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Steel Dynamics Bets Big on North America’s Industrial Economy

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Image Source: Steel Dynamics Inc – June 2020 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Investor sentiment towards the steel industry is rebounding as the medium- and long-term outlook for global industrial activity has improved markedly since March 2020. The ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic has significantly hampered near-term industrial activity, though major fiscal stimulus packages (made feasible through major monetary stimulus programs) launched in various developed nations could provide some relief. Shares of Steel Dynamics Inc (STLD) have recovered meaningfully since their March 2020 lows and are trading a tad below our fair value estimate as of this writing. Shares of STLD yield ~3.6% on an annualized forward-looking basis as of this writing and we give the steel maker a Dividend Cushion … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week August 13

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending August 13. 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 Altius Minerals (ATUSF): now CAD 0.07 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.05. Angel Oak Mortgage (AOMR): now $0.12 per share dividend. Artisan Partners Asset Management (APAM): now $1.00 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.88. Badger Meter (BMI): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.18. Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR): now $0.64 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.58. Brookfield Asset Management Reinsurance Partners (BAMR): now $0.13 … Read more

Nutrien Benefiting from the Strong Global Farm Economy, Shares Yield ~2.5%

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Image Source: Nutrien Limited – 2020 Annual Report Executive Summary: Nutrien Limited is benefiting from the strong global farm economy. The company sells tens of millions of metric tons of potash, nitrogen, and phosphate products every year, which are key ingredients used in the production of fertilizer. With geopolitical tensions building in Eastern Europe, Nutrien is preparing to bring idle potash production capacity in Canada back online while steadily expanding its nitrogen production capabilities. Nutrien is a great free cash flow generator with a promising growth outlook, though its net debt load is rather large. The firm is focusing on deleveraging activities in the near term, which we appreciate. Shares of NTR yield ~2.5% as of this writing, and we think … Read more

BHP Group Shakes Up Long-Term Strategy

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Image Source: BHP Group Ltd – Full Fiscal Year 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Though the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19) pandemic has stymied economic activity in about every country worldwide, the stimulus-driven rebound in China (with an eye towards its resurgent construction activity) combined with supply disruptions in key commodity producing regions has seen the price of several metals bounce higher over the past few months. For instance, copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (‘LME’) recently hit a two-year high and COMEX silver prices have been surging higher (I, II) this year. Background A lot of global copper consumption comes from construction related activities and building power grids (distribution and transmission systems), with about half of the world’s … Read more

VBI Ratings Not as Impressive As We Would Have Liked in 2022

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Image: How the VBI rating system has ranked equities so far this year. By Brian Nelson, CFA At Valuentum, we use the Valuentum Buying Index (VBI) to source ideas into diversified simulated newsletter portfolios, and the VBI may be most applicable to the simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, where we generally like to include ideas when they register a high VBI rating and remove them when they register a low VBI rating. We always use the VBI in a portfolio setting and never by itself. But what about the Valuentum Buying Index ratings, themselves? How did they “perform” during 2022 in one of the worst years for stock market investors in history? Well, not as spectacular as we would have … Read more

There Is Milk At The Store

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This article first appeared in the September edition of the High Yield Dividend Newsletter. For more information about this publication, please see here. “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” — Winston Churchill By Brian Nelson, CFA Very few of us could have imagined that we’d witness the bull market that began on that fateful day in March 2009 that might very well mark a generational low. In 2009, major investment banks around the globe were struggling to survive, and the fallout in the mortgage markets left the banks holding paper that nobody wanted to own, let alone buy. The global financial system … Read more

2,350-2,750 on the S&P? Could the Coronavirus Catalyze a Financial Crisis?

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Image: We think a rather modest sell-off in the market to the target range of 2,350-2,750 on the S&P 500 is rather reasonable in the wake of one of the biggest economic shocks since the Global Financial Crisis. The chart above shows how far markets have advanced since 2011, and an adjustment lower to the target range of 2,350-2,750 is rather modest in such a context and would only bring markets to late 2018 levels (note red box as the target range). The range reflects ~16x S&P 500 12-month forward earnings estimates, as of February 14, adjusted down 10% due to COVID-19. When companies like Visa talk about a couple percentage points taken off of growth rates, one knows that … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of March 15

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending March 15. 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                          Aboitiz Power Corporation (ABZPY): now $0.5667 per share annual dividend, was $0.4579. Acer (ACEYY): now NT$1.60 per share dividend, was NT$1.50. AG Mortgage Investment Trust (MITT): now $0.18 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. Applied Materials (AMAT): now $0.40 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.32. Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (BPZZF): now CAD 0.113 per share monthly dividend, was CAD 0.107. Brambles (BXBLY): now … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending March 13

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending March 13. 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 Aberdeen Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (AEF): now $0.054 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.045. Acushnet Holdings (GOLF): now $0.155 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.140. AGNC INVT 1000 DR REP 1 SRS F PRF (AGNCP): now $0.27222 per share quarterly dividend. Altius Minerals (ATUSF): now CAD 0.05 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.04. American Tower (AMT): now $1.08 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.01. … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week November 13

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending November 13. 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 Absolute Software (ABST): now CAD 0.08 per share quarterly dividend. Air Lease (AL): now $0.16 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.15. Assurant (AIZ): now $0.66 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.63. Atmos Energy (ATO): now $0.625 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.575. Automatic Data Processing (ADP): now $0.93 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.91. Bancroft Fund (BCV): now $2.25 per share year-end dividend, was $0.29. Barings … Read more