Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Sep 24, 2021

Cisco Systems’ Growth Outlook Continues to Improve
Image Source: Cisco Systems Inc – 2021 Investor Day Event Presentation. Things at Cisco Systems are beginning to turn around and management made sure to highlight the company’s improving outlook during its big Investor Day event held on September 15. We include Cisco Systems as an idea in both the Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolios as the firm has a fortress-like balance sheet (i.e., large net cash position), tremendous free cash flow generating abilities, and its growth outlook has improved immensely since contending with serious headwinds from the worst of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. Shares of CSCO yield ~2.6% as of this writing.

Sep 24, 2021

Honeywell’s Dividend Growth Supported by Promising Cash Flow Growth Outlook
Image Source: Honeywell International Inc – Second Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. We view Honeywell International as one of the best industrial plays out there and include shares of HON as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. Honeywell has exposure to the aerospace and downstream energy markets--industries that were hit hard by the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic but are now recovering in earnest--and to the proliferation of e-commerce and “smart buildings.” Furthermore, in the event that a bipartisan infrastructure bill currently awaiting approval in the US House of Representatives gets signed into law, Honeywell has exposure to the expected surge in domestic infrastructure investments. Our fair value estimate for Honeywell sits at $240 per share with room for upside as the top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $288 per share. As of this writing, shares of HON yield ~1.7%.

Sep 22, 2021

Update on High-Yielding Philip Morris
Image Shown: Shares of Philip Morris International Inc have performed quite well over the past year. One of our favorite high-yielding plays is Philip Morris International---5.0% yield---the tobacco giant behind the Marlboro cigarette brand (excluding the US market) and the incredibly popular IQOS product, a heated tobacco unit (‘HTU’) offering. Shares of PM are included as in idea in the High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio and as of this writing, Philip Morris’ stock price is up 23% year-to-date before taking dividend considerations into account. The top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $119 per share of Philip Morris, indicating there is ample room for shares of PM to run higher still.

Sep 21, 2021

Booming Natural Gas Prices Great News for Chevron and ExxonMobil
Image Shown: Chevron Corporation – August 2021 IR Presentation. Natural gas prices in the US measured by the Henry Hub benchmark based in Erath, Louisiana, have surged higher over the past several months. This is partially due to the slowdown in domestic oil & gas development activity that occurred back in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic and low crude oil prices. Though crude oil prices, measured by the domestic WTI and international Brent benchmarks, have since recovered, that has not resulted in domestic drilling activity returning to levels seen in 2019, though development activity has recovered somewhat. Henry Hub futures are trading north of $5 per million British thermal units (‘MMBtu’) through February 2022 as of this writing, dropping just below $5 per MMBtu for March 2022 deliveries.

Sep 20, 2021

Dividend Growth Idea Lockheed Martin Has Ample Space Upside
Image Source: Lockheed Martin Corporation – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. The commercial and military opportunities in the realm of space have been growing at a brisk pace of late, and in our view, the growth runway in this area is immense. Lockheed Martin Corp is a giant defense contractor with a sizable space business that caters to national defense, governmental, and commercial needs. We include Lockheed Martin as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, and shares of LMT yield ~3.1% as of this writing. The company has four core business operating segments and ‘Space’ is one of those segments, which generates a sizable amount of its annual sales.

Sep 17, 2021

Our Two Favorite Midstream MLPs: EPD and MMP
Image Source: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. – August 2021 IR Presentation. The global economy is steadily recovering from the worst of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, though variants of the virus remain a concern. Enterprise Products and Magellan Midstream are well-positioned to capitalize on this recovery while continuing to make good on their “generous” payout obligations.

Sep 14, 2021

Chevron Investing in Biofuels and Hydrogen
Image Source: Chevron Corporation – August 2021 IR Presentation. We are huge fans of Chevron’s dividend growth potential in the wake of the recovery seen in raw energy resources pricing year-to-date. Shares of CVX yield ~5.6% as of this writing, and we expect Chevron will steadily grow its payout going forward, aided by its promising free cash flow growth trajectory.

Sep 13, 2021

The Investment Case for More Gender Diversity
Image: The Impact Shares' YWCA Women’s Empowerment ETF (WOMN) has trounced the S&P 500 since inception, while the SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (SHE) has bested the quantitatively-hailed small cap value ETF over the same time period. There has been a plethora of research over the years regarding the value of diversity on teams, in corporate boardrooms, and across asset management. One of the forms of diversity is gender diversity. It has been documented that diverse teams create more innovative ideas and creativity, which can serve as quite an advantage in industries where margins are slim, or there are few barriers to entry. While a 2019 study summarized in the Harvard Business Review indicated that the value of gender diversity is highly context-dependent and tends to have the greatest benefit where it is already valued, the corporate environment, and arguably the stock market, itself, are a few of those areas where value has been demonstrated.

Sep 10, 2021

Best Idea Korn Ferry Posts a Stellar Earnings Update
Image Shown: Shares of Korn Ferry have surged higher year-to-date, and we see room for additional capital appreciation upside. We added shares of Korn Ferry as an idea to our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio back in January 2021 and continue to be huge fans of the name. The top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $104 per share of Korn Ferry. Organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry posted results for its first quarter of fiscal 2022 (period ended July 31, 2021) on September 8 that smashed past consensus top- and bottom-line estimates. Korn Ferry commented in the earnings press release that it had generated record quarterly fee revenue, the source of the lion’s share of its sales (alongside modest ‘reimbursed out-of-pocket engagement expenses’), and that its operating income, adjusted EBITDA, and diluted EPS all came in at all-time highs last fiscal quarter. The company’s business is rebounding strongly from the worst of the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic with room to run.

Sep 9, 2021

Digital Realty Is a Stellar Income Growth Idea
Image Source: Digital Realty Trust Inc – September 2021 IR Presentation. Digital Realty Trust is a carrier-neutral data center real estate investment trust (‘REIT’) that provides co-location and interconnection services. The REIT has grown its annual dividend over the past 15+ consecutive years, and we view Digital Realty as a stellar income-generation idea. As of this writing, shares of DLR yield ~2.8%. We include shares of DLR as an idea in both the Dividend Growth Newsletter and High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolios. Investors have been steadily warming up to Digital Realty this year, with shares of DLR up ~23% year-to-date, and we see room for additional upside as the top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $186 per share of Digital Realty.