Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Mar 14, 2024

Latest Report Updates
Check out the latest report updates on the website.

Mar 1, 2024

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week of March 1
Let's take a look at firms raising/lowering their dividends this week.

Feb 28, 2024

Republic Services Issues Solid Guidance for 2024
Image Source: Republic Services.  Republic Services is one of our favorite industrial entities. The company has valuable property in the form of disposal facilities, and its collection operations, while always facing a competitive environment, are essential services, making its business relatively recession-resistant. Republic Services is also a strong cash-flow generator. During 2023, for example, the garbage hauler generated cash flow from operations of ~$3.618 billion (was $3.19 billion in 2022) and adjusted free cash flow of ~$1.985 billion (was $1.742 billion in 2022). The company’s cash dividends paid were $638.1 million and $592.9 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively, so Republic Services is doing a great job covering its payout with traditional measures of free cash flow.

Feb 25, 2024

We Remain Bullish; Is This 1995 – The Beginning of a Huge Stock Market Run?
Image: Large cap growth stocks have trounced the performance of the S&P 500, REITs, and bonds since the beginning of 2023. We expect continued outperformance in this area of the market. We’re now roughly four years past the depths of the COVID-19 meltdown, where equities collapsed in February and March of 2020. As the markets began to recover through 2020, our long-term conviction in equities only grew stronger. We think the biggest risk for long-term investors remains staying out of the market on the basis of what could be considered stretched valuation multiples. As we outlined heavily in the book Value Trap, valuation multiples hardly tell the complete story about a company and often omit key long-term earnings growth, cash flow dynamics, and balance sheet health considerations. We remain bullish on equities for the long haul, and we think the next couple years will be incredibly strong. Our best ideas can be found in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, ESG Newsletter portfolio, and via the Exclusive publication as well as options idea generation.

Feb 13, 2024

Waste Management’s Pricing Power Is Fantastic, Sustainability Initiatives Are Noble
Image Source: TheInvertedFan. There are few industry economics that we like better than the waste management industry, and Waste Management is the leader in this oligopolistic environment. Management plans to continue buying back stock, and the firm intends to raise its dividend by $0.20 per share, to $3.00 on an annual basis, making it 21 consecutive years that it has raised its payout. Though free cash flow will face pressure from its sustainability initiatives, the company’s free cash flow generation remains robust. At a $3 per-share annualized dividend, shares of Waste Management yield ~1.6% on a forward-looking basis. Though we don’t include Waste Management in the newsletter portfolios (we include peer Republic Services in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio), the company is one of our favorites for consideration.

Jan 8, 2024

Thinking Slow: 3 Research Blind Spots That Changed the Investment World
Image Source: EpicTop10.com. We have to be on high alert about how our minds work. PBS recently delivered a four-part series examining how easily our minds are being hacked, and why it is so important to "think slow." When it comes to the active versus passive debate, does the analysis suffer from parameter risk? With respect to empirical, evidence-based analysis, does the analysis have the entire construct wrong? When it comes to short-cut multiples, are we falling into the behavioral trap of thinking on autopilot?

Dec 23, 2023

12 Reasons to Stay Aggressive in 2024
From outperforming simulated newsletter portfolios to fantastic success rates in the Exclusive publication to option ideas and great income-oriented ideas and beyond, we continue to deliver across our simulated newsletter suite as our latest video outlines. It’s hard to know exactly what 2024 will bring in terms of a market return, but the internals of the stock market and the U.S. economy look great to us. The new bull market we’re in could last for years, and as a result, we are staying aggressive with many of our new ideas as we look to benefit from these favorable trends.

Dec 20, 2023

Latest Report Updates
Check out the latest report updates on the website.

Oct 22, 2023

There Will Be Volatility
Image: An ETF tracking Russell 1000 "growth" stocks has outperformed an ETF tracking Russell 2000 "value" stocks since the beginning of 2021. To us, the market remains hypersensitive to almost every economic data point that hits the wires, and we’re just not going to play that game. The macro headlines and never-ending news flow are what many quant and algorithmic traders are trading on, and to a very large extent, for investors with a long-term horizon, these macro data points just don’t factor into the equation. When valuing equities, we’re always after mid-cycle expectations, not peak or trough performance, so our valuations implicitly embed a "normal" recession. Warren Buffett didn’t become a billionaire buying and selling on macro data points, and volatility is simply to be expected given the proliferation of price-agnostic trading these days. Instead of panicking over higher interest rates, we think investors should view the Fed’s work thus far as future potential dry powder to stimulate both the economy and the markets. Whenever you feel like stocks are no good, have a read of Warren Buffett’s classic piece written during the Great Financial Crisis, “Buy American. I Am.” To us, we still like stocks for the long run. Happy investing!

Sep 20, 2023

ICYMI: Questions for Valuentum’s Brian Nelson
Valuentum's President Brian Nelson, CFA, answers your questions.