Dividend Increases for the Week Ending May 29

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending May 29. 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 Bank of Montreal (BMO): now C$0.82 per share quarterly dividend, was C$0.80. Canadian Imperial Bank (CM): now C$1.09 per share quarterly dividend, was C$1.06. Donaldson (DCI): now $0.17 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.165. El Paso Electric (EE): now $0.295 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.28. Extra Space Storage (EXR): now $0.59 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.47. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): now $0.176 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more

Is The Time Ripe to Pick Up Kors?

You just can’t buy cheap stocks, and hope and pray things will work out. You know this! Not you personally — you know, the universal you.  The fundamental framework of the Valuentum Buying Index protects you from falling knives. It requires stocks to be both underpriced and “going up” before we would consider them. Yes, we can talk castles, moats, dividends, and anything else you’d like. But the VBI is the essence of our teachings. It’s the culmination of all research and analysis. We’re not kidding. Name it. It’s in there. The best stocks will be ones that are underpriced on a whole variety of different metrics and are also experiencing buying action or accumulation, as revealed by an upward … Read more

Merger Talk: Coach May Be In Play

With interest rates at lows, the equity markets at all-time highs, and executive teams looking for strategic and opportunistic growth opportunities, the table is set for some wheeling and dealing, in our view. We think Coach (COH), the aspirational maker of handbag and accessories, is on the radar of a number of suitors, the most likely being LVMH Moet Hennessy (LVMHF), according to Prime Retailer: LVMH groups representatives have recently shown interest in Coach, sources say. Recent shows and fashion line has appealed to the design team of LVMH, one of the persons admits. It could be the turnaround that attracts LVMH – turning its attention from classical high end luxury accessories label to full RTW apparel lineup. There are … Read more

Highlights from Tiffany’s Third Quarter

TIFFANY REPORTS SOLID THIRD QUARTER RESULTS Key Takeaways from Tiffany’s Third-Quarter Results Tiffany (TIF) is executing fantastically, and the Americas region, where comps jumped 11% in the quarter, was the standout. We expect the US to be the bright spot in the global economy for the holiday season across the luxury goods space. The US consumer is relatively healthy (the preliminary reading for GDP in the third quarter, released today, was 3.9%, a very healthy pace).  Tiffany has become a gross margin story. The firm’s gross margin increased 250 basis points in the third quarter thanks to strong pricing, better cost controls, and a mix shift to higher-margin fashion jewelry. We expect sales and margin strength to continue into the … Read more

This Just Feels Different…Mr. Brown

We think the correction is coming. Here are 7 reasons why we plan to reduce exposure to cyclicals and add some protection to the portfolios. By Brian Nelson, CFA I hope you don’t mind my using baseball analogies. Baseball and investing are perhaps the only two endeavors where if you get more than half right, you’re at the top of the list. In any case, you don’t have to be a big baseball fan to appreciate the similarities. I used an example with Ted Williams in this piece about fat pitch investing, but there’s another analogy that is worth sharing. I’ve been to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory Tour a few times in the past couple years. My little … Read more

Apple Conference Better Than Expected

It is sometimes with hesitation that we talk about Apple (AAPL) because it is one of the most widely covered stocks. We often try to highlight hidden gems across our coverage universe, but when things are going well…well…things are going well. The iPhone maker has been one of the best performers in the Best Ideas portfolio and Dividend Growth portfolio, and the new products at the September 9 event speak to continued sustainability of strong fundamentals. View event replay here >> The biggest surprise at the event, in our view, was the release of both Apple’s first wearable device (called Apple Watch) and its first payments solution (called Pay). “The Apple Watch is available in two different sizes and comes … Read more

Tiffany Dazzles in Second Quarter; Coach Now Yielding ~4%

Be sure to catch Valuentum’s Brian Nelson discussing Tiffany’s reports on CNBC Asia at 9:30 PM CST today. The video clip will be posted to the website as soon as it is made available. Luxury jewelry maker Tiffany (TIF) reported fantastic second-quarter results Wednesday and raised its bottom-line guidance for the second time this year and in as many quarters. Tiffany has been benefiting from a modernization of its classical jewelry line-up thanks to the ongoing success of its newest ATLAS collection (shown right) and TIFFANY T jewelry collection (shown below). The ATLAS collection is named for the mythic Greek god and showcases Roman numerals in designs symbolic of strength and freedom on pieces ranging from pendants and earrings to … Read more

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

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending May 23

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending May 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 American States Water (AWR): now $0.213 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.203. Bristow Group (BRS): now $0.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Bunge Limited (BG): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.30. CryoLife (CRY): now $0.03 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.0275. Daktronics (DAKT): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.09. Donaldson Co (DCI): now $0.165 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. Extra … Read more