Founded in 1958 as BankAmericard, Visa (V) helped pioneer modern credit. The company was the first to offer credit cards to consumers and also introduced the debit card in 1975, for example. Today Visa has become the world's second largest payment process network operator (second only to China's UnionPay). Its payment network stretches the [...]
Founded in 1902, OGE Energy (OGE) is a regulated electric utility that generates and distributes power in Oklahoma (91% of electric revenue) and western Arkansas. Its coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants, wind farms, and solar panels serve 842,000 customers in 267 mostly rural and suburban communities. The company has a total of seven [...]
Founded in 1903 in Dearborn, Michigan, Ford (F) is the third largest automaker by revenue with approximately 7% global market share. In 2017 the company sold more than 6.6 million cars, SUVs, and trucks under the Ford and Lincoln brands in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. While Ford [...]
Buckeye Partners (BPL) traces its roots back to 1886 as the Buckeye Pipe Line Company, part of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil empire. Over 30 years ago the business changed its corporate structure to that of a master limited partnership (MLP). Today Buckeye Partners operates a global portfolio of petroleum and petroleum product pipelines [...]
Founded in 1907 by two teenagers making retail deliveries, United Parcel Service (UPS) is now the world’s largest package delivery company, serving more than 220 countries and territories. Thanks to a global fleet of more than 110,000 vehicles and over 550 aircraft, UPS delivers 20 million packages and documents each day for 1.5 million shipping [...]
Founded in 1862, Union Pacific (UNP) owns and operates over 32,000 miles of railroads linking 23 states in the western two-thirds of the United States. The company also has about 8,600 locomotives and more than 64,000 rail cars. The company's railways connect with all of the major ports on the West Coast and Gulf [...]
Founded in 1934, United Technologies (UTX) is a global industrial conglomerate that provides technology products and services to building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. The company operates four main segments, some of which have existed for as long as 90 years (Pratt & Whitney) and 165 years (Otis elevators). Climate, Controls & Security (29% [...]
Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT) is a hotel REIT that went public in 2009. The company focuses on upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels. The company works with well-known and trusted brands such as Marriott, Hampton Inn, Hyatt, and Hilton. Source: Chatham Investor Presentation The company owns interests in 135 hotels totaling over [...]
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is one of the world's oldest banking institutions, tracing its roots back to 1799. Today it's the largest bank in the U.S., with over 5,100 branches, 16,000 ATMs, and $2.5 trillion in assets. This includes more than $900 billion in loans and $1.4 trillion in deposits, 27% of which are in non-interest [...]
Knowing which sector a company is in can help you maintain a well-diversified income portfolio. Today we rolled out new and improved sector classifications from Standard & Poor's (S&P). There are 11 standardized sectors that all companies fall under. Your portfolio's sector mix report has been updated with these sectors as well. Here's [...]
Many pipelines are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which has the ability to set rates. Any change in regulations by the FERC could significantly impact cash flows and the rate of an MLP’s distribution growth. The FERC’s job is to ensure that companies charge “just and reasonable” fees and that exploration [...]
Founded in 1949 in Canada as IPL Energy (changed name to Enbridge in 1998), Enbridge (ENB) is North America's largest midstream energy company. Enbridge's network of oil & gas gathering, storage, processing, and transportation systems connect the continent's most vital oil & gas producing regions. By division, liquids pipelines are expected to account for [...]
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (BIP) is one of the fastest growing and most diversified utilities in the world. In fact, the limited partnership (a corporate structure similar to that of a Master Limited Partnership, or MLP) owns 35 infrastructure assets on five continents. Some examples of the partnership's assets include electrical transmission lines, railroads, [...]
Ventas (VTR) was founded in 1983 and is the second largest medical REIT in the country, with more than 1,200 properties in the U.S. and the U.K. Ventas' property portfolio consists primarily of seniors housing communities, medical office buildings, life science centers, and inpatient rehab and long-term acute care facilities. The largest source of [...]
Walt Disney founded his namesake company in 1923, and since then the business has gone on to become one of the most iconic brands on earth. Today, Walt Disney (DIS) is a leading entertainment company with over $55 billion in revenue. The company is highly diversified and vertically integrated, with four major business segments: Media [...]