WPM

What Is Gold Really Worth?

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“What motivates most gold purchasers is their belief that the ranks of the fearful will grow. During the past decade that belief has proved correct. Beyond that, the rising price has on its own generated additional buying enthusiasm, attracting purchasers who see the rise as validating an investment thesis. As ‘bandwagon’ investors join any party, they create their own truth – for a while.” — Warren Buffett (2011 annual letter to shareholders) Image: Gold prices have surged since 2020, and they recently hit an all-time high. Image Source: TradingView By Brian Nelson, CFA Stocks have quite a few variables that can affect their intrinsic value estimate, but what about gold’s intrinsic value? Does gold even have value? And if so, how … Read more

Magnificent 7 Earnings Reports Not Bad Thus Far

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By Brian Nelson, CFA   Shortly after Trump’s Liberation Day, where the President unveiled lofty tariffs on numerous countries, we released our wait-and-see outlook for the equity markets, which thus far has proven to be the right move, with the markets largely recovering from the depths reached in April. The S&P 500 (SPY), for example, is down just 3.3% year-to-date, excluding dividends.   A lot has happened since Liberation Day, including easing of tariffs to a 10% baseline for most, if not all, countries, with the key exception of China, where tariffs remain extremely elevated and prohibitive. Many countries are now reportedly negotiating trade agreements with the White House, and we expect China to be added to that list soon, even if … Read more

Trump Tariffs Higher than Expected; What We’re Doing

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By Brian Nelson, CFA The Trump tariff increases came in larger than what we were expecting, and it remains to be seen how they will flow through the global economy, as we monitor potential retaliatory tariffs from other countries. As it relates to the equity markets, we’re taking a wait and see approach at the moment as we monitor new policy changes related to trade, immigration, fiscal (tax), and regulations. In short, we’re not overreacting to the sell off as we won’t have a great handle on the tariff impact to companies for a few quarters when they report results post-tariff increases. That said, we’re expecting continued market volatility, with meaningful risk to the downside, before trade uncertainty alleviates in … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of March 14

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending March 14. 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                          Acer (ACEYY): now NT 1.70 per share annual dividend, was NT 1.60. Afya (AFYA): now R$1.348923 pare share dividend. Aker Carbon Capture (AKRCY): now NOK 4.82 per share dividend. Altius Minerals Corporation (ALS:CA): now CAD 0.09 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.08. Annaly Capital Management (NLY): now $0.70 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.65. Applied Materials (AMAT): now $0.46 per share quarterly dividend, … Read more

Latest Report Updates

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Select the company’s link below to access their stock webpage where their 16-page stock report (pdf) can be downloaded. The stock webpage also houses the company’s dividend report (pdf), where applicable, as well as the latest company/industry commentary and news. For companies updated this week, their stock webpages will reflect the new data this weekend. American Tower (AMT) AutoZone (AZO) Best Buy (BBY) BHP Billiton (BHP) Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) ConocoPhillips (COP) Crocs (CROX) Cisco (CSCO) Cintas Corp (CTAS) CubeSmart (CUBE) Dollar Tree (DLTR) DocuSign (DOCU) Estee Lauder (EL) Ford (F) FedEx (FDX) Fiserv (FI) First Solar (FSLR) General Electric (GE) General Motors (GM) Global Payments (GPN) Leggett & Platt (LEG) Eli Lilly (LLY) Lululemon (LULU) McDonald’s (MCD) MercadoLibre (MELI) 3M … Read more

Latest Report Updates Concentrated in Mining & Chemicals and Healthcare Industries

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———- In our 16-page equity research reports, we offer a fair value estimate for each company based on a rigorous and transparent discounted cash flow process, assess the attractiveness of a stock based on a firm-specific margin of safety, and provide a relative valuation comparison in the context of the company’s industry and peers. Each report includes detailed pro forma financial statements, explicit fundamental forecasts, and scenario analysis. A cross section of the ValueCreation and ValueRisk ratings provides a financial assessment of a company’s business quality (competitive position), while the ValueTrend and Economic Castle ratings offer insight into the trajectory of a firm’s economic profit creation (ROIC versus WACC). Included in each 16-page report is a company’s rating on the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI), a methodology that combines rigorous financial and valuation analysis … Read more

Our Reports on Stocks in the Mining & Chemicals Industry

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Dividend Yield: Estimated on a forward-looking annualized basis. VBI: The Valuentum Buying Index, a timeliness indicator that overlays a price-to-fair-value estimate consideration. Fair Value Estimate: Derived by Valuentum’s enterprise valuation process. Dividend Cushion ratio: A ratio assessing the health of the dividend (the higher, the better). Data as of the date of this article. Individual company reports may have been updated subsequent to the publishing of this article, so please download a company’s stock and dividend report for its latest information and data. Note: The data in the tables of each of the below companies’ respective stock pages is updated the weekend after the publishing of this update. Please click on a company name below to view the corresponding equity … Read more

Announcing Valuentum’s Customer Appreciation Day Winners!

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In no particular order — the five winners… As a Chief Investment Strategist that oversees a significant amount of assets, it is vital to have unbiased research that we can lean on for decision making. Brian and the Valuentum team help provide a disciplined and fundamental approach to stock analysis without the typical Wall Street bias or conflicts of interest. The value we get on a monthly basis for having this detailed thought analysis and wise long-term thinking greatly outweighs the cost. We are very happy to have them on our short list of management we trust.  – Stephen H. (October 2022) —– I’d like you to know what my takeaways are from your research: 1) Be wary of capital … Read more

Albemarle Raises Guidance Twice in One Month!

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Image Shown: An overview of Albemarle Corporation’s business profile. We include Albemarle as an idea in our ESG Newsletter portfolio. Image Source: Albemarle Corporation – May 2022 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan When the specialty chemicals company Albemarle Corporation (ALB) published its first quarter 2022 earnings report on May 4, the firm boosted its full-year guidance in a big way. That guidance boost was attributed to outperformance at its lithium operations and to a lesser extent, its bromine operations, which offset major inflationary headwinds facing its refining catalysts operations. In the wake of favorable contract negotiations covering sales of lithium derivatives and related products, Albemarle further boosted its full-year guidance in late May (on May 23). Two favorable guidance increases … Read more

Newmont’s Third Quarter Earnings Disappoints Though Management Remains Very Shareholder Friendly

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Image Shown: Though Newmont Corporation’s third quarter earnings disappointed, the gold miner remains very shareholder friendly. Image Source: Newmont Corporation – Third Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan One of our favorite mining plays is the gold miner Newmont Corporation (NEM), which has producing assets around the world including in Australia (EWA), Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Mexico (EWW), Peru, Suriname, Canada (EWC), and the US. Newmont has a robust development pipeline in those countries via new producing mines and expansion projects (roughly 88% of Newmont’s reserves are in the Americas and Australia), along with potential upside in Japan, Ethiopia, Colombia, and elsewhere. The company’s management team is incredibly shareholder friendly (its quarterly payout has grown from … Read more