PKW

Berkshire Hathaway Is Firing on All Cylinders; Shares Surging

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Image Shown: Shares of best idea Berkshire Hathaway Class B (ticker: BRK.B) have surged higher over the past year with room to run. By Callum Turcan Those of you that have been long-time members of Valuentum (thank you by the way!) know that we are huge fans of Warren Buffett. We include Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.A) (BRK.B), specifically its Class B shares (ticker: BRK.B), as an idea in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. Recently, Buffett (CEO and Chairman of Berkshire) released his latest annual letter to shareholders, which included plenty of important information regarding the conglomerate’s financial performance and investing practices at-large. One of the things that stuck out in Buffett’s latest annual letter to shareholders, a topic that he … Read more

Cisco Responds to Near-Term Headwinds with Large Cost Cuts

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Image Shown: Cisco Systems Inc’s financial performance held up well, relatively speaking, during the initial stages of the pandemic. Image Source: Cisco Systems Inc – Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan On August 12, Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) reported fourth quarter fiscal 2020 earnings (period ended July 25, 2020) that beat consensus estimates on both the top- and bottom-lines. However, Cisco’s outlook for the current fiscal quarter was weaker than expected which weighed on shares of CSCO during normal trading hours on August 13. Cisco’s near-term performance is facing headwinds due to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic as many of its customers are delaying projects until after the storm has passed. With that in mind, … Read more

Cisco Systems Makes a (Potentially) Transformative Acquisition

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Image Shown: Over the past five years, shares of Cisco Systems have significantly outperformed the S&P 500 (SPY), before taking dividend considerations into account. When including dividend considerations, Cisco’s outperformance would likely grow even further given shares of CSCO carry a juicy yield. By Callum Turcan We include shares of the networking infrastructure giant Cisco Systems (CSCO) as a holding in both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios. Its high quality cash flow profile, pristine balance sheet, and growing subscription-based revenue streams make Cisco quite appealing. As of this writing, shares of CSCO yield ~3.1% and our Dividend Cushion ratio sits at 2.7, earning the firm a “GOOD” Dividend Safety rating. Should that Dividend Cushion ratio climb … Read more

Are S&P 500 Stocks Returning Too Much Cash to Shareholders?

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S&P 500 companies are on pace to return a record amount of capital to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases, but what are the investment implications? Let’s take a look. By Kris Rosemann How can any company return too much cash to its shareholders, right? Well, let’s first start this discussion of recent capital allocation trends with some clarifying thoughts. We’re not against corporations returning excess capital to shareholders via dividends and buybacks (SPYB, PKW), provided they are value-generating moves. In many ways, we’re just as excited as the rest of the market about generating sustainable and growing income via strong dividend paying equities, as evidenced by the existence of the Dividend Growth Newsletter and the strong performance of its … Read more

Understanding Share Buybacks

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Image Source: Mike Mozart This article is for educational purposes only and may not reflect our updated opinion on any companies mentioned. Rule of Thumb: If share buybacks are completed at a price level that is under a firm’s fair value estimate, the activity can be considered value-creating. If share buybacks are completed at a price level that is above a firm’s fair value estimate, they can be considered value-destroying. By Brian Nelson, CFA Share buybacks are not always a “good thing.” The general rule of thumb may be that share buybacks reveal that management believes its stock is underpriced and that the executive team thinks there may be no better investment opportunities out there with firm money than its very own company … Read more

Valuentum’s ETF Reports

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Image Source: GotCredit Welcome to Valuentum’s ETF coverage. If you’re new to the site, please be sure to access the stock reports and dividend reports as part of your membership. If you are looking for the archives to the Best Ideas Newsletter, they can be found here. The Dividend Growth Newsletter archives can be found here. The Exclusive and High Yield Dividend Newsletter have their own website with archives, the latter coming soon. To learn more about Valuentum’s ETF reports, please see  here . To request a report of an ETF we do not currently cover, please contact us. To access the relevant Valuentum reports for each major ETF category, please click on the respective link, “Click Here to Access Valuentum Report.” The links … Read more