TROW has raised its dividend each year for more than 25 consecutive years, qualifying it as one of the 52 dividend aristocrats. The stock has sold off with the market over the last six months, shedding more than 10%. While the stock is sensitive to the market's near-term gyrations, TROW's dividend is extremely safe and [...]
CMI’s stock has declined more than 20% over the past six months. Investors are concerned about the slowdown in China, softness in off-highway machinery markets caused by slumping commodity prices, and potentially peaking demand in the North American truck market. CMI serves a variety of cyclical markets around the world, and many of them have [...]
Building a large commercial jet is an unbelievable undertaking. While jet orders ebb and flow with the health of the global economy, we believe the long-term demand trajectory is up and to the right, and the jet industry’s competitive dynamics will ensure Boeing (BA) remains a key player in the market for decades to come. [...]
Dick Grasso, the former CEO and chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, called Broadridge “the most important firm on Wall Street that you’ve never heard of.” Sometimes, the most boring, under-the-radar businesses prove to be the best long-term investments. We think BR could be one of them...
The following five dividend stocks grew sales, GAAP earnings per share, and free cash flow during the 2008-09 financial crisis, allowing them to raise their dividends and outperform the S&P 500 by more than 25% in 2008. With global economies facing increased uncertainty and stock markets showing higher volatility in recent weeks, maintaining a dividend portfolio [...]
GE is one of the most unloved blue chip stocks. Almost anywhere you read a GE article on the internet, commentators are quick to rip into CEO Jeff Immelt, the company’s poor capital allocation decisions, the dividend cut during the financial crisis, the bureaucracy, the lack of capital returned to shareholders, the company’s deceptive PR [...]
With thousands of dividend stocks out there, finding good ideas is no small task. No two dividends are created equal, and chasing high dividend yields, high growth rates, or dividend aristocrats alone can be very dangerous. When we look for a dividend investment, we prefer to invest in companies that have survived over long periods [...]
Howard Marks, Chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, publishes memos that we enjoy following. He has been investing since the 1960s and maintains a very successful track record. Excerpts from his most recent memo, “It’s Not Easy,” are worth sharing. In the 15-page piece, Marks reviews more than 15 popular nuggets of investment “wisdom,” pointing out their [...]
Will rising interest rates hurt dividend stocks? Many income investors are asking themselves that question as it finally appears 2015 could be the year of higher interest rates. Many so-called “experts” expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise key interest rates by the end of the year. The last time the Federal Reserve raised rates was [...]
PM was spun off from MO in 2008, with MO serving the U.S. and PM retaining all international operations. With an industry as simplistic to understand as tobacco, there is temptation to assume that the major players are all similar enough to each other. As you will see, such an assumption is often dangerous...
Charles Dickens might as well have been describing the nature of highly cyclical businesses like CAT when he wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, [...]
Investors were excited by MCD’s recent announcement that it would start selling all-day breakfast beginning next month. The stock finished up nearly 3%, outpacing the market (+1.8%) and its peers (+1%). We are less confident that all-day breakfast will reverse declining domestic store sales and keep MCD out of our Top 20 Dividend Stocks list [...]
At the end of June 2015, Warren Buffett owned nearly $120 billion worth of equities and more than 80 businesses. Buffett’s investment success is largely derived from his exceptional ability to combine common sense valuation principles with impeccable business judgment. Once he finds a company he believes will continue earning reasonably high returns on capital and [...]