An Important Measure of Leverage for Dividend-Growth and Income-Oriented Shareholders, One That Is Dividend-Adjusted

As more and more investors rely on company dividends for income, dividends, in our view, have become more debt-like commitments in nature, especially from the perspective of dividend-growth or income-oriented shareholders. Years ago, we rolled out a measure of financial leverage that considers both the company’s debt and the present value of its future expected cash dividend obligations, which, in the eyes of die-hard dividend-growth or income-oriented shareholders, may be implicitly assumed to be debt-like commitments in substance. We think this leverage ratio can be used in conjunction with the Dividend Cushion ratio to gain additional insight into the dividend-paying financial health of an entity. Note: There is often great confusion with respect to published measures of financial leverage, and … Read more

You Already Own Whatever Your Investment Will Pay You in Dividends

“Business owners across the world know that their business is not more or less valuable because they paid themselves a higher distribution this quarter.” – Brian Nelson, CFA Image Source: Images Money Stocks are generally valued on the present value of all their future free cash flows, which already include future dividend payments. A company’s dividend policy may impact an investor’s eagerness to pay a higher price for shares on the basis of a higher yield, but the dividend is a symptom of future free cash flows (and therefore intrinsic value), not a driver behind it. where A (t) is an Enterprise Free Cash Flow (1) at year t,                 B (0) is a Total Debt at time 0,                 … Read more

Brace for More Volatility

Image shown: The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) since August of last year. The markets have broken through key support levels, and now support has become resistance. Volatility remains heightened since the low-vol ETN blew up in February. This article is the introduction to both the Dividend Growth Newsletter and High Yield Dividend Newsletter, both of which will be released today due to the holiday January 1. By Brian Nelson, CFA Markets are facing big pressure on the trading session January 3. There’s more to the story than rising interest rates. There’s more to the story than the US-China trade war. There’s more to the story than concerns about the political environment. Price-agnostic (indexing and quant) trading, as I outline in … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending November 7

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 7. 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 Aaron’s (AAN): now $0.023 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.021. Acadia Realty Trust (AKR): was $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.23. Agrium (AGU): now $0.78 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.75. Atmos Energy (ATO): now $0.39 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.37. AmTrust Financial Services (AFSI): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. Cantel Medical (CMN): now $0.05 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.045. … Read more

The Dividend Dilemma

One of the core tenets of the Valuentum process not only rests in the all-important price vs. value consideration (see Valuentum’s Brian Nelson talk about that here), but also in “letting winners run.” At first read, these two items appear to be at odds with each other. For example, we preach about getting stocks at a bargain, but yet, we don’t sell holdings when they start to move beyond our estimate of their fair value. What gives? At the Valuentum core, we prefer an entry point that corresponds to the time when shares have substantial valuation and pricing support (i.e. they have high Valuentum Buying Index ratings), and we prefer an exit point when shares have little valuation and pricing … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending November 6

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending November 6. 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 Abengoa Yield (ABY): now $0.43 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.40. Amerisource Bergen Corp (ABC): now $0.34 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Andersons (ANDE): now $0.155 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. Atmos Energy (ATO): now $0.42 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.39. Calavo Growers (CVGW): now $0.80 per share semi-annual dividend, was $0.75. CDK Global (CDK): now $0.135 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending November 4

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending November 4. 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 Aaron’s (AAN): now $0.0275 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.025. Alliance Bernstein (AB): now $0.45 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.40. American States Water (AWR): now $0.242 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.224. Archrock (AROC): now $0.12 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.095. B&G Foods (BGS): now $0.465 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.42. Big 5 Sporting Goods (BGFV): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending November 3

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 3. 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 AllianceBernstein (AB): now $0.51 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.49. Andeavor Logistics (ANDX): now $0.9852 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.971. Arbor Reality Trust (ABR): now $0.19 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.18. Ares Management (ARES): now $0.41 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.31. Artesian Resources (ARTNA): now $0.2352 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2317. BOK Financial (BOKF): now $0.45 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.44. … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending November 2

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 2. 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 Aircastle (AYR): now $0.30 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.28. AllianceBernstein (AB): now $0.69 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.62. American Assets Trust (AAT): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.27. Apollo Global Management (APO): now $0.46 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.43. Arbor Realty Trust (ABR): now $0.27 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Black Stone Minerals (BSM): now $0.37 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending November 8

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 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 Aaron’s (AAN): now $0.04 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.035. Acadia Realty Trust (AKR): now $0.29 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.28. Aircastle (AYR): now $0.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.30. Air Lease (AL): now $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.13. Algoma Central (AGMJF): now CAD 0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.10. Assurant (AIZ): now $0.63 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.60. … Read more