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Best Idea Visa Posts Another Strong Quarter

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Best-idea Visa (V) posted another strong quarter Wednesday, exceeding even some of the bullish estimates. The company earned $1.49 per share for the quarter, and raised its full-year earnings-per-share growth guidance to the high-teens. Revenue increased 14%, to $2.5 billion during the period, with strong growth in service fees (up nearly 15%) and in international processing fees (up about 19%). As a result of lower future marketing expenses, a shrinking share count and a strong outlook, we continue to believe that Visa should fetch a price in the high $120s. CEO Joe Saunders reassured investors that the company has fully accounted for the impact of the Durbin Amendment, which has further strengthened our conviction in the stock. Furthermore, the company expects to generate over $4 … Read more

Visa Provides Investors with Underrated Growth Prospects

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Although the Durbin Amendment had yet to go in effect, Visa (V) reported a terrific fourth quarter, which has made us even more bullish about the firm’s near-term and long-term prospects. Due to a better than expected outlook for 2012, and a favorable ruling by the Fed regarding the Durbin Amendment, we think Visa is now worth $126 per share, roughly a 25% premium to where the stock currently trades. Management focused on returning cash to shareholders What really sticks out about Visa’s fiscal 2011 performance is the dedication to return cash to shareholders. In addition to increasing the quarterly dividend by 47% to 22 cents, Visa bought back over $2 billion worth of shares. And on top of that, the firm announced … Read more

Visa Remains a Growth Story, Shares Have Upside

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If you’ve been watching Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) over the last two years, both were highflying stocks with tremendous room for revenue and earnings growth. However, in a seemingly random act, Senator Dick Durbin decided to identify service revenues from the debit card duopoly as detrimental to the consumer. Since the famed “Durbin Amendment” was added to Dodd-Frank, the shares of Visa have dipped as low as $66 when the Federal Reserve announced an 11 cent processing limit on debit cards, to as high as $90 after news broke that the Federal Reserve doubled the limit to 22 cents. Although we think the company is more valuable without price ceilings, on a discounted-cash flow basis, shares of Visa are worth $107 … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending October 23

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending October 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 ALPS U.S. Equity High Volatility Put Write Index ETF (HVPW): now $0.3226 per share monthly dividend, was $0.3199. ArcBest (ARCB): now $0.08 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.06. American Electric Power (AEP): now $0.56 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.53.  AptarGroup (ATR): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.28. Associated Banc-Corp (ASB): now $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Bank of Marin Bancorp (BMRC): … Read more

How to Think About Corporate Tax Reform

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