Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Jan 17, 2020

Citigroup Succeeding at Cross-Selling
Image Source: Citigroup Earnings Presentation. Citigroup is finally out-earning our estimate of its cost of capital with a return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) of 12.4% in the quarter, and the shares have rallied substantially more recently as a result. Management lowered expectations for the degree of return on tangible equity improvement going into 2020, but continued improvements would be welcome, nonetheless.

Jan 17, 2020

Our Reports on Stocks in the Environmental Services Industry
Image: Republic's Apex landfill in Las Vegas. We've optimized our industrials coverage.

Jan 17, 2020

Our Reports on Stocks in the Integrated Circuits Industry
Image Source: Yuri Samoilov. We've optimized our technology coverage.

Jan 17, 2020

Our Reports on Stocks in the Agricultural Equipment Industry
We've optimized our industrials coverage.

Jan 17, 2020

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending January 17
Let's take a look at companies that raised/lowered their dividend this week.

Jan 16, 2020

Alcoa’s Turnaround Still a Work in Progress
Image Shown: It has been rough for Alcoa Corporation over the past couple of years as the company faces a slowing global industrial economy while trying to optimize its asset base and overall operations in a bid to save on costs. After the market close on January 15, alumina, aluminum, and bauxite product leader Alcoa Corp reported earnings covering the fourth quarter of 2019. The company’s top- and bottom-line results missed consensus expectations. Alcoa is trading at the lower bound of our fair value estimate range and shares appear fairly valued. With global industrial activity slowing down considerably, we aren’t optimistic on Alcoa’s outlook. Material asset base and operational changes will help, but there’s only so much that can be done given the firm’s looming liabilities. Even with the US-China semi-trade truce now in effect, Alcoa still has plenty of work to do to turn this ship in the right direction. We continue to stay away from Alcoa, but appreciate management attempting to bring down the firm’s net debt/liability burden via divestments and free cash flow.

Jan 16, 2020

Wells Fargo Remains an Inefficient Bank Despite Regulatory Overhang
Image Source: Wells Fargo Earnings Supplement. Wells has been forced to do a lot of hiring related to remediating its problems with regulators, but the problem is simply larger than that. This is an inefficient bank, which is very odd considering the massive scale that it benefits from.

Jan 15, 2020

Visa Enhances Its Long-Term Outlook
On January 13, top weighted Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio holding Visa announced it was buying financial tech company Plaid for $5.3 billion. Plaid primarily offers a network that allows consumers to connect financial accounts to apps securely and safely, meaning that when a consumer downloads a mobile financial-oriented app to their phone (for example), Plaid is the company that ensures a smooth connection between app and the relevant financial institution when it comes to transferring information and ultimately money. What’s important about this acquisition is that Visa, once again, is showcasing its ability to spot and capitalize on high quality opportunities within the financial services space.

Jan 15, 2020

Our Reports on Stocks in the Pharmaceuticals (Biotech/Generic) Industry
Image Source: Open Grid. We've optimized our healthcare coverage.

Jan 15, 2020

JPMorgan's Quarter Shows Higher Sustainable Growth Potential
Image Source: JPMorgan Earnings Presentation. We are raising our fair value estimate of JPMorgan to $160 per share to reflect higher sustainable growth than we’d previously been expecting.