Boeing's (BA) best-selling plane model, the 737 MAX, has been grounded since mid-March following two deadly crashes. Analysts had estimated this plane series would account for about two-thirds of the company's future deliveries and roughly 40% of Boeing's total profit. Understandably, many investors remain concerned about the risks Boeing faces from this ordeal. Based on what we [...]

Down more than half from their mid-2015 high, shares of WPP (WPP) yield nearly 7% today. The global advertising conglomerate has paid uninterrupted dividends for more than 20 consecutive years, but its business has faced challenges from the rise of digital marketing and shifting client needs.  In most cases, a company's financials paint a fairly clear [...]

Down more than half from their mid-2015 high, shares of WPP (WPP) yield nearly 7% today. The global advertising conglomerate has paid uninterrupted dividends for more than 20 consecutive years, but its business has faced challenges from the rise of digital marketing and shifting client needs. 

Imperial Brands (IMBBY) boasts an impressive track record of raising its dividend by 10% each year for the past decade, thanks to the predictable cash flow its tobacco business has historically generated.  However, shifting consumer habits and regulatory changes have challenged the tobacco market, sending Imperial Brands' dividend yield soaring to 9%.  With a Borderline Safe Dividend [...]

AbbVie (ABBV) announced plans to acquire Allergan (ANG) in a deal valued at more than $80 billion, including assumed debt.  As a result of this planned transaction, we are downgrading AbbVie's Dividend Safety Score from a rating of Safe to Borderline Safe. This isn't necessarily a reason to sell the stock if you own it but simply reflects the company's [...]

Walt Disney founded his namesake company in 1923, and since then the business has gone on to become one of the most iconic brands ever created. Today Walt Disney (DIS) is a leading entertainment company with about $60 billion in revenue.  The media conglomerate is highly diversified and vertically integrated, with four major business segments. [...]

On Monday, EQM Midstream Partners, LP (EQM) announced yet another cost increase and delay to its targeted in-service date for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, or MVP.  The MVP project is by far the firm's most important growth opportunity, representing over two-thirds of EQM's current backlog and accounting for about 15% of firm-wide EBITDA upon completion. The successful [...]

In business for more than 100 years, Southern Company (SO) is a major regulated utility involved in selling electricity and distributing natural gas, primarily across the Southeastern U.S. The firm's eight vertically integrated electric and gas utilities serve customers across Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi.  Southern Company’s mix of business and service territories significantly changed [...]

Omnicom (OMC) was formed in 1986 by the merger of three large advertising conglomerates. Today the firm is the world's second largest provider of advertising and marketing communication services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.  As a full-service agency, Omnicom provides numerous services, including designing ad campaigns, making the actual ads, determining [...]

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) owns dozens of infrastructure assets located across five continents. Some examples of the partnership's assets include electrical transmission lines, railroads, toll [...]

Enbridge (ENB) investors have had a rough few years, with shares of North America's largest pipeline operator losing more than 20% since early 2015, including dividends. Unfortunately, investors received more bad news earlier this month. On June 3, the Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned approval for an important part of the firm's Line 3 Replacement Project, which [...]

Phillips 66 (PSX) shares are down about 30% since their mid-2018 high. As a result, the stock's dividend yield now exceeds 4%, the highest level since Phillips 66 was spun off from ConocoPhillips (COP) in 2012.  Let's take a closer look at why the market has become pessimistic about Phillips 66 and assess why the [...]

Shares of Lowe's (LOW) have slumped more than 15% since the home improvement retailer released earnings on May 22, including the stock's worst-ever single-day loss of 12%. The market is notorious for overreacting to short-term results, even for quality dividend kings such as Lowe's. However, the world of retail is also evolving as e-commerce and trade wars [...]

Longtime tobacco investors know a thing or two about the challenges this industry can face. From regulatory pressures to costly settlement agreements, over the years income investors have had to stomach bouts of severe volatility. In fact, Altria's (MO) share price was nearly cut in half in the early 1990s when the Supreme Court ruled [...]

In March 2019, I published a note reviewing Tanger's dividend safety. In my concluding remarks, I had stated the firm's dividend still looked safe, but investors needed to watch the performance of Tanger's tenants (emphasis added): Tanger's operating results have significantly deteriorated in recent years, driven largely by its exposure to troubled apparel retailers. While Tanger's [...]