US Dividends Aristocrats thread

[Mr. Wood]

Franklin Resources, Inc. Announces Month-End Assets Under Management

would it be better if all fund managers and unit trusts has monthly disclosures instead of quarterly?

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Part 47: Walmart
January 13th, 2020

While many retailers have struggled with adapting to the change in commerce shopping habits, Walmart has made the proper strategic investments in our view. The company’s e-commerce growth is reflective of this view.

The company has performed well and the stock has outpaced the S&P 500 over the past year. We find the company’s dividend track record to be impressive, even if the most recent raise was on the small side.

However, sometimes a great company can be a poor investment, if too high a valuation is placed on a stock. We feel this is the case with Walmart today. Despite its strong business model and growth potential, the stock appears to be significantly overvalued.

The extended rise in share price has absorbed much of the stock’s potential total return, implying that the next five years will result in weak returns to shareholders. We recommend investors looking to purchase shares of Walmart do so after a meaningful pullback.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Part 48: Cintas
January 13th, 2020

Cintas is a very strong company, with a high growth rate of earnings and dividends. However, due to the recent impressive rally in the stock price, Cintas now has a dangerously elevated valuation.

Another consequence of the huge share price increase in recent years is that the stock has a low dividend yield of under 1%.

While the company has a secure dividend payout with room for future dividend increases, the stock is simply overvalued. We rate it a sell despite its superior fundamentals simply because the valuation is so high.

If Cintas returns to a normalized valuation at or below our fair value estimate, it could once again earn a buy recommendation because of its strong growth and high-quality business.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Part 49: Walgreens Boots AllianceJanuary 14th, 2020

When it comes to retail stocks, there is a great deal of fear in the market. This is apparent, even with strong retailers like Walgreens. Not only are investors worried about a sluggish environment for brick-and-mortar retailers, but the threat of Amazon entering the healthcare industry is a constant overhang.

Walgreens remains a strong company, with a great brand and positive growth prospects moving forward. The addition of Rite Aid has allowed the company to grow its prescription drug market share.

In addition, Walgreens offers an above market dividend yield. Given the business fundamental, the company should have no trouble raising the dividend every year. We view the stock as significantly undervalued and rate the stock a buy.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Delta Air Lines Announces December Quarter and Full Year 2019 Profit
Jan 14, 2020

"2019 was a truly outstanding year on all fronts – the best in Delta's history operationally, financially and for our customers. Our people, and their commitment to bringing best-in-class travel experiences to our 200 million customers, are the foundation for our success. I'm pleased to recognize their outstanding performance with a record $1.6 billion in profit sharing for 2019," said Ed Bastian, Delta's chief executive officer. "As we enter 2020, demand for travel is healthy and our brand preference is growing, positioning Delta to deliver another year of strong results, including earnings per share of $6.75 to $7.75."

 

[Mr. Wood]

HanesBrands Names Interim Chief Financial Officer
January 14, 2020

HanesBrands (NYSE:HBI) announced today that current Chief Accounting Officer and Controller M. Scott Lewis will serve as interim chief financial officer, effective Jan. 9, 2020. Executive recruiting specialist Crist|Kolder Associates is assisting the company in the ongoing comprehensive search to fill the previously announced CFO vacancy.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Wells Fargo Reports Fourth Quarter 2019 Net Income of $2.9 Billion
January 14, 2020

Full year 2019 financial results:
Net income of $19.5 billion and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.05

Return on assets (ROA) of 1.02%, return on equity (ROE) of 10.23%, and return on average tangible common equity (ROTCE) of 12.20%3

 

[Mr. Wood]

McKesson ups 2020 earnings guidance
Jan. 13, 2020

Ahead of its presentation at JPMorgan's Healthcare Conference tomorrow, McKesson (NYSE:MCK) has revised its 2020 non-GAAP EPS outlook to $14.60 - 14.80 from $14.00 - 14.60. Consensus is $14.37.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Target Reports Holiday Sales and Maintains EPS Guidance
Jan. 15, 2020

Comparable sales grew 1.4 percent in the November/December period, on top of 5.7 percent comp growth last year. While sales were below expectations, the Company is maintaining its previous guidance for fourth quarter earnings per share.
The fourth quarter is on track to be the Company's 11th straight quarter of comparable sales growth.

Brian Cornell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Target Corporation, said, "We faced challenges throughout November and December in key seasonal merchandise categories and our holiday sales did not meet our expectations. However, because of the durability of our business model, we are maintaining our guidance for our fourth quarter earnings per share. We also remain on track to deliver historically strong full-year results in 2019, including comparable sales growth of more than 3 percent and record-high EPS reflecting mid-teens growth compared with last year.

 

[Mr. Wood]

UnitedHealth Group Reports 2019 Results
1/15/2020

Full Year Revenues of $242 Billion Grew $16 Billion or 7% Year-Over-Year

Full Year and Fourth Quarter Net Earnings Per Share of $14.33 and $3.68 Grew 18% and 19% Year-Over-Year

Full Year and Fourth Quarter Adjusted Net Earnings Per Share of $15.11 and $3.90 Grew 17% and 19% Year-Over-Year

Full Year Cash Flows from Operations were $18.5 Billion

 

[Mr. Wood]

JPMorgan trading surge helps fuel most profitable year ever
January 15, 2020

JPMorgan Chase & Co. just posted the best year for any U.S. bank in history.

Fueled by a rebound in trading, especially in fixed income, the company said profit jumped 21% in the fourth quarter, pushing annual earnings to a record $36.4 billion. The announcement led off this week’s round of industry profit reports on a high note, though analysts are predicting results for 2020 will come back down to earth.

news create fear of market collapse. bankers and agents sell fixed income funds. tada... best year ever.

anyone approached by agents in road shows in invest fair, last year was all abt uncertainty, high interest rate and trade war. look at one year later, none of these really crashed the markets.

over a long period of time, u will do just as well buying the markets. no need to waste money attend such scum trading courses.

 

[Mr. Wood]

ECONOMIC AND TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA PAHSE ONE
JANUARY 15, 2020

TLDR; got any summary will be welcomed.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Exclusive: Apple acquires Xnor.ai, edge AI spin-out from Paul Allen’s AI2, for price in $200M range
16 January 2020

Xnor.ai will provide Apple with edge computing capabilities that are in line with the Silicon Valley company’s interest in preserving data privacy — an issue that Apple CEO Tim Cook brought to the fore last year.

The issue is at the heart of a fresh controversy focusing on the Justice Department’s request to gain access to an iPhone used by a Saudi military trainee. That trainee, characterized as a terrorist, killed three people and wounded eight others last month during an attack on the grounds of Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida.

Apple would presumably have a special appreciation for the fact that Xnor.ai’s tools can keep AI data secure on mobile devices rather than sending it to the cloud.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Part 50: A.O. Smith
January 15th, 2020

A.O. Smith is an industry-leading company. It has the top brand in its category, with compelling future growth potential.

While currency and trade issues may impact performance in China in the short term, A.O. Smith has such a dominant market share of its industry that the company can likely weather near-term difficulties. Over the long-term, we believe the potential growth opportunities in emerging markets is highly attractive.

While the dividend yield is on the low side, A.O. Smith still beats the average yield of the S&P 500 Index. And, the company’s dividend growth is impressive.

Shares usually have to offer at least 10% annual returns in order to earn a buy recommendation from Sure Dividend. Due to projected returns falling short of this threshold, A.O Smith receives a hold recommendation at the moment.

However, on a pullback, investors looking for a high quality Dividend Aristocrat could find A.O. Smith stock to be a buying opportunity.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Part 51: Roper Technologies

January 15th, 2020

Roper has a high-quality business model and high single-digit earnings-per-share growth is not an unreasonable assumption moving forward. The stock is also a Dividend Aristocrat, and 10%+ annual dividend increases are also possible, thanks to the company’s high earnings growth rate.

Roper fits the bill of a great company, but not a great stock to buy at the present time. Again, this is simply due to overvaluation.

With a price-to-earnings ratio well above its historical average and our target level and a dividend yield below 1%, Roper does not seem to be at an attractive purchase price for value and income investors at the moment. Investors should wait for a meaningful pullback before buying the stock.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Part 52: Hormel
January 16th, 2020

Hormel has paid 365 consecutive quarterly dividends without interruption. It has established one of the longest streaks of dividend increases in the market, and is a Dividend King.

Consumer staples stocks, particularly food companies with strong brands, enjoy steady demand and pricing power. There is no question that Hormel has a strong business with a high-quality brand portfolio.

However, the stock is overvalued, meaning over the next five years investors are likely to receive the dividend but not much else. Even with projected EPS growth and dividends, overvaluation means the stock is pricing in too much growth today.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Part 53: Linde plc
January 17th, 2020

Linde stock has performed well since the merger with Praxair. Expectations are high for the potential of the combined company, but at this time we feel Linde’s stock is significantly overvalued.

Linde will be an industry leader with clear and durable competitive advantages. The company should grow revenue and earnings at a steady rate going forward, assuming the global economy stays out of recession.

However, while Linde is a strong business, the stock is too richly valued to buy today. While Linde should continue to raise its dividend each year, investors should wait for a significant decline in the share price before buying Linde stock.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Alphabet enters the four comma club
Jan. 17, 2020

Despite heightened regulatory scrutiny, Big Tech is bigger than ever before.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) became the fourth U.S. technology company to reach the $1T market cap level on Thursday, following Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, which has since slipped back to about $930B.

FAAAM is replacing FAANG? Adding Facebook into the group, the five most valuable U.S. tech companies are now worth a massive $5.2T, accounting for over 17% of the S&P 500.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Bank OZK Announces Fourth Quarter and Record Full Year 2019 Earnings
1/16/2020

“We are very pleased to have achieved record net income of $425.9 million in 2019 and a 1.87% return on average assets,” stated George Gleason, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Our strong credit culture and consistent discipline have been important ingredients in our long term success, and we are not wavering from those principles in today’s challenging competitive and interest rate environment. We believe our competitive advantages will allow us to capitalize on opportunities throughout 2020 and beyond.”

 

[Mr. Wood]

Microsoft announces it will be carbon negative by 2030
Jan. 16, 2020

“While the world will need to reach net zero, those of us who can afford to move faster and go further should do so. That’s why today we are announcing an ambitious goal and a new plan to reduce and ultimately remove Microsoft’s carbon footprint,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “By 2030 Microsoft will be carbon negative, and by 2050 Microsoft will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.”