Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Nov 21, 2020

Target Reaches All-Time Highs
Image Shown: Shares of Target Corporation are now trading near their all-time highs as of this writing. Shares of Target Corp recently reached an all-time high after the company reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2020 (period ended October 31, 2020) on November 18 that smashed past consensus estimates on both the top- and bottom-lines. During its latest earnings report, Target reported that its comparable store sales rose by 20.7% year-over-year with digital comparable sales up 155% during this period. During the first nine months of fiscal 2020, Target generated over $5.0 billion in free cash flow. The top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $182 per share, and as of this writing, shares of TGT are trading near $172, indicating Target appears fairly valued at this time. Shares of TGT yield a decent ~1.6% as of this writing, and we give Target a “GOOD” Dividend Safety rating given its impressive cash flow profile.

Nov 17, 2020

Walmart’s Digital Strategy Continues to Pay Off
Image Shown: Walmart Inc continues to distribute its free cash flows back to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases. The retailing giant’s management team has a long track record of being shareholders friendly. However, we still view shares of WMT as generously valued as of this writing, given that the top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $133 per share though WMT is currently trading closer to ~$150 per share. Image Source: Walmart Inc – Third Quarter of Fiscal 2021 IR Earnings Presentation. On November 17, Walmart reported third quarter earnings for fiscal 2021 (period ended October 31, 2020) that beat consensus estimates on both the top- and bottom-lines. As we have noted in the past, the key driver behind Walmart’s financial outperformance of late has been its e-commerce operations. Whether that be to support home delivery services or curbside pick-up options, Walmart’s past digital investments better allowed the retailing giant to meet surging demand for consumer staples and other products in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. The top end of our fair value estimate range sits at $133 per share of WMT, indicating Walmart is generously valued as of this writing as its shares are currently trading near $150. However, we still view Walmart’s business model as stellar and its cash flow profile as impressive. During the first nine months of fiscal 2021, Walmart generated over $16.4 billion in free cash flow. The firm spent $4.6 billion covering its dividend obligations and another $1.2 billion buying back its stock during this period, and both of these activities were fully covered by Walmart’s free cash flows and then some. Shares of WMT yield ~1.4% as of this writing.

Nov 17, 2020

Growing Competitive Pressures, Leverage Drive Our Reduced Fair Value Estimate of CVS Health (Walgreens, Too)
The rivalries in the pharmacy space continue to intensify. Just this week, on November 17, CNBC reported that Amazon was launching Amazon Pharmacy in the US, which reportedly will include free delivery for Amazon Prime members. Shares of CVS Health sold off sharply after the news broke, as did shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Here, we would like to highlight how recognizing competitive threats (both existing and future) represents one of the qualitative overlays we use during the enterprise cash flow analysis process to model expected future financial performance of the company. These competitive dynamics had a large influence in our decision to reduce CVS Health’s fair value estimate. Note, we also reduced our fair value estimate of peer Walgreens Boots Alliance to $43 per share from $60 per share on November 9, too.

Nov 5, 2020

Amazon’s Fair Value $4,000+ at the High End of the Range
Image: Amazon. If we were not already very tech/consumer/e-commerce heavy in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio with Facebook and Alphabet, etc., we’d seek to include Amazon in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, too. We love Amazon’s strong and growing free cash flow generation and its robust net cash position on the balance sheet. Its competitive position and ties to future growth in key areas of AWS and e-commerce make it among the most attractively-positioned companies out there. We value shares of Amazon at over $4,000 each at the high end of the range, and we would not be surprised to see them trading there in the not-too-distant future. CEO Jeff Bezos expects that 2020 "is going to be an unprecedented holiday season."

Nov 2, 2020

ICYMI -- Dividend Growth Strategies Struggle
Image: A large cap growth ETF (orange) has significantly outperformed an ETF tied to a dividend growth strategy, the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY), which mirrors the total return performance of the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index. To no surprise to many members, several dividend growth strategies have faced tremendous pressure during 2020. The Journal recently wrote a piece on the topic, but from our perspective, the problem with many dividend growth strategies is that they tend to be balance-sheet agnostic and pay little attention to traditional free cash flow expectations, focusing only on the yield itself, sometimes dismissing future fundamentals in favor of historical growth trends and the inferior EPS-based dividend payout ratio. In many dividend-targeted ETFs, for example, it may not matter to the index creator whether a firm has $10 billion in net debt or $10 billion in net cash; as long as management has a track record of raising the dividend in the past, it is included. To us, however, there is a world of difference between a company that has a huge net cash position and a huge net debt position. The more excess cash on the balance sheet a dividend payer has, for example, the more secure its payout. In some cases, entities held in high-yielding ETFs don't even cover their dividends or distributions with traditional free cash flow generation, despite having ominous net debt loads. A look at the high-yielding ALPS Alerian MLP ETF, for example, shows a number of entities that are buried under a mountain of debt and are generating meager free cash flow relative to expected distributions. The lofty yield on that ETF should therefore be viewed with a very cautious eye. If the yield weren't at risk for a big cut, the market would bid up the stock, and down the yield would go. In no way should you believe that you can sleep well at night holding stocks yielding north of 10% when the current 10-year Treasury is well below 1%. The market is just not that inefficient. A dividend growth strategy can never be a passive one either. Only through constant attention to the balance sheet (net cash) and future free cash flow expectations can investors truly sleep well at night. At Valuentum, we do the balance sheet and cash flow work and summarize it succinctly in a key ratio called the Dividend Cushion ratio.

Oct 12, 2020

Dollar General’s Promising Growth Outlook
Image Source: Dollar General Corporation – Fiscal 2019 Annual Report. We are big fans of Dollar General Corp and continue to like shares of DG as a holding in our Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio. After updating our discounted cash flow model, we increased the fair value estimate and the top end of our fair value estimate range for Dollar General. Under our “bull” case scenario, Dollar General now has a fair value estimate of $223 per share. Even if Dollar General surpasses the top end of our fair value estimate range, we prefer to let our winners run until their technicals turn against them. The latest 16-Page Stock Report covering Dollar General can be accessed here.

Oct 8, 2020

Nelson: I'm Not Worried About This Market
Image Source: The White House. President Donald J. Trump listens as U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams delivers remarks and urges citizens to wear masks in public at a coronavirus (COVID-19) update briefing. All things considered, not much has changed since our last update. I think the newsletter portfolios--Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio--are well-positioned for this market environment, our new options idea generation has been great, the Exclusive ideas have had tremendous success rates (we just closed another two winners recently), and we continue to add tremendous value in providing our work in full transparency for readers. Thanks for tuning in.

Oct 6, 2020

Third-Level Thinking and "Keynesian Convergence"
Image: The analytical process of the Valuentum Buying Index rating system. At Valuentum, we seek to identify strong, competitively-advantaged companies that are underpriced [with solid cash-based sources of intrinsic value (net cash, strong expected free cash flows)] whose share prices are either 1) also advancing, 2) have strong relative pricing strength, or 3) have just started to begin to advance toward an intrinsic value estimate (with a nice growing dividend to boot, where applicable). Third-level thinking is our foundation at Valuentum, and it continues to serve investors well.

Sep 27, 2020

Costco Closes Out Fiscal 2020
Image Shown: Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation have been on an upswing over the past five years. The ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic has upended daily activities and encouraged households worldwide to stockpile consumer staples products. When Costco Wholesale Corp reported its fourth quarter fiscal 2020 earnings (16-week period ended August 31, 2020) on September 24, management noted that Costco’s worldwide foot traffic was down ~1% year-over-year last fiscal quarter though its average basket size was up ~13% year-over-year during this period. Households are apparently making the most out of every shopping trip in order to socially distance. Costco’s ancillary businesses, like its in-store opticians and food courts operations, were hurt by temporary closures last fiscal quarter, though its core business held up very well. Costco’s gas business took a hit from reduced travel demand, though its membership renewal rates were broadly flat versus the same period a year ago last fiscal quarter.

Sep 26, 2020

Update on Johnson & Johnson
Image Shown: An overview of Johnson & Johnson’s expectations for fiscal 2021 provided during its second quarter of fiscal 2020 earnings report. We continue to like shares of Johnson & Johnson as a top-weighted holding in our Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio. Image Source: Johnson & Johnson – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2020 Earnings IR Presentation. Johnson & Johnson is a top-weighted holding in our Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, and we continue to be big fans of the healthcare and consumer staples giant. The company recently published some key updates that we wanted to draw our members’ attention towards. Before we begin, please note that Johnson & Johnson is near the front of the pack when it comes to developing a potential coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) vaccine. Should Johnson & Johnson prove successful, global health authorities would be better able to combat the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.