Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of August 15

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 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                          Atmus Filtration (ATMU): now $0.055 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.050. Cboe Global Markets (CBOE): now $0.72 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.63. Badger Meter (BMI): now $0.40 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.34. Barrick (B): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. – Eletrobrás (EBR): now $0.3219 per share dividend, was $0.1575. Dover (DOV): now $0.520 per share … Read more

Geopolitical Risks Driving Crude Oil Prices Higher

Image: Crude oil prices have staged a strong advance to start 2024. By Brian Nelson, CFA Geopolitical tensions continue to be elevated as concerns grow that the war in the Middle East could further escalate, and as the war in Ukraine continues to rage on. On April 1, Israel apparently staged an attack on an Iran embassy in Syria that killed several military officials, including three senior Iranian commanders. Iran has indicated that it would retaliate, and many are speculating that the possible attack may be on Israeli soil, which would further increase global tensions. Ukraine has also been actively targeting Russian energy infrastructure, cutting into Russia’s refining capacity.   Many are positioning in energy markets for a potential spike … Read more

Will Crude Oil Prices Hit $100 Again?

By Brian Nelson, CFA If you’ve been reading the headlines, you’ve probably seen these: Michigan gas prices increase to highest in 2023, Florida gas prices reach new 2023 high: AAA, Gas prices are higher again, hitting consumers ‘very directly and very profoundly.’ A month ago, the national average for gas prices stood at $3.54, but they have risen to $3.83, according to AAA. Though these levels are still down from the $4.03 average gallon price a year ago, investors have started to take notice. The intensifying war between Russia and Ukraine coupled with expectations that this hurricane season may be a troubling one have driven crude oil prices to the mid-$80s. The energy sector (XLE) was the place to be … Read more

Our Favorite Energy Giants Chevron and ExxonMobil are Focused on Returning Cash to Shareholders

Image Shown: Shares of Chevron Corporation (blue line) and ExxonMobil Corporation (orange line) are both up sharply year-to-date as of this writing. By Callum Turcan Two of our favorite energy companies, Chevron Corporation (CVX) and ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM), recently reported their third quarter 2021 earnings reports. We include Chevron and ExxonMobil as ideas in both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios given their ample capital appreciation upside and promising dividend growth trajectories. The top end of our fair value estimate range for Chevron and ExxonMobil stands at $144 per share and $110 per share, respectively, well above where each company’s shares are trading as of this writing. Shares of CVX yield ~4.7% and shares of XOM yield … Read more

Chevron Posts a Great Earnings Update, Share Repurchases to Resume

Image Shown: An overview of Chevron Corporation’s performance in the second quarter of 2021. We include shares of Chevron as an idea in both our Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios and continue to be huge fans of the name as the global energy complex continues to recover from the worst of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19 pandemic). Image Source: Chevron Corporation – Second Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan We added shares of Chevron Corporation (CVX) as an idea to both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios back on June 27, 2021 (link here). The outlook for the global energy complex continues to improve significantly from the worst of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week April 16

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 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 Agree Realty (ADC): now $0.217 per share monthly dividend, was $0.207. Aon (AON): now $0.51 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.46. AptarGroup (ATR): now $0.38 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.36. Artesian Resources (ARTNA): now $0.261 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.257. Banco Santander-Chile (BSAC): now $0.9285 per share annual dividend, was $0.4651. Cadence Bancorporation (CADE): now $1.25 per share special dividend, was $0.15. Costco (COST): … Read more

Exxon Mobil Puts on a Brave Face

Image Source: Exxon Mobil Corporation – November 2019 Guyana IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Near-term oil prices and most importantly, the oil price futures curve, have improved materially since just a couple of months ago when it looked like the sky was falling. For the first time ever, WTI turned negative in April 2020 for physical deliveries due May 2020 of light sweet oil to Cushing, Oklahoma, as storage options were limited (and arguably, many speculators had jumped into the market not fully aware of the risks they were taking on). Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) has seen its share price recover considerably since the drop, though we caution that management’s commitment to the dividend will prove a hard task if … Read more

Chevron’s Permian Opportunity, Outsize Dividend Yield

Image Source: Chevron Corporation – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Last year, the storied energy giant Chevron Corporation (CVX) produced 2.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day on average and the company ended 2018 with 12.1 billion BOE in proved reserves on a net basis. Chevron’s upstream production base climbed by 13% from 2016 to 2018 while its proved reserves increased 8% during this period, led by growth at its Permian Basin operations. Management intends on growing Chevron’s downstream presence to support rising Permian crude oil volumes. We would like to draw attention to Chevron’s Permian operations as we see that having an outsized influence on its growth trajectory. Shares of CVX yield 3.8% as of this writing and … Read more

Energy Earnings Roundup

Image Source: Exxon Mobil Corporation – First quarter 2019 earnings presentation By Callum Turcan Energy earnings season is upon us and several major oil & gas companies have just reported their first quarter results. Global crude pricing benchmarks tanked during the last three months of 2018 and only partially recovered during the first three months of 2019, which depressed upstream raw energy resource realizations for those with a large liquids production base (meaning those that produce more natural gas liquids, crude oil, and condensate than “dry” natural gas). Chevron Corporation (CVX): The energy giant posted EPS of $1.39 during the first quarter, down from $1.90 in the same period last year. Weaker realized raw energy resource prices offset a 7% … Read more

Brazil: Sorry For Your Losses

The Brazilian equity markets are in free fall. “Brazil is in a deepening recession, which may grow into depression, as unemployment continues to rise and corporate credit quality deteriorates. Those that made a bundle investing in Brazil’s commodity-driven export boom have been looking to cash out, if they haven’t already, and the real continues to weaken on deteriorating sovereign credit and rampant inflation. Any interest rate hike by the US could have the unintended effect of sending Brazil’s local yields to the mid-teens to account for incremental currency risk and credit deterioration, which would only exacerbate debt service costs as a percentage of the country’s shrinking GDP. This, in turn, could be the catalyst for even more asset flight out … Read more