yield), a pace of growth roughly on par with its impressive ~27% increase in its free cash flow through the first six months of fiscal year 2016. Cisco also added $15 billion to its buyback program, and management remains committed to returning … Read more

Alerts: A Long-Time Favorite from the Bullpen and An Interest Rate Risk Hedge

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We’ve long appreciated the stand-out dividend strength characteristics of Cracker Barrel (CBRL) among the full-service restaurant space, and we see an opportunity to add the company to the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio today (see page 5). We’ve outlined our case for Cracker Barrel in the past, “Free Cash Flow Feeds Cracker Barrel’s Dividend Growth,” and while we haven’t quite gotten our price just yet, we’re going to inch forward a bit with a small 1.5% position in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio at this time. The company yields a very nice ~3.4%, and its Dividend Cushion is solid for that high of a payout. One of the areas we’re expecting Cracker Barrel to surprise to the upside is the positive … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending January 15

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending January 15. 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 Alliant Energy (LNT): now $0.5875 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.55. Antero Midstream (AM): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.205. Apogee (APOG): now $0.125 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.11. Blackrock, Inc. (BLK): now $2.29 per share quarterly dividend, was $2.18. Cinver Resources (CINR): now $0.5575 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.551. Delphi Automotive (DLPH): now $0.29 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. EPR … Read more

Dividend Growth Newsletter REITs

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Realty Income’s (O) Dividend Track Record Pictured: Income investors in Realty Income have been handsomely rewarded through the years. Source: Realty Income HCP’s (HCP) Dividend Track Record Pictured: HCP has rewarded income investors in each of the past 30 years with consecutive annual dividend increases. Source: HCP Let’s Talk Interest Rates There’s a lot to think about these days with respect to REITs and rising interest rates. In the equity valuation context, for one, a rising nominal interest rate, by itself, is negative. Increased borrowing costs translate into a higher discount rate applied to a REIT’s future  projected net operating income (or a higher cap rate used in the valuation process), and by extension, results in a lower intrinsic value … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending September 11

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending September 12. 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 American Tower (AMT): now $0.46 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.42. Armanino Foods (AMNF): now $0.019 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.018. Atlantic Tele-Network (ATNI): now $0.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Brady (BRC): now $0.2025 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Brookfield Canada Office Properties (BOXC): now C$0.1033 per share monthly dividend, was C$0.0797. Fort Dearborn Income Securities (FDI): now $0.1625 per share quarterly … Read more

Interest Rates: REITs vs. Financials

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Since the peak of the Financial Crisis, the yield on the 10-year Treasury, a proxy for the risk-free rate within the valuation context, has been in a steady decline (see image above), but a strong bounce in rates since February continues to have the market on edge. Often moving in relation to Treasury yields are REITs and financial firms, though in opposite directions. Generally speaking, as interest rates rise, REITs experience selling pressure as investors opt for higher-yielding risk-free assets, while the opportunity to generate higher spread income is augmented with higher rates, sparking potential buying across the banking universe. The Fed continues to mull its options with how to build a “stimulus” cushion in advance of the next impending … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending June 19

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending June 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 Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (FMAO): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21. FBR (FBRC): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, first dividend paid. First Bancorp (FNLC): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.21. Great Southern Bancorp (GSBC): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Investar (ISTR): now $0.0078 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.0074. Medtronic (MDT): now $0.38 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more