Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Mar 9, 2023

We Woke Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed
Image: Valuentum's President of Investment Research Brian Nelson, CFA. Let's cover five controversial topics today: 1) Large cap growth still dominating small cap value. 2) Who cares about whether fund managers beat their benchmarks. Pick the best group of stocks, right? 3) Dividends are capital appreciation that otherwise would have been achieved had the dividend not been paid. 4) Go figure -- bonds are down again so far in 2023. 5) REITs are underperformers and haven't been reliable dividend payers.

Mar 7, 2023

Dividend Growth Newsletter Portfolio Holding Dick’s Sporting Goods Doubles Dividend, Shares Soar!
Image Source: Dick’s Sporting Goods’ shares are breaking out of a very nice technical cup-and-handle pattern, and we continue to like shares as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. Image: TradingView. We include Dick’s Sporting Goods as an idea in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. On March 7, the company reported its fourth-quarter results for the three months ended January 28, 2023. Comparable store sales growth in the quarter came in at 5.3%, which was more than double that which consensus was looking for. The executive team also more than doubled its dividend (105%+), to $4.00 per share on an annualized basis, resulting in a ~2.8% forward estimated dividend yield on the basis of where shares are trading of late. We’re reiterating our $163 per-share fair value estimate of shares, and we continue to like them in the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. We expect to update our dividend report shortly.

Mar 6, 2023

Markets Bounce Off Technical Support But Not Out of the Woods
Image: The market-cap weighted S&P 500 (SPY) bounced off technical support last week, both the 200-day moving average as well as the breakout of the downtrend line, but while this may push off any leg down in the near term, we won’t hesitate to “raise cash” on a few newsletter portfolio names if a breakthrough of support to the downside happens. Image Source: TradingView. The 200-day moving average remains a key technical level for the market-cap weighted S&P 500. The risks that the market may break through both the 200-day moving average and the breakout of the technical downtrend line remain elevated, but the past week showed a successful test of technical support levels, in our view, and that means to us markets may avoid any substantial leg down for the time being. We continue to be cautious on the equity markets in the near term, and we won’t hesitate to “raise cash” across the newsletter portfolios if the S&P 500 breaks through its 200-day moving average and the breakout of the technical downtrend line.

Mar 3, 2023

Update: J&J Reports Messy Q4, Free Cash Flow Remains Robust But Looming Kenvue Split Adds Uncertainty
Image: Johnson & Johnson’s free cash flow generation remains far in excess of its cash dividends paid. Image Source: J&J. Johnson & Johnson reported messy fourth-quarter 2022 results that showed a large difference between GAAP and non-GAAP reporting. The company’s free cash flow presentation wasn’t great either, and we can’t help but feel management is a bit distracted given that the firm is working to spin off its Consumer Health division (Kenvue) later during 2023. J&J will retain its two larger divisions, Pharma and MedTech, including its key drugs Stelara, Darzalek, Tremfya, Erleada, and Uptravi, as well as its MedTech operations that have exposure to a number of areas including electrophysiology, wound closure, procedures for knees and hips, as well as surgical vision and trauma. We continue to like J&J’s coverage of the dividend with free cash flow, but we doubt the company will stay in the newsletter portfolios for much longer in light of the messy presentation and impending Kenvue split, expected in November 2023. We like to keep things simple. Shares yield ~2.7%. [We have updated this work to reflect that we are considering removing JNJ from both the Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio and the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio.]

Feb 27, 2023

Our Reports on Stocks in the Oil and Gas Complex Industry
Our reports on stocks in the Oil and Gas Complex industry can be found in this article. Reports include BKR, HAL, SLB, BP, CVX, COP, XOM, SHEL, TTE, CTRA, EOG, OXY, PXD, ENB, ET, EPD, MMP, KMI, PSX.

Feb 23, 2023

This Remains a Technically-Driven Stock Market
Image: We expect the S&P 500 (SPY) to test support at both its technical uptrend and the 200-day moving average. In the event the SPY breaks through technical support, we’d be looking to “raise cash” across the newsletter portfolios. S&P 500 companies will end 2022 with roughly a 4%-5% decline in fourth-quarter 2022 earnings, but earnings season has come in better-than-feared. We expect the Fed to continue to raise rates given recent producer price inflation readings and a continued strong labor market. The 10-year Treasury continues to pose headwinds to asset values, and while many are talking of “disinflation,” we expect the market to remain technically driven and begin to test support at the 200-day moving average across major indices. We believe 2023 will be a choppy year, as we look ahead to better times in 2024.

Feb 22, 2023

ICYMI: As Expected, Stock Pickers Trounce the Indexes When It Matters
Image: Charles Dickens. Image Source: Public Domain. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” -- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities. We are big believers in prudent and diversified stock selection more than we ever have before, and we have little confidence in applying correlations, as in traditional asset allocation, to try to achieve financial goals and manage risks. In this age of wisdom, we like to follow the data, and the data keeps pointing to prudent and diversified stock selection as one of the best risk-adjusted ways to achieve long-term financial goals. To each, their own, but we continue to like stocks for the long run, and 2022 was yet another example why!

Feb 22, 2023

Follow Up on Intel’s Dividend Cut: We Will Strive to Do a Better Job Communicating
As noted in our brief note on Intel this morning, “Intel Cuts Dividend, As Expected,” we have now refreshed the company’s reports on the website, with updated Dividend Safety and Dividend Growth Potential ratings, both as VERY POOR. After factoring in Intel’s updated outlook to our valuation model from its fourth-quarter release, our updated fair value estimate is now $25 per share (was $27 per share) and our updated Dividend Cushion ratio is -1.7 (negative 1.7), was 0.4. This includes the dividend cut.

Feb 22, 2023

Intel Cuts Dividend, As Expected
Image Source: Aaron Fulkerson. The Dividend Cushion ratio caught another dividend cut. This time it was Intel’s. With a Dividend Cushion ratio of 0.4, Intel announced February 22 that it has slashed its dividend by nearly two thirds, to $0.125 on a quarterly basis, down from its prior quarterly dividend of $0.365. The company’s estimated forward yield now stands at ~1.9%, and we can’t say that the dividend cut was unexpected given its massive net debt position and significantly weakened free cash flow generation--the two most important components behind an assessment of its cash-based intrinsic value and dividend health.

Feb 22, 2023

Walmart Warns: “Prices Are Still High and There Is Considerable Pressure on the Consumer”
Image Source: Mike Mozart. Walmart’s outlook may very well be conservative, but its commentary certainly doesn’t bode well for many discretionary retailers and the broader economy. With the labor markets still strong and the producer price index still coming in hot, the Federal Reserve is not yet done raising rates. We expect the markets to test their uptrends and 200-day moving averages in the coming days to weeks, and if we break through these support levels to the downside, we won’t hesitate to “raise some cash” across the newsletter portfolios. When Walmart warns about the health of the consumer, we pay attention.