Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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

Can Navistar Make a Comeback?

Truck maker Navistar announced that it is ditching its diesel engine that failed to receive US regulatory approval in favor of a new one. The shares have fallen below the low end of our fair value range, but we’re not ready to pull the trigger anytime soon.

Rush Could Ride the Coming Truck Upcycle to New Highs

Rush Enterprises (RUSHA) is a full-service, integrated retailer of commercial vehicles and related services. Through its network of Rush Truck Centers, the company provides one-stop service for the needs of its commercial vehicle customers, including retail sales of new and used vehicles, aftermarket parts sales, service/repair stations, and financing/leasing-related products (Image Source: 2010 Annual Report).   Key Strengths The firm’s parts and services segment generates roughly 60% to 70% of total gross profit. This is a higher margin and recurring revenue stream — more lucrative than truck sales and its rental and leasing business lines (Image Source: 2010 Annual Report) Parts and services continue to grow rapidly. The firm is the only authorized dealer for Peterbilt, made by Paccar (PCAR) and International … Read more

There Is Milk At The Store

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

8 Announcements and Top Research You May Have Missed

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

US Congress Is Getting Ready to Pass a Massive ~$2.2 Trillion Fiscal Stimulus Bill

Image Shown: US equities have started to recover some of their lost ground as the likelihood that the US Congress will pass a massive ~$2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus and emergency spending package, dubbed the CARES Act, has increased significantly over the past week as seen through the bounce in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). President Trump has clearly indicated that he intends to sign such a bill into law as soon as possible, with the US House of Representatives expected to take up the legislation this upcoming Friday morning on March 27. By Callum Turcan On March 25, the US Senate worked late into the night to secure a bipartisan compromise on a massive ~$2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of July 14

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending July 14. 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                          Acerinox (ANIOY): Now $0.1159 per share quarterly dividend. Aker BP (AKRBF): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.54. Alstom ADR (ALSMY): now $0.0274 per share annual dividend. Ameren Illinois Company PFD 4.08% (AILIH): now $1.02 per share quarterly dividend. Ameren Illinois Company PFD 4.20% (AILIP): now $1.05 per share quarterly dividend. Ameren Illinois Company PFD 4.25% (AILLO): now $1.062 per share quarterly dividend. … Read more

Nelson: The 16 Most Important Steps To Understand The Stock Market

A previous version of this article appeared on our website July 21, 2013. Refreshed and updated throughout, as of July 2018. By Brian Nelson, CFA After earning my MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and training stock and credit analysts from large organizations over the past decade or so, I have heard just about every question (though I admit I am still surprised by many things and remain a very humble student of the markets). I’ve also spent years perfecting the discounted cash flow process for large research organizations such as Morningstar and studied under one of the most famed aggressive growth investors of all time, Richard Driehaus. My knowledge runs the gamut from value through … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of December 8

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending December 8. 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                          Albany (AIN): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE): now $1.27 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.24. AltaGas Ltd. (ATGFF): now CAD 0.2975 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.28. Avis Budget (CAR): now $10.00 per share special dividend. Balchem (BCPC): now $0.79 per share annual dividend, was $0.71. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY): now $0.60 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more