Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Jul 29, 2021

Microsoft’s Dividend Is Rock Solid But Why?
Image Shown: Valuentum’s Dividend Report on Microsoft. The Dividend Cushion Ratio Deconstruction reveals the numerator and denominator of the Dividend Cushion ratio for Microsoft. At the core, the larger the numerator, or the healthier a company's balance sheet and future free cash flow generation, relative to the denominator, or a company's cash dividend obligations, the more durable the dividend. In the context of the Dividend Cushion ratio, Microsoft's numerator is larger than its denominator suggesting strong dividend coverage in the future. The Dividend Cushion Ratio Deconstruction image puts sources of free cash in the context of financial obligations next to expected cash dividend payments over the next 5 years on a side-by-side comparison. Because the Dividend Cushion ratio and many of its components are forward-looking, our dividend evaluation may change upon subsequent updates as future forecasts are altered to reflect new information. We estimate the efficacy of the Dividend Cushion ratio in warning against dividend cuts at about 90%. We measure this efficacy by looking at the Dividend Cushion ratios of companies that have cut their payouts in our coverage. If the company had a Dividend Cushion ratio below 1, we’d view the Dividend Cushion ratio as doing its job. Not all companies with high Dividend Cushion ratios are insulated from dividend cuts, and not all companies with low Dividend Cushion ratios will cut their dividend, but the Dividend Cushion ratio is yet another Valuentum-driven tool for your investor tool kit.

Jul 14, 2021

10 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE AT VALUENTUM
Join Valuentum as it celebrates its 10th anniversary of putting investors first!

Jun 27, 2021

Two Alerts and Bull Market On!
Image Source: Mike Cohen. "We like stocks in an inflationary environment, and we love big cap tech and large cap growth in any environment." -- Brian Nelson, CFA

Jun 18, 2021

ICYMI: Watch Valuentum's November 2019 Presentation on 'Value Trap' Now!
YOU WILL LEARN  ---  * The pitfalls of valuation multiple analysis and the risks of extrapolating some empirical quantitative conclusions.  * A critical framework to view and interpret stock price movements and stock valuation.  * The universal nature of enterprise valuation to all things finance from competitive advantage analysis to dividend-growth investing and beyond.

Jun 1, 2021

ICYMI -- Video: Exclusive 2020 -- Furthering the Financial Discipline
In this 40+ minute video jam-packed with must-watch content, Valuentum's President Brian Nelson talks about the Theory of Universal Valuation and how his work is furthering the financial discipline. Learn the pitfalls of factor investing and modern portfolio theory and how the efficient markets hypothesis holds little substance in the wake of COVID-19. He'll talk about what companies Valuentum likes and why, and which areas he's avoiding. This and more in Valuentum's 2020 Exclusive conference call.

May 24, 2021

Crown Castle Is a Great Income Growth Idea
Image Shown: Crown Castle International Corp has an expansive portfolio of shared wireless infrastructure assets that covers every major market in the US. Image Source: Crown Castle International Corp – First Quarter of 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. We're huge fans of Crown Castle and believe the REIT has a promising dividend growth outlook. Looking ahead, the ongoing buildout of 5G wireless infrastructure in the US, the Internet of Things (‘IoT’) trend, and the potential emergence of smart cities supports the outlook for data demand and ultimately Crown Castle’s ability to grow its cash flows. Its expansive portfolio includes 40,000+ towers, ~80,000 route miles of fiber, and ~80,000 small cell nodes. According to Crown Castle, the REIT has a presence in every major US market. Crown Castle’s contracts generally are long term in nature and come with rent escalators and other provisions that are favorable for the REIT. As of this writing, shares of CCI yield ~2.9%.

May 18, 2021

AT&T Right-Sizing Dividend, WarnerMedia Joining Forces with Discovery
Image Shown: AT&T Inc’s WarnerMedia unit is joining forces with Discovery Inc. This transaction, if it goes through as planned, will create another giant in the video streaming services industry. Image Source: Discovery Inc – Discovery Joining Forces with WarnerMedia IR Presentation. Despite the upcoming rightsizing of its dividend payout in light of a pending spin-off, the telecommunications and media giant AT&T continues to be one of our favorite income generation ideas. We're not making any changes to the newsletter portfolios at this time, and the recent news indicates AT&T’s balance sheet is about to improve significantly.

May 17, 2021

Best Idea Disney’s Outlook Is Bright and Getting Brighter
Image Source: The Walt Disney Company – December 2020 Investor Day Presentation. The Walt Disney Company reported second quarter fiscal 2021 earnings (period ended April 3, 2021) that beat consensus bottom-line estimates but missed consensus top-line estimates. Investors were dismayed that the company’s paid video streaming subscriber base did not grow by as much as expected. However, we are not worried as Disney’s outlook is bright and getting brighter.

Apr 22, 2021

Good News from High Yielding AT&T
Image Source: AT&T. We liked AT&T’s first-quarter results and outlook for 2021 that calls for free cash flow generation to be well in excess of expected cash dividends paid for the year. Investors should be aware of its hefty net debt position, but with a ~7% dividend yield, the company may be hard to pass up for high yield dividend focused investors. We plan to make some tweaks to our valuation model following this report, but our fair value estimate of $34 per share remains unchanged at this time.

Apr 8, 2021

The Best Years Are Ahead
The wind is at our backs. The Federal Reserve, Treasury, and regulatory bodies of the U.S. may have no choice but to keep U.S. markets moving higher. The likelihood of the S&P 500 reaching 2,000 ever again seems remote, and I would not be surprised to see 5,000 on the S&P 500 before we see 2,500-3,000, if the latter may be in the cards. The S&P 500 is trading at ~4,100 at the time of this writing. The high end of our fair value range on the S&P 500 remains just shy of 4,000, but I foresee a massive shift in long-term capital out of traditional bonds into equities this decade (and markets to remain overpriced for some time). Bond yields are paltry and will likely stay that way for some time, requiring advisors to rethink their asset mixes. The stock market looks to be the place to be long term, as it has always been. With all the tools at the disposal of government officials, economic collapse (as in the Great Depression) may no longer be even a minor probability in the decades to come--unlike in the past with the capitalistic mindset that governed the Federal Reserve before the “Lehman collapse."