Philip Morris International (PM) was spun off from Altria (MO) in 2008, with Altria serving the U.S. and Philip Morris owning the international rights to all of Altria’s most famous brands, including Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Bond Street, Chesterfield, Lark, Muratti, Next, and Red & White. Philip Morris markets its cigarette brands to [...]

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, or 3M (MMM), was founded in 1902 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The global industrial conglomerate markets over 60,000products used in homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals in more than 200 countries around the world. 3M is a highly diversified company with five main business segments that cover over 45 technology platforms, ranging from [...]

Realty Income (O) was founded in 1969 and is one of the largest REITs in America. The company owns more than 5,600 properties located in 49 states and leases its buildings to 260 commercial tenants operating in 48 diverse industries. In recent years the REIT has begun diversifying into non-retail properties, including offices (4% of [...]

Chevron (CVX) was founded in 1879 and became a standalone company after the breakup of Standard Oil in 1911. Today Chevron is one of the largest integrated oil companies in the world, with major operations in over 30 countries. The business operates across four segments: U.S. Upstream Operations (18% of operating earnings): Chevron explores for, develops, [...]

Founded in 1890, Emerson Electric (EMR) is a global industrial conglomerate that serves a variety of industries including oil and gas, refining, chemicals, power generation, pharma, food and beverages, pulp and paper, metal and mining, and municipal water supply. Emerson Electric brings together technology and engineering to provide solutions for customers in the process, industrial, [...]

The vast majority of dividend cuts can be spotted in advance. Dividend cutters often possess some combination of a dangerously high payout ratio, falling earnings, and too much debt. Unfortunately, Vale's (VALE) announcement on January 27 to suspend all dividends, share repurchases, and management bonuses was triggered by a swift and severe tragedy – the collapse of [...]

Exxon Mobil (XOM) is one of the world’s oldest oil companies, founded in 1870. It’s also the world’s largest publicly traded integrated oil conglomerate, with nearly 30,000 oil & gas wells on six continents. In fact, thanks to its refining and petrochemical business, Exxon has a presence in almost every country on earth. The company [...]

Department store retailer Macy's (M) has fallen about 40% since August 2018, including a single-day plunge of nearly 20% on January 10. Meanwhile, Macy's dividend yield has soared to over 6%, a level that causes many investors to start questioning the retailer's dividend safety. Let's take a look at why Macy's is being so badly [...]

Ventas (VTR) was founded in 1983 and is the second largest medical REIT in the country, with nearly 1,200 properties in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. The firm's 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 Ventas's [...]

Consolidated Edison (ED) was recently downgraded by Bank of America Merrill Lynch on concerns that the firm's renewable energy business could run into trouble given its exposure to troubled utility PG&E (PCG). With PG&E planning to pursue Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the end of the month due to the liabilities it faces from its role [...]

Shares of Altria (MO) slumped 7% today, pushing them to their lowest price in over four years while extending their decline to more than 30% since early November 2018. As has been the case since Altria's stock peaked in mid-2017, regulatory fears continue weighing on investor sentiment. The latest development occurred on Friday, January 18, [...]

Broadcom (AVGO) investors have had plenty to worry about in recent months including: Broadcom's exposure to the trade war with China, which accounts for nearly 50% of the company's sales Apple's (AAPL) iPhone slowdown, since the smartphone maker generates 25% of Broadcom's revenue Broadcom's $18.9 billion acquisition of CA Technologies (CA), which will strain the [...]

Founded in 1970, Welltower (WELL) has grown to become one of America’s largest medical REITs. The company owns more than 1,600 properties across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., but 83% of its real estate investments (and rent) are from U.S. properties. The company's properties serve over 300,000 residents and are essentially involved in every [...]

Verizon (VZ) is the largest wireless service provider in the U.S. The firm was founded in 1983 as Bell Atlantic but became Verizon in 2000 after its $65 billion merger with telecom giant GTE. The company’s 4G LTE network is available to more than 98% of the country’s population (over 320 million people) in over [...]

Main Street Capital (MAIN) is a business development company, or BDC. All BDCs are basically middle market lenders, which means they lend or take equity stakes in the 200,000 or so subprime businesses that generate about a third of the U.S. economy. Essentially, BDCs serve a market of small companies across the country that regular [...]