Commodity Prices Affect Waste Industry Performance

Waste industry economics are relatively easy to understand. Municipal solid waste has to end up somewhere, and therefore whoever has the most diverse disposal operations can set the bar with respect to pricing, which impacts tipping fees and the economics of transfer facilities and collection operations. After all, garbage pick-up operators won’t be in business for long if they pay more to dispose of waste than they charge to pick it up. We view disposal operations as having oligopolistic tendencies, even if collection operations face some of the most intense pricing competition of any industry. As for the players, Waste Management (WM) and Republic Services (RSG) have the largest disposal operations in the US. At the end of 2014, Waste … Read more

Not Throwing Away This Garbage Hauler

It may not be a glamourous business but it is a good one. Pricing emanates from disposal operations – that’s what industry experts say. Waste has to go somewhere, and therefore whoever has the disposal operations sets the bar with respect to pricing from transfer facilities all the way through collections. After all, garbage pick-up operators won’t be in business for long if they pay more to dispose of waste than they charge to pick it up. Industry economics in the waste industry are relatively easy to understand. As for the players, Waste Management (WM) and Republic Services (RSG) have the largest disposal operations in the US. At the end of 2014, Waste Management owned or operated 252 landfill sites, the largest … Read more

Republic Services Looks to Strong 2015

Best Ideas portfolio holding Republic Services (RSG) is a dominant player in the US non-hazardous solid-waste services industry. For those that may not be as familiar with the trash taker, the company is a powerful force within the industry thanks to its significant landfill ownership, the value of which continues to increase over time due to a variety of structural factors from citizen’s group opposition (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) to increasing regulatory and environmental hurdles. Waste Management (WM) and Waste Connections (WCN) round out the solid-waste industry’s oligopolistic, landfill ownership structure. During the fourth quarter, results released February 12, Republic Services generated annual revenue of $2.23 billion, up 3.9%, and exceeded consensus expectations by a couple pennies per share on an adjusted basis. … Read more

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending February 27

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending February 27. 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 Albemarle (ALB): now $0.29 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.275. Canadian Imperial Bank (CM): now C$1.06 per share quarterly dividend, was C$1.03. Chico’s FAS (CHS): now $0.0775 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.075. Chubb (CB): now $0.57 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.50. Cohen & Steers (CNS): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Comcast (CMCSA): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.225. Cubic Corp (CUB): … 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

The Most Important Tactic in Money Management: Don’t Overreact – The Path of Republic Services

Let’s dig into the path of Republic Services (RSG), a holding in both the portfolio of our Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter. The trash taker’s past several months have been quite volatile due to some negative newsflow, but the company has now fully recovered and is breaking out to a new 52-week high today! Though we had plans to trim our position in both of our actively-managed portfolios following its weak performance in early November of last year, we didn’t move an inch as we awaited for a tactical exit. In fact, in our Dividend Growth portfolio (cost basis: $27.55 per share), we still hold a full position, and we’re now sitting on profits in our Best Ideas portfolio — even before considering … Read more

Waste Management and Republic Services Post Poor Third-Quarter Results

Waste Management (click ticker for report: ) and Republic Services (click ticker for report: ) posted weak third-quarter results this week. We’re taking a closer look at our valuation models for both garbage haulers. Waste Management continues to restructure its operations to address its cost structure, while Republic Services just announced a restructuring plan of its own during the third quarter. Both continue to revise down their respective earnings outlooks as a result of weak recycling commodity pricing, which is overwhelming their modest core pricing strength. Volume trends have also been lackluster, though the impact of Hurricane Sandy may provide a moderate boost in coming quarters. Specifically, Waste Management cut its 2012 earnings guidance to the range of $2.08-$2.13 per … Read more

Search Dividend Reports by Company Name: Q to Z

Going forward, please use the ‘Symbol’ search box to download stock and dividend reports of companies you are interested in. The ‘Symbol’ search box can be found in our website header. Image shown from above. Use the active search box in the website header above. Learn more about your membership >>  Note: We have now discontinued this list. Please use the ‘Symbol’ search box in the website header for stock and dividend reports. Please read about our Valuentum Dividend Cushion score (ratio) here. Just having access to this valuable metric alone could save your income portfolio thousands of dollars! The past meets the future as we showcase the Valuentum Dividend Cushion scores of Dividend Aristocrats in this article (click here). The dividend reports below … Read more