wall street
The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF, $38.79, symbol SDOG on New York (Units outstanding: 24.3 million; Market cap: $942.6 million; www.alpssectordividenddogs.com), is an ETF that applies the “Dogs of the Dow” theory on a sector-by-sector basis using the stocks in the S&P 500. The fund’s MER is 0.40%. The Dogs of the Dow approach involves buying the lowest-priced, highest-yielding stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. At the end of each year, you pick the 10 stocks from the 30-stock Dow with the highest dividend yields. You then invest an equal dollar amount in each, hold them for one year and repeat these steps annually. The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF picks five stocks from each of the 10 sectors as defined by the S&P 500 index—consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials, information technology, materials, telecommunication services and utilities. The ETF picks the stocks with the highest dividend yields. Each holding is then equally weighted so that every company has a similar influence on the ETF’s total return. The end result is a portfolio of 50 large cap stocks....
Here are four we cover in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter. Three are buys and one is a hold. C.R. Bard, $166.50, symbol BCR on New York (Shares outstanding: 74.9 million; Market cap: $12.6 billion; www.crbard.com), continues to develop successful new medical devices. For example, it should soon receive approval to start selling a catheter that uses a drug-coated balloon to treat clogged arteries. Products like this are helping Bard offset the 2.3% tax it has to pay on certain medical devices it sells in the U.S. under Obamacare. C.R. Bard is a buy. Pfizer, $30.29, symbol PFE on New York (Shares outstanding: 6.3 billion; Market cap: $190.4 billion; www.pfizer.com), is the world’s largest maker of prescription drugs. Its main brands include Lyrica (epilepsy), Celebrex (arthritis), Viagra (erectile dysfunction) and Prevnar (a pneumonia vaccine). The company also makes popular over the-counter drugs, including Advil (pain relief), Centrum (vitamins) and Robitussin (cough syrup). Pfizer is a buy....
PETSMART INC., $78.70, Nasdaq symbol PETM, operates 1,387 pet stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also has 201 in-store PetsHotel boarding facilities for dogs and cats. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended November 2, 2014, PetSmart’s earnings declined 0.1%, to $92.16 million from $92.22 million a year earlier. However, earnings per share rose 4.5%, to $0.92 from $0.88, on fewer shares outstanding. Activist investment firms Jana Partners and Longview Asset Management each own about 9% of the company’s stock. Under pressure from these investors, PetSmart is now lowering its overhead and other costs, with the goal of cutting $200 million from its annual expenses by the end of fiscal 2016....
Every Thursday we bring you our best U.S. stock picks. You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You will read about stocks making moves you should know about, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster. Procter & Gamble’s sales have slowed in recent years, mainly due to competition from cheaper generic brands. In response, the company is eliminating less profitable household goods and cutting costs. It’s also doing a good job of developing new products and finding new markets for existing ones. These moves will give Procter more room to adjust its prices without hurting its profit margins. They’ll also provide more cash for share buybacks and dividend hikes....
WAL-MART STORES INC., $82.96, New York symbol WMT, rose 5% this week after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. In the third quarter of its 2015 fiscal year, which ended October 31, 2014, Wal-Mart’s earnings fell 0.4%, to $3.71 billion from $3.73 billion a year earlier. However, earnings per share rose 0.9%, to $1.15 from $1.14, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $1.12. Revenue rose 2.9%, to $119.0 billion from $115.7 billion, also exceeding the consensus forecast of $118.4 billion. If you disregard unfavourable currency rates, Wal-Mart’s sales would have risen 3.1% in the latest quarter....
Every Thursday we bring you our best U.S. stock picks. You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You will read about stocks making moves you should know about, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster.
This company provides vital services in the investment industry. It’s a market leader with a well-established brand, which makes it hard for competitors to lure away its customers.
BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. (New York symbol BR; www.broadridge.com)serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 85% of all proxy votes in the U.S.
Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $0.30 a share in its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended September 30, 2014. That’s down 23.1% from $0.39 a year earlier. The decline came from higher compensation, plus expanded sales and marketing costs, related to new business.
Overall revenue gained 1.9%, to $555.8 million from $545.2 million. Revenue from contracts that pay recurring fees rose 4% and accounted for two-thirds of the total. The remaining third comes from one-time events, such as notifications of special shareholder meetings and distributing information when mutual funds change managers.
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This company provides vital services in the investment industry. It’s a market leader with a well-established brand, which makes it hard for competitors to lure away its customers.
BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. (New York symbol BR; www.broadridge.com)serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 85% of all proxy votes in the U.S.
Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $0.30 a share in its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended September 30, 2014. That’s down 23.1% from $0.39 a year earlier. The decline came from higher compensation, plus expanded sales and marketing costs, related to new business.
Overall revenue gained 1.9%, to $555.8 million from $545.2 million. Revenue from contracts that pay recurring fees rose 4% and accounted for two-thirds of the total. The remaining third comes from one-time events, such as notifications of special shareholder meetings and distributing information when mutual funds change managers.
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Central Fund of Canada, $12.69, symbol CEF.A on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 254.4 million; Market cap: $3.7 billion; www.centralfund.com), is a closed-end mutual fund that holds gold and silver bullion. It now holds 57.4% of its assets in gold bullion, 41.9% in silver bullion and 0.7% in cash.
Central Fund trades at a 10.9% discount to the per-unit value of the assets it holds. It has a 0.32% MER, and the units yield 0.09%.
If you want to buy gold or silver, we recommend staying away from gold or silver bullion, coins (unless you collect them as a hobby) or certificates representing an interest in bullion. That’s because commodity investments like gold and silver bullion do not generate income. Instead, they come with a continuing cash drain for management, insurance, storage and so on. You either pay these costs directly or through a premium built into the price of, say, a futures contract.
That’s why we recommend that you invest in gold through gold- or silver-mining stocks. Unlike bullion, these stocks at least have the potential to generate income. However, Central Fund of Canada is a relatively low-cost and liquid way to hold physical gold and silver, and the 10.9% discount to its net asset value also adds appeal.
If you want to invest in gold and silver bullion, Central is okay to hold.
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Central Fund trades at a 10.9% discount to the per-unit value of the assets it holds. It has a 0.32% MER, and the units yield 0.09%.
If you want to buy gold or silver, we recommend staying away from gold or silver bullion, coins (unless you collect them as a hobby) or certificates representing an interest in bullion. That’s because commodity investments like gold and silver bullion do not generate income. Instead, they come with a continuing cash drain for management, insurance, storage and so on. You either pay these costs directly or through a premium built into the price of, say, a futures contract.
That’s why we recommend that you invest in gold through gold- or silver-mining stocks. Unlike bullion, these stocks at least have the potential to generate income. However, Central Fund of Canada is a relatively low-cost and liquid way to hold physical gold and silver, and the 10.9% discount to its net asset value also adds appeal.
If you want to invest in gold and silver bullion, Central is okay to hold.
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SYMANTEC CORP., $24.97, Nasdaq symbol SYMC, sells computer-security technology, including antivirus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended October 3, 2014, Symantec’s earnings fell 7.5%, to $332 million from $359 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings declined 5.9%, to $0.48 from $0.51, on fewer shares outstanding. Even so, that beat the consensus forecast of $0.43. Revenue declined 1.2%, to $1.62 billion from $1.64 billion, but still matched the consensus estimate....
Every Thursday we bring you our best U.S. stock picks. You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You will read about stocks making moves you should know about, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster. Today’s stock is covered in our advisory on more aggressive investing, Stock Pickers Digest.
DEVON ENERGY CORP. (New York symbol DVN; www.dvn.com) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 48% gas and 52% oil.
In 2011, Devon sold all of its international and Gulf of Mexico properties, which it saw as risky and expensive to develop.
The company narrowed its focus even further with the July 2014 sale of some of its properties to Linn Energy for $2.3 billion. The sale included Devon’s holdings in the Rockies, the onshore Gulf Coast and the Mid-Continent region (which includes Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas).
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DEVON ENERGY CORP. (New York symbol DVN; www.dvn.com) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 48% gas and 52% oil.
In 2011, Devon sold all of its international and Gulf of Mexico properties, which it saw as risky and expensive to develop.
The company narrowed its focus even further with the July 2014 sale of some of its properties to Linn Energy for $2.3 billion. The sale included Devon’s holdings in the Rockies, the onshore Gulf Coast and the Mid-Continent region (which includes Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas).
VISA INC., $241.43, New York symbol V, hit an all-time high of $242.50 this week after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. In its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter, which ended September 30, 2014, Visa’s earnings rose 13.8%, to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 17.8%, to $2.18 from $1.85, on fewer shares outstanding. The latest earnings exclude a $450-million lawsuit settlement. On that basis, they beat the consensus estimate of $2.10 a share. Revenue rose 8.6%, to $3.23 billion from $2.97 billion, also beating the consensus forecast of $3.19 billion....