Recently, concerns of investors have continued to mount over the future of Coca-Cola (KO) and other soda makers like PepsiCo (PEP) in the wake of increased obesity epidemic in the U.S., Mexico and many other developed countries across the globe that usually contribute a huge part of Coca-Cola's yearly revenue. Really, it isn't without some good reasons that Coca-Cola has been the favorite of many discerning investors over many decades, like Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) with a 400 million share stake in Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has established itself as a strong financial performer in all major indices. The stock has consistently earned huge revenues and maintained solid earnings per share for several decades. Some other benefits that have caused many individual and institutional investors to love Coca-Cola's stock include consistent growth in dividend increases, good free cash flow and its solid share buyback policy.
Some recent reports like the one here and here indicate that soda consumption in the U.S. has fallen drastically in the last few years. While the first report indicates that soda consumption in the U.S. fell for the eighth consecutive year, the latter shows that the sales of diet carbonated soft drinks have also plummeted 6.9% year over year (YoY) which is even more intriguing. The first report says that people have been opting for energy drinks and bottled water whenever there was the need to quench their thirst. The question is, do these reports indicate that tough times await Coca-Cola and other major soda manufacturers in the long run? How much of concern should we have about these reports?
Top 10 Valued Companies To Buy For 2015: Altria Group(MO)
Altria Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, smokeless products, and wine in the United States and internationally. It offers cigarettes under the Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Parliament, Benson & Hedges, Basic, and L&M brands; smokeless tobacco products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, Husky brands, and Marlboro snus brands; and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco. The company also produces and sells blended table wines under the Chateau Ste Michelle and Columbia Crest names; and distributes Antinori and Villa Maria Estate wines and Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte in the United States. In addition, it maintains a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases in rail and surface transport, aircraft, electric power, real estate, and manufacturing. The company sells its tobacco products to wholesalers, including distributors; large retail organizations, such as chain stores; and the armed services. Altria Group, Inc. markets its wine products to restaurants, wholesale clubs, supermarkets, wine shops, and mass merchandisers. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is a company that keeps managing to remain influential. It has started to pick up its effort in the e-cigarettes market, and rumors of industry consolidation would make it even more defensive — plus it has a minority stake in SABMiller for beer. Trading at $36.50, Altria has a 52-week range of $33.12 to $38.58. The consensus price target from analysts is now $40.00. Altria also has a high dividend yield of 5.3% and a submarket valuation of 14 times expected earnings. This may change some day, but betting that the tobacco industry will disappear has just not ever worked.
- [By Kofi Bofah]
According to several measures, estimates, and projections, Microsoft and Intel both trade for near 15 times current earnings. The stock market, of course, functions as a pricing mechanism that discounts future growth. As such, the current price-to-earnings ratio of 15 is too much to pay for underlying businesses that have offered nothing, in terms of real growth, for more than one decade. If anything, investors should only expect Microsoft and Intel to return greater percentages of capital back to shareholders, in the form of aggressive dividend increases and stock buyback programs. Consumer staples stocks, such as Coca-Cola (KO) and Altria (MO), however, offer more favorable risk versus reward metrics as income investments. Both Microsoft and Intel deserve sell ratings.
- [By Bryan Murphy]
Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO) and Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) might want to take a look over their shoulder... or perhaps take another, longer look. Not only is the cigarette space as competitive as ever for the likes of LO and MO, but there are some new faces playing the game. And, their strategy is to play the game in a way that's never been played before. Even more alarming to the likes of Altria and Lorillard? These new players are already showing some great progress with this "new way", and are on pace to capture $10 billion of the current annual cigarette market by 2017, up from around $1.0 billion last year.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of�Philip Morris International has gained 1.7% to $86 at 1:08 p.m., while Altria Group (MO) has advanced 1.2% to $42.07, Lorillard (LO) has risen 2.1% to $61.25 and Reynolds American (RAI) is up 1.1% at $58.40.
Top Dividend Stocks To Watch For 2014: Federated Investors Inc. (FII)
Federated Investors, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm provides its services to individuals, including high net worth individuals, banking or thrift institutions, investment companies, pension and profit sharing plans, pooled investment vehicles, charitable organizations, state or municipal government entities, and registered investment advisors. Through its subsidiaries, it manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and money market mutual funds and separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. The firm invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe. It invests in growth and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap companies. The firm makes its fixed income investments in ultra-short, short-term, and intermediate-term mortgage-backed, U.S. Government, U.S. Corporate, high yield, and municipal securities. It employs a fundamental and a quantitative analysis to make its equity investmen ts. The firm also makes sector-focused equity investments. Federated Investors was founded in 1955 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with an additional office in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Lately, though, T. Rowe Price hasn't benefited as much from share-price gains. Competitor Invesco (NYSE: IVZ ) has managed to expand its margins and produce growth among its current lineup of funds, with exposure to a big range of markets that leaves it broadly placed to serve its customers' needs. But for T. Rowe Price and peer Federated Investors (NYSE: FII ) , investors haven't been putting as much money to work in their funds as analysts had expected to see, and that has led to some growth shortfalls. Federated in particular missed its earnings estimates in its most recent quarter, and analysts see growth there slowing to just 3%. T. Rowe Price has better prospects, retaining its double-digit revenue growth, but after a substantial move upward at the beginning of the year, its stock has treaded water.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
But there are winners–and they’re any stock that’s helped by higher rates. There are mutual fund companies with big money-market fund businesses, who wouldn’t be forced to run these funds for what is essentially free. Federated Investors (FII), for instance, has jumped 2.1% to $27.99. Life insurance companies, too, are rising because they should be able to earn more on their investments. MetLife (MET), for instance, has risen 1.3% to $53.03.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
For money market fund managers, the debt ceiling drama is just the latest in a long series of challenges. Low rates have forced Federated Investors (NYSE: FII ) , Schwab (NYSE: SCHW ) , and many other major money market fund managers to subsidize their funds, accepting reduced management fees just to keep their interest rates from going negative. As the graph below shows, fund levels have fallen sharply in response to those low rates as well, hurting fund managers' profitability.
Top Dividend Stocks To Watch For 2014: Intel Corporation(INTC)
Intel Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of integrated circuits for computing and communications industries worldwide. It offers microprocessor products used in notebooks, netbooks, desktops, servers, workstations, storage products, embedded applications, communications products, consumer electronics devices, and handhelds. The company also provides system on chip products that integrate its core processing functionalities with other system components, such as graphics, audio, and video, onto a single chip. In addition, it offers chipset products that send data between the microprocessor and input, display, and storage devices, including keyboard, mouse, monitor, hard drive, and CD, DVD, or Blu-ray drives; motherboards designed for desktop, server, and workstation platforms, and that has connectors for attaching devices to the bus; and wired and wireless connectivity products consisting of network adapters and embedded wireless cards used to translate and transmit data across networks. Further, the company provides NAND flash memory products primarily used in portable memory storage devices, digital camera memory cards, and solid-state drives; software products comprising operating systems, middleware, and tools used to develop, run, and manage various enterprise, consumer, embedded, and handheld devices; and software development tools that enable the creation of applications. Additionally, it develops computing platforms, which are integrated hardware and software computing technologies designed to offer an optimized solution. The company sells its products principally to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, PC components and other products users, and other manufacturers of industrial and communications equipment. It has a strategic alliance with Scientific Conservation Inc. Intel Corporation was founded in 1968 and is based in Santa Clara, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By iStockAnalyst]
[Related -Intel Corporation (INTC): This Chart Says Intel Is Due For A 16% Pop]
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), on its earnings call, said that the PC business is stabilizing given strength in the professional segment but that non-professional revenue (consumer) was down 22 percent sequentially, and the company continues to see volatility in the consumer PC space.
- [By MONEYMORNING]
Consider that Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) alone spent $10 billion on R&D in 2012. Apple is a major beneficiary of all that research - Intel has supplied the semiconductors for iMacs and MacBooks for years.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) released earnings that looked fine on the surface on Thursday, but the flat revenue outlook for 2014 did not entice buyers when the stock was close to 52-week highs. Even news that the PC market is stabilizing did not move the needle much here. Intel shares were down 2.6% at $25.84 right before the close, but that was up about 1% from its real lows of the day. Intel was a drag on most other chip stocks. Headlines came out late in the day that Intel was looking at 5% workforce reductions in 2014.
- [By Steve Heller]
One of the more notable tidbits unearthed during Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC ) second-quarter earnings conference call was that CFO Stacy Smith eased gross profit margin concerns by reaffirming the company's long-term target range of 55% to 65%.
Top Dividend Stocks To Watch For 2014: Seadrill Limited(SDRL)
Seadrill Limited, an offshore drilling contractor, provides offshore drilling services to the oil and gas industries worldwide. It also offers platform drilling, well intervention, and engineering services. As of March 31, 2011 the company owned and operated 54 offshore drilling units, which consist of drillships, jack-up rigs, semisubmersible rigs, and tender rigs for operations in shallow and deepwater areas, as well as in benign and harsh environments. Seadrill Limited was founded in 1972 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
And with Diamond Offshore being the first of the offshore drillers to report, you can imagine the effect it’s having on others. Seadrill (SDRL) has dropped 1.1% to $37.63, Transocean (RIG) has fallen 2.4% to $42.25, Noble (NE) has declined 2% to $32.51 and Ensco (ESV) is off 1.8% at $53.09.
- [By Matt DiLallo]
Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL ) reported earnings last week. The contract driller recorded its best operating quarterly result ever and is primed for more as drilling picks up. Let's drill down into the results and see what made this quarter so good.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Atwood have dropped 1.9% to $45.45 at 3:38 p.m. and pulled down other offshore players. Noble has fallen 1.4% to $48.68, Transocean has declined 1.9% to $41.60,�Rowan�(RDC) is off 0.8% at $31.41 and�Seadrill (SDRL) has dropped 1.8% to $35.53.
Top Dividend Stocks To Watch For 2014: ITT Industries Inc.(ITT)
ITT Corporation designs, manufactures, and sells a range of engineered products, and provides related services worldwide. Its Defense & Information Solutions segment develops tactical communications equipment, electronic warfare and force protection equipment, radar systems, integrated structures equipment, and imaging and sensor equipment, including night vision goggles, as well as weather, location, surveillance, and other related technologies for military and government agencies. It also provides services comprising air traffic management, information and cyber solutions, large-scale systems engineering, and integration and defense technologies; satellite-based imaging payloads for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions; and high-resolution commercial imaging systems with earth and space science applications, climate and environmental monitoring sensors and systems, and GPS navigation and software applications designed for image and data processing and dissemination. The company?s Fluid Technology segment provides water transport and wastewater treatment systems, pumps and related technologies, and other water and fluid control products with municipal, residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Its Motion & Flow Control segment manufactures shock absorbers and brake friction materials for the transportation industry; switch applications for the industrial and aerospace industries; electrical connectors used in telecommunications, computers, aerospace, medical, and industrial applications; and a range of pumps and tailored products for marine, food and beverage, and general industrial markets. The company was formerly known as ITT Industries, Inc. and changed its name to ITT Corporation in July 2006. ITT Corporation was founded in 1920 and is based in White Plains, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By MONEYMORNING]
This 85-year-old forest products company operates as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) after being first acquired, then later spun off, by ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT).
- [By Aaron Levitt]
Spun-off from industrial giant ITT (ITT) a few years ago, Xylem (XYL) could be a great starting point for investors looking at water stocks. Aside from its cool and appropriate name, XYL provides host of equipment — pumps, controllers and filtration devices — for wastewater treatment plants across the globe.
- [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]
This is a logical deal for SKF on multiple fronts. For starters, Kaydon will meaningfully expand the company's U.S. presence - something it could have done on its own eventually, but certainly not without spending money. With that, there is the possibility of using Kaydon's existing U.S. footprint to sell more SKF products and further trouble rivals like RBC Bearings (ROLL) and ITT (ITT).
Top Dividend Stocks To Watch For 2014: ENSCO plc(ESV)
Ensco plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services to the oil and gas industry. The company engages in the drilling of offshore oil and natural gas wells by providing its drilling rigs and crews under contracts with international, government-owned, and independent oil and gas companies. As of February 15, 2010, it owned and operated 42 jackup rigs, 4 ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rigs, and 1 barge rig. The company also has 4 ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rigs under construction. It operates in Asia, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. The company was formerly known as Ensco International plc and changed its name to Ensco plc in March 2010. Ensco plc was founded in 1975 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Abbvie (ABBV)
Ameren Corp. (AEE)
Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG)
E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DD)
ENSCO (ESV)
Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)
General Mills (GIS)
H&R Block (HRB)
Hancock Holding (HBHC)
Kraft Foods Group (KRFT)
Lorillard (LO)
Magellan Midstream Partners LP (MMP)
MarkWest Energy Partners L P (MWE)
McDonald’s (MCD)
Microchip Technology (MCHP)
NextEra Energy (NEE)
Regency Centers (REG)
TELUS Corp. (TU)
West Corp. (WSTC)
Williams Companies (WMB) - [By Teresa Rivas]
However a Deutsche downgrade hurt offshore drillers including Transocean (RIG), Diamond Offshore (DO) and Ensco International (ESV). Elsewhere, Michael Kors��(KORS) first quarter didn�� live up to investors��high expectations while McDonald�� (MCD) managed to come back from earlier losses related to the impact of the tainted meat scandal in China.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Offshore drillers like Ensco (ESV), Seadrill (SDRL) and Rowan (RDC) are sinking today, but shares of Transocean (RIG) have managed to stay afloat.
AFPTransocean has gained 0.9% to $41.85 at 1:22 p.m. today, even as Ensco has fallen 1.3% to $50.89, Seadrill has plunged 3.1% to $34.87 and Rowan has dipped 0.8% to $30.89.
Transocean’s gain comes a day after the offshore driller fell 4.3% following its better-than-expected earnings release. Howard Weil’s Dave Wilson explains why Transocean fell yesterday:
As we expected, the quarterly performance was discounted heavily as the outlook really did not change.� Even the achievement on the revenue efficiency front, hitting the highest level since early 2008, which we thought was great, did not carry much weight with investors.� At the end of the day, the Company still has roughly 20 floaters that are set to roll off contract in both 2014 and 2015 (��0 per year), which in this environment will leave investors cautious on the name.
The focus now is on Transocean’s ability to offload some of its rigs, explains Cowen’s J.B. Lowe:
Transocean’s next step in the company’s multi-stage process of divesting non-core assets and high-grading the company’s fleet is the creation of Caledonia Offshore. Transocean announced Monday that it will create its new entity with the purpose of divesting its North Sea semisubmersile rigs. The Sedco 704, Sedco 711, Sedco 712, Sedco 714, Transocean John Shaw, Transocean Prospect, GSF Artic III and the J.W. McLean which combined have an average age of over 30 years old (from build not upgrade) will all be part of the new entity. On the company’s 1Q14 earnings conference call, Transocean set the time line for the creation of Caledonia Offshore for 2H14 but said that the company would decide at a later point whether it would look to sell the company to a direct public or private buyer, spin the company or IPO.<
- [By Ben Levisohn]
And with Diamond Offshore being the first of the offshore drillers to report, you can imagine the effect it’s having on others. Seadrill (SDRL) has dropped 1.1% to $37.63, Transocean (RIG) has fallen 2.4% to $42.25, Noble (NE) has declined 2% to $32.51 and Ensco (ESV) is off 1.8% at $53.09.
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