US Dividends Aristocrats thread

[Mr. Wood]

Johnson & Johnson to seek FDA booster shot authorization this week, paper says
Oct. 4, 2021

While scientists are divided over the need for booster shots when so many people in the United States and other countries remain unvaccinated, the Biden administration announced the push for an extra dose in August as part of an effort to shore up protection against the highly transmissible Delta variant.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Exxon exodus turns floating 'cube' into Internet meme
October 5, 2021

"That picture will always remind me of the positive experiences I had," said former Exxon finance supervisor Jason Crawford, who posted his own three weeks ago. He resigned after concluding that top management was ill-prepared for challenges ahead and Exxon's "days of being a global leader are long behind them."

Exxon sees green gold in algae-based fuels. Skeptics see greenwashing.
October 3

Exxon claimed a breakthrough in 2017 but has yet to demonstrate results. Until the company profitably produces commercial quantities of the biofuel, scientists familiar with algae research say, doubts will remain.

Vijay Swarup, Exxon’s vice president for research and development, said he is aware of the perception that the company is using algae research to burnish its green credentials. Exxon made overly optimistic promises that have fed that criticism, Mr. Swarup said, but the project and its progress are real.

"There is always this irrational optimism and exuberance in the beginning," Mr. Swarup said. "You have to have a vision. After that, it’s ‘show the progress.’"

 

[Mr. Wood]

Update Reports

BorgWarner Inc (BWA)
Cigna Corp. (CI)
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (CBRL)
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) -->link here
Emera, Inc. (EMRAF)
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. (AVAL)
Life Storage Inc (LSI)
McCormick & Co., Inc. (MKC)
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) --> link here
Vulcan Materials Co (VMC)

 

[Mr. Wood]

upcoming reportings

10/12 Fastenal Co. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/13 JPMorgan Chase & Co. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/13 BlackRock Inc. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/13 Delta Air Lines Inc. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/14 UnitedHealth Inc. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/14 Bank of America Corp. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/14 Wells Fargo & Co. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/14 Morgan Stanley Q3 2021 Earnings
10/14 Citigroup Inc. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/14 U.S. Bancorp Q3 2021 Earnings
10/14 Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc Q4 2021 Earnings
10/15 PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Q3 2021 Earnings
10/15 Goldman Sachs Q3 2021 Earnings
10/16 HDFC Bank Ltd Registered Shs Q2 2022 Earnings

 

[Mr. Wood]

PepsiCo Reports Third-Quarter 2021 Results; Raises Full-Year Guidance
October 5, 2021

Given our year-to-date performance, we now expect our full-year organic revenue to increase approximately 8 percent and core constant currency earnings per share to increase at least 11 percent,” said Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta.

 

[Mr. Wood]

 

[Mr. Wood]

Reinterpreting NFP: Does slowing job growth argue for an immediate taper?
OCTOBER 11, 2021

Digging under the surface, some of the secondary aspects of Friday’s report support the “labor shortage” thesis. For instance, the unemployment rate fell a full 0.4% to 4.8%, despite the relatively low job growth. Likewise, the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) held mostly steady at 61.6%, still down nearly 2% from the pre-pandemic levels of February 2020.

Taken together, these figures suggest that fewer Americans are participating in the labor market at all. For those who are, jobs are relatively plentiful; indeed, according to the latest NFIB survey, the biggest issue for small businesses are that jobs are hard to fill, with 51% of respondents citing that concern, the highest level in decades.

 

[Mr. Wood]

 

[Mr. Wood]

Update Reports

Accenture plc (ACN) -->link here
American Assets Trust Inc (AAT)
American Homes 4 Rent (AMH)
Computer Services, Inc. (CSVI)
Conagra Brands Inc (CAG)
Constellation Brands Inc (STZ)
Douglas Emmett Inc (DEI)
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB)
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) --> link here
PepsiCo Inc (PEP) -->link here
RPM International, Inc. (RPM)

 

[Mr. Wood]

WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE REPORTS FISCAL YEAR 2021 EARNINGS
OCTOBER 14, 2021

Fiscal 2021 EPS from continuing operations was $2.30 compared with $0.20 in the year-ago period; adjusted EPS increased 14.6 percent to $4.91, up 13.7 percent on a constant currency basis
Fiscal 2021 sales from continuing operations increased 8.6 percent to $132.5 billion, up 7.5 percent on a constant currency basis
Net cash provided by operating activities in fiscal 2021 was $5.6 billion, an increase of $70 million compared with fiscal 2020; Free cash flow was $4.2 billion, up $65 million year-over-year

Investing for the future

WBA announced a majority investment in Shields, an industry leader in integrated, health system-owned specialty pharmacy care.
Blue Shield of California and Walgreens announced a new strategic collaboration to expand access to healthcare, lower costs and bring innovative services to enhance the consumer experience for individuals, families and communities throughout California.
WBA and VillageMD continued roll-out of Village Medical at Walgreens, with 52 primary care practice locations currently open, and will have more than 80 open by the end of calendar year 2021.

 

[Mr. Wood]

WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES TRANSFORMATIONAL CONSUMER-CENTRIC HEALTHCARE STRATEGY TO FUEL LONG-TERM GROWTH
OCTOBER 14, 2021

The strategic plan was unveiled today during the company’s virtual investor conference, following the announcement of its fourth quarter and fiscal 2021 earnings. The WBA leadership team shared details on its new strategic priorities to deliver advantaged growth in community healthcare, including:

• Transform and align the core by building the pharmacy of the future to support and enable its healthcare strategy; Reimagining retail through expanded health and wellness offerings and mass personalization; Accelerating WBA brands and digital offerings; Expanding the Transformational Cost Management program
• Build the next growth engine with consumer-centric healthcare solutions: Accelerating the path to become a leading provider of local clinical care services; Leveraging a consumer-centric technology and pharmacy network to deliver and enable others to deliver value-based care; Strengthening partnerships with payors, providers and patients
• Focus the portfolio and optimize capital allocation: Prioritize core assets and healthcare ambitions and maintain the commitment to return cash to investors
• Build a high-performance culture and a winning team: Attract and retain a best-in-class, diverse team

 

[Mr. Wood]

Fastenal Company Reports 2021 Third Quarter Earnings
10/12/2021

We continue to experience pressure related to material and transportation cost inflation. This is true across our offering, but is particularly acute for fasteners and overseas shipping. Pricing actions taken throughout 2021 as part of our strategy to mitigate the impact of marketplace inflation on our gross margin percentage contributed to the increased impact of net pricing on sales in the third quarter of 2021.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Wells Fargo Reports Third Quarter 2021 Net Income of $5.1 billion, or $1.17 per Diluted Share
October 14, 2021

Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf commented on the quarter, “The actions we’re taking to improve operating effectiveness and financial returns are coming through in our results, in addition to the benefits we’re experiencing from the economic recovery. We recorded a $1.7 billion pre-tax reduction in the allowance for credit losses and had strong equity gains. More importantly, charge-offs were low, net interest income stabilized and period-end loans grew for the first time since first quarter 2020. Expenses continued to decline as we made progress on our efficiency initiatives, and we increased our capital return to shareholders by repurchasing $5.3 billion of common stock and increasing our dividend.”

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Kings In Focus: Coca-Cola
Updated on October 14th, 2021

Valuation & Expected Returns
Adjusted earnings-per-share for Coca-Cola are expected to reach $2.25 per share for 2021. Coca-Cola trades for a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.3.

This is a slight premium to our fair value estimate of 22 times earnings, which takes into account the stock’s historical valuations as well as future growth estimates. Should the stock revert to our fair value estimate of 22 times earnings over the next five years, it would introduce a 2.0% headwind to total annual returns.

Final Thoughts
Coca-Cola has a long and established track record of delivering steady dividends along with annual dividend increases, even during recessions and other challenging periods. We fully expect the company to make it through the coronavirus pandemic and emerge stronger than ever. The company has multiple growth catalysts and a dominant global position in the beverages industry.

The stock appears to be overvalued, which means right now may not be the best time to buy shares. But Coca-Cola should easily continue to pay its dividend, currently offering a solid yield above 3%. And, it should have little trouble raising the dividend each year.

As a result, while the stock is not a buy based on valuation, it is still an attractive holding for income-focused investors.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Kings In Focus: Altria Group
Updated on October 13th, 2021

Valuation & Expected Returns
Based on expected 2021 earnings-per-share of $4.62, Altria stock trades for a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.4, compared with our fair value estimate of 11.0.

As a result, Altria stock appears to be undervalued, which could result in positive returns from an expanding valuation multiple. If Altria’s P/E ratio rises from 10.4 to 11 over the next five years, shareholder returns would be boosted by 1.1% per year.

Final Thoughts
When it comes to dividend stocks, Altria is about as steady as they come. It has increased its dividend each year for over five decades, a highly impressive performance.

The company faces uncertainty due to the continued decline in smoking rates, but Altria has planned for the changing consumer landscape by investing in new products such as heated tobacco, e-vapor, and cannabis. These adjacent categories will fuel continued growth for years to come.

 

[Mr. Wood]

altho on trading, the 1st part on psychology oso v much for investing.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Update Reports

Badger Meter Inc. (BMI)
Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) --> link here
Blackrock Inc. (BLK)
Citigroup Inc (C)
Dominos Pizza Inc (DPZ)
Fastenal Co. (FAST) --> link here
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) --> link here
Morgan Stanley (MS) --> link here
Prologis Inc (PLD)
Viatris Inc (VTRS)
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA) --> link here
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)

 

[Mr. Wood]

https://www.suredividend.com/best-telecommunications-stocks/
The 5 Best Telecommunications Stocks Now

Updated on October 21st, 2021

#5: SK Telecom Co. Inc. (SKM)
#4: Telephone & Data Systems (TDS)
#3: Comcast Corporation (CMCSA)
#2: Verizon Communications (VZ)
#1: AT&T Inc. (T)

 

[Mr. Wood]

The Silent Tax Gets Louder
October 22, 2021
by Templeton and Phillips Capital Management, LLC

On the face of it, Nestle SA appears to be a large, almost sleepy food company with long-term sales growth in the low-to-mid single digits. By the way, this market perception is a good thing since it keeps most investors disinterested and therefore the shares attractively priced (e.g., value). However, the company and others like it in the branded consumer space have two important attributes that we believe will increasingly come to light in this inflationary environment.

The first, is pricing power, and the second is operating leverage. Pricing power simply means that when the firm raises its selling prices to recoup rising input costs, there is little corresponding loss in sales volume, and by operating leverage, we mean that increases in revenue create an exponential rise in operating income. When price increases and operating leverage combine, it can lead to earnings surprises and a rising share price (not to mention, increasing dividends, etc.).

 

[Mr. Wood]

Inflation to fall to acceptable levels in second half of 2022, Treasury secretary says
October 24, 2021

The prediction comes as rising prices strain Americans' wallets at grocery stores and fuel pumps amid high energy demand, already exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on the economy. Asked when she expects inflation -- which was 5.4% at the end of September -- to get back to the 2% range considered acceptable, Yellen told CNN's Jake Tapper that it would be the middle to second half of 2022.