ICYMI — Dividend Growth Strategies Struggle

Image: A large cap growth ETF (orange) has significantly outperformed an ETF tied to a dividend growth strategy, the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY), which mirrors the total return performance of the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index. — By Brian Nelson, CFA — To no surprise to many members, several dividend growth strategies have faced tremendous pressure during 2020. The Journal recently wrote a piece on the topic, but from our perspective, the problem with many dividend growth strategies is that they tend to be balance-sheet agnostic and pay little attention to traditional free cash flow expectations, focusing only on the yield itself, sometimes dismissing future fundamentals in favor of historical growth trends and the inferior EPS-based dividend payout ratio. — In many dividend-targeted … Read more

3 Lessons in Portfolio Management Over 10 Years

Dear members: — We’re finally getting a pause in the rapid ascent of the markets on September 3rd. Though headlines may look scary and momentum/volatility investors could start to pile on to the downside, a modest retracement is actually a good thing. We continue to focus on the long haul with our processes, and we’re viewing the sell-off as profit taking, for the most part. — In the near term, the markets will also have to digest some speculators betting on mean reversion between “value” (cyclical) versus “growth” (secular), but we maintain the view that the value-versus-growth conversation is largely nonsense (see block quotes below), and mean reversion is something akin to the gamblers’ fallacy, in my humble opinion. Investors should also continue … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week April 22

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 22. 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      AmeriServ Financial (ASRV): now $0.03 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.025. Banco Santander-Chile (BSAC): now $0.909 per share dividend, was Ch$1.64751729. Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. CapStar Financial (CSTR): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.06. Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (CCU): now $0.3084 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.309 per share semi-annual dividend. Compania de Minas Buenaventura (BVN): … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of April 25

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 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                          1st Source (SRCE): now $0.38 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.36. ACNB (ACNB): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. AEGON (AEG): now $0.1992 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.1780. Alphabet (GOOG): now $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Ameriprise Financial (AMP): now $1.60 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.48. Avery Dennison (AVY): now $0.94 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.88. Bank … Read more

Industrial Bellwethers A Mixed Bag: GE, BA, CAT, DE, UNP

Image Source: Caterpillar Inc – May 2022 Caterpillar Investor Day Presentation By Callum Turcan In this article, we cover the industrial landscape by digging into the recent financial and operational performance of General Electric Company (GE), Boeing Co (BA), Caterpillar Inc (CAT), Deere & Company (DE), and Union Pacific Corporation (UNP). Common themes include robust demand for their offerings, healthy order backlogs, and meaningful pricing power, though headwinds include substantial inflationary pressures, supply chain hurdles, and in certain instances, geopolitical tensions. General Electric will soon separate into three different publicly traded companies, and on a consolidated basis the firm is doing much better than years past. In 2022 and on a non-GAAP basis, General Electric is guiding for a 150+ … Read more

7 Hidden Dividend Aristocrats in Industrials

Image notes: The price-to-fair value ratio shows the relationship between the company’s stock price and our discounted cash-flow derived fair value estimate. Price is what you pay for the stock, while value is what you get. Price and fair value seldom equal. The savvy investor seeks to find stocks whose price is far below an informed forward-looking cash-flow-based fair value estimate of their intrinsic value. The Dividend Cushion ratio is a proprietary Valuentum measure that drives our assessment of the company’s Dividend Safety rating. The forward-looking measure assesses dividend coverage via the cash characteristics of the business. The Dividend Cushion is a ratio that sums the existing net cash (total cash less total long-term debt) a company has on hand … Read more

Valuentum: Now Bearish, We’ve Been Here Every Step of the Way

Valuentum Has Been Here Every Step of the Way   From the COVID-19 top in February 2020 to the COVID-19 bottom to the massive bull run through the end of 2021, we’ve been here for you.    2022 started out to be a rough year, catching many by surprise.   But Valuentum stayed positive. When the markets headed south in June, Valuentum stood its ground. On June 14, Valuentum said that “we still believe stocks could make a “huge rebound” in the near term.   We reiterated our views a few days later and on June 19, we said that “investors shouldn’t panic during this bear market” and that “stocks remain an attractive proposition at the moment and a very attractive consideration … Read more

Stock Market Outlook for 2021

By Valuentum Analysts February 8, 2021 2020 was one for the history books. We covered our thoughts and reflections on the past year in our “2020 Won’t Soon Be Forgotten” article (link here), and now we are looking towards the future. Global health authorities should be able to bring an end to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic sooner than many had expected as several vaccines have already been improved for emergency use and several others appear increasingly likely to get approved. Global vaccine distribution activities are currently underway, and this should allow the world to slowly return to pre-pandemic activities. Before then, immense stimulus measures launched primarily in developed nations should support global economic activities until the public health crisis … Read more

The Best Years Are Ahead

By Brian Nelson, CFA — The wind is at our backs. — The Federal Reserve, Treasury, and regulatory bodies of the U.S. may have no choice but to keep U.S. markets moving higher. The likelihood of the S&P 500 reaching 2,000 ever again seems remote, and I would not be surprised to see 5,000 on the S&P 500 before we see 2,500-3,000, if the latter may be in the cards. The S&P 500 is trading at ~4,100 at the time of this writing. — The high end of our fair value range on the S&P 500 remains just shy of 4,000, but I foresee a massive shift in long-term capital out of traditional bonds into equities this decade (and markets … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week April 23

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 23. 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 1st Source (SRCE): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Advance Auto Parts (AAP): now $1.00 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. AGCO (AGCO): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.16. Alpine Income Property Trust (PINE): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. Avery Dennison (AVY): now $0.68 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.62. The Bank of Princeton (BPRN): now $0.18 per share … Read more