PG

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending April 8

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Proctor & Gamble’s headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Barta IV Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending April 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 Constellation Brands Inc (STZ): now $0.04 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.31. Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMAB): now Ps. 3.50 per share annual dividend, was Ps. 3.00. H.B. Fuller Company (FUL): now $0.14 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.13.                  IDEX (IEX): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. Pembina Pipeline Corp. (PBA): now $0.1219 per share … Read more

Market’s Swooning: Bye Bye Energy MLPs, Part II

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Things were ugly again during the trading session February 8, but you were expecting the weakness. There’s nothing surprising, and we continue to wait to scoop up undervalued gems once the tide of this market turns. Topping the news today was the abrupt replacement of the CFO of Energy Transfer Equity (ETE)/Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) coupled with the sell-off in Chesapeake Energy (CHK) on news of a probable bankruptcy, which set the tone among midstream MLPs (AMLP), the index diving aggressively. Followers of Valuentum were far ahead of these developments, “Focus on ETE, Not ETP, Strive for Balance and Stick to the SEC Filings,””Alert: Energy Transfer Equity Is More than 7x Leveraged!,” “Energy MLPs Continue Swoon,” and our body of … Read more

Dividend Growth ‘Bubble’ To Continue But For How Long?

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You’ve heard about low interest rates. You may have even heard about a ZIRP, zero interest-rate policy, as had been the case in the US for years, but have you heard of NIRP, negative interest-rate policy? Well, that’s the latest with respect to Japan (EWJ), which is home to the third-largest national economy in the world after the US and China. On January 29, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced a negative benchmark interest rate of -0.1%, meaning that instead of paying interest on deposits, it will charge commercial banks to hold their money. This may make Japanese exports cheaper to stimulate growth, but my goodness, talk about a move to push “parked” assets out of the country. The US … Read more

Giddy Up – It’s Earnings Season!

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By Brian Nelson, CFA During the trading session January 27, Apple (AAPL) failed to turn the tide of a disappointing fiscal 2016 first-quarter report (calendar fourth-quarter), “Apple Will Go Lower…And It Will Be ‘Forced’ Into Acquisitions,” and coupled with a Fed statement, where the Committee left interest rates unchanged, as expected, many market observers read between the lines and hit the sell button. On the basis of some of the concerns we’ve outlined, “Not Doom and Gloom – But Just Cautious,” we can completely understand the hesitancy by participants to stay fully exposed to this tumultuous equity market. In many ways, that the Fed has hit the brakes just a few weeks after the long-anticipated rate hike means the global … Read more

Procter & Gamble Puts on Impressive Display of Pricing Strength

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By Kris Rosemann Multinational corporations have seen reported revenue punished in recent quarters as a result of the strong US dollar relative to other currencies around the world. In keeping with this theme, Procter & Gamble (PG) reported net sales falling 9% in its fiscal second quarter of 2016 on a year-over-year basis to $16.9 billion. However, after backing out all the noise, the company’s constant-currency core earnings per share leapt more than 20% on a year-over-year basis in the period. Reported free cash flow trends were fantastic through the first half of the fiscal year, too, and while we think the company’s valuation remains stretched, we’re not rushing to remove it from the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio anytime soon. … Read more

ICYMI: 5 Concerns About Impending Rate Hikes

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The first Fed rate hike in nearly a decade came and went December 16, putting an environment of ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) to an end, a policy that grew out of the Financial Crisis and the depths of the Great Recession late last decade. The Fed had paused plans to hike the federal funds rate for much of 2015 as a result, in our view, of getting a more informed read on the potential implications of emerging market developments–namely dislocations in the local Chinese equity markets (FXI) and recessionary conditions in Brazil (EWZ)–and the stock market crash (SPY) in the US in August that sent equities of some of the most well-known stocks including Apple (AAPL) and General Electric … Read more

Consumer Staples Giants Demonstrate Pricing Strength

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The strengthening US dollar continues to muddy quarterly results for multinational corporations. Coca-Cola (KO), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), and Procter & Gamble (PG) were no exception in the calendar third quarter. The consumer staples giants demonstrated the strength of their scale and pricing power in the quarter, though reported results could not overcome the significant pressure of foreign-exchange headwinds in economies around the globe with varying growth levels. Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark, and Procter & Gamble hold some of the most well-known consumer staples brands in the world. Coca-Cola, for one, has perhaps the most-recognizable soft-drink portfolio of any company, Kimberly-Clark boasts a wide range of trusted consumer staples brands from Huggies to Kleenex, and Procter & Gamble has one of the most diverse … Read more

Video: Are Economic Moats Priced Into Stock Prices? — You Bet They Are

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President of Equity Research Brian Nelson debunks the myth that the economic moat is not included in stock prices. Length: ~8 minutes. Tickerized for firms in the Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT), as of October 14, 2015. Brian Nelson, CFA: This is Brian Nelson from Valuentum Securities. I wanted to talk about an important concept and answer an important question. Is Warren Buffet’s economic moat priced into stock prices? Before I answer that question, I think we need to define a couple things. Return on invested capital is a measure of a business’ performance. It’s calculated as earnings before interest divided by net new investment, which is a measure of return on new invested capital. So what is the return the … Read more

Household Products Stocks Round Up

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Clorox (CLX) Clorox may be executing the best in its peer group. In its fiscal fourth-quarter report, released August 3, reported sales advanced 4% as the company drove an 11% increase in diluted earnings per share in the period. The pace of top-line expansion would have been even better were it not for currency-related headwinds. A benign combination of “cost savings, price increases and lower commodity costs” worked wonders on the firm’s financials. During the quarter, Clorox recorded 3% volume growth, and the company continues to gain share across its brand portfolio. Clorox disinfecting wipes continue to fly off the shelves at a double-digit pace at retailers, and the firm pushed a nice price increase on Clorox bleach in February … Read more

Procter & Gamble Continues Transformation Plan

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Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Procter & Gamble (PG) announced July 9 it has signed a definitive agreement to merge 43 of its beauty brands with Coty (COTY) for $12.5 billion, in what is likely to be a Reverse Morris Trust transaction. The transaction will include Procter & Gamble’s ‘Salon Professional’, ‘Retail Hair Color’, and ‘Cosmetics and Fine Fragrance’ businesses, along with select hair styling brands. This is a major step forward in the firm’s portfolio transformation plan, in which it intends to whittle its portfolio to 65 brands in 10 business categories that encompass the company’s core competencies. As the company previously outlined, Procter & Gamble plans to divest, discontinue, or consolidate 100 of its brands and exit several … Read more