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Dividend Increases for the Week Ending September 5

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending September 5. 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 Altisource Residential (RESI): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.45. Atrion (ATRI): now $0.75 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.64. Avago Tech (AVGO): now $0.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.29. Eastgroup Properties (EGP): now $0.57 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.54. Silver Bay Realty Trust (SBY): now $0.04 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.03. Verizon (VZ): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.53.  >>Last week’s … Read more

Earnings from 5 Dividend Growth Giants

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Let’s evaluate the recent quarterly results of five traditional dividend growth plays. Please be sure to access the 16-page reports and dividend reports of the firms included in this article. If you are interested in receiving the valuation models of companies, please let us know. Coca-Cola (KO) There are few companies fundamentally stronger than Coca-Cola. The firm boasts a number of competitive advantages: its brands, financial strength, distribution system, global reach, and a deep executive bench. It has raised its dividend in each of the past 50+ years, and we expect dividend growth to continue at a high-single-digit annual pace for the foreseeable future. Though the strength of Coca-Cola’s competitive position is undeniable, we don’t expect the ‘cola wars’ with … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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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

Earnings from 15 Dividend Growth Giants

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History has revealed that the best performing stocks during the previous decades have been those that shelled out ever-increasing cash to shareholders in the form of dividends. In a recent study, S&P 500 stocks that initiated dividends or grew them over time registered roughly a 9.6% annualized return since 1972 (through 2010), while stocks that did not pay out dividends or cut them performed poorly over the same time period. Such analysis is difficult to ignore, and we believe investors may be well-rewarded in future periods by finding the best dividend-growth stocks out there. Let’s take a look at the recent performance of 15 high dividend payers and disclose their ‘valuation ratings’ and most recent Valuentum Dividend Cushion scores. Valuentum … Read more

Thank you…

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By Brian Nelson, CFA Earlier this week, I received an email from a colleague and valued member of our services. I wanted to share it here for others to read. I haven’t included his name, but if he wants me to, I can add it in. It is filled with wisdom, experience and kindness. And it really made my year to read his words. The Valuentum community, I believe, is the best community of investors out there. Sir, if you do happen to read your own email on our site, we very much have appreciated your feedback, and we hope to continue to live up to your praises. We are dedicated, and our team has been rejuvenated by your words. … Read more

AT&T Is Not a Position in Valuentum’s Dividend Growth Portfolio

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Sometimes it’s difficult to entertain a variant perspective on a tried-and-true investment. But that’s what we think investors should do when they think about AT&T’s dividend growth potential. AT&T’s Valuentum Dividend Cushion score is below 1 (meaning that the sum of our expectations of the company’s future dividend payments and existing debt balance overwhelms the sum of its future expected free cash flow and existing cash balance). We don’t expect this telecom bellwether to cut its dividend anytime soon (especially given its shareholder base, which comprises mostly of investors holding shares for the dividend payment), but we think there are many other more attractive places for long-term dividend growth than AT&T’s equity. The historical track record of a company’s dividend … Read more

Verizon Posts Highest Adjusted EBITDA Margin in 8 years; Pro forma Debt Load Reduces Attractiveness of Idea

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On Tuesday, Verizon’s (VZ) fourth-quarter performance showed us why we had been considering the firm for inclusion in the Dividend Growth Newsletter. The company experienced revenue growth across all strategic areas (84% of business), showcasing 3.4% year-over-year expansion. The most recent quarter marked the fifth consecutive period of at least 8% service revenue year-over-year growth. The communication giant’s strong cost management controls sent its full-year adjusted EBITDA margin to the highest levels in 8 years (34.9%), a very impressive showing. Wireless segment EBITDA jumped more than 22% from last year’s quarter. Verizon’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings-per-share of $0.66 was also impressive, coming in nearly 74% higher than the level posted in the same period a year ago. For all of 2013, the … Read more

Three Reasons Why Dividend Growth Investors Are Quite Savvy

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A version of this article appeared on our website on October 1, 2013. There are many different approaches to investing, but we think dividend growth investors are quite savvy, especially when they combine a rigorous dividend growth process in the form of the Valuentum Dividend Cushion ratio with the valuation rigors behind the Valuentum Buying Index. Let’s examine the three reasons why we think dividend growth investors are a smart group in the age of ultra-low interest rates. #1. Fool Me Once, Shame on You…Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me Today’s dividend growth crowd has seen enough. First, they witnessed the dot-com bubble (1997-2000), a period in stock market history where firms’ stock prices soared in some cases as a result … Read more

SoftBank Reported to Be Exploring a Deal for Sprint to Scoop Up T-Mobile

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On Friday, Bloomberg reported that SoftBank is exploring a deal for Sprint (S) to scoop up the majority of T-Mobile US (TMUS). The news outlet reported that SoftBank has discussed financing a bid with as many as six banks, including Credit Suisse, Mizuho, and Goldman Sachs. The banks are reported to be the same ones that backed the SoftBank-Sprint tie-up. According to Bloomberg’s sources: The plan would be to take control of T-Mobile by paying cash for the 67 percent stake owned by Deutsche Telekom AG…Sprint would then be integrated with T-Mobile, combining the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers. Deutsche Telekom has said that it’s prepared to sell its $16 billion stake in T-Mobile, which has mostly been an … Read more

Evaluating AT&T’s 3Q Performance

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A Few Words from CFO John Stephens Telecom giant AT&T (T) announced strong third quarter results October 23. Revenue increased 2.2% year-over-year to $32.2 billion, just below consensus expectations. Earnings per share, excluding one-time items, increased 6.5% year-over-year to $0.66, a penny above consensus estimates. However, due to an increase in capital expenditures, free cash flow has fallen more than $3 billion year-to-date to $11.1 billion, equal to 11.6% of revenue.  Smartphone Takeover Image Source: T 3Q13 Slides  As has become the norm, wireless revenue drove AT&T’s top-line growth, expanding 5.1% year-over-year to $17.1 billion. The strong performance was driven by an increase in wireless data revenue of 17.6%, as a higher percentage of consumers opt for higher ARPU plans. During the third quarter, … Read more