SPDR® S&P Dividend ETF

Archer Daniels Midland’s (ADM) revenue fell 9% YoY (year-over-year) to $15.63 billion in 2Q16—compared to $17.19 billion in the same quarter last year.

Viekira Pak managed to earn revenues worth about $414 million in 1Q16. The drug’s sales in the US market, however, fell YoY (year-over-year) by about 9.3% and reached $125 million in 1Q16.

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is slated to report its 2Q16 results on August 2 before the market opens. The stock has gained 12% since its last quarter results.

Estée Lauder aims to partner with key brick-and-mortar retailers to strengthen their prestige beauty shopping e-commerce websites to better meet consumer online shopping preferences.

The Clorox Company (CLX) has a market cap of $15.0 billion. It fell 0.67% and closed at $115.48 per share on November 23, 2016.

Around 77% of the analysts rate Archer Daniels Midland a “hold” and 23% gave it a “buy” rating. No analysts rated it as a “sell.”

The dividend and share buybacks are likely to provide some appeasement to Walmart shareholders in the face of anticipated headwinds. But what’s behind the value return plan are more troublesome.

Procter & Gamble recently announced a 4% hike in its quarterly dividend to $0.72 per share.

On January 9, 2017, Barclays upgraded Clorox’s rating to “equal-weight” from “underweight.” It set the stock’s price target at $111.0 from $115.0 per share.

The Home Depot’s returns have risen. According to HD’s CFO, Carol Tomé, HD expanded its return on invested capital (or ROIC) by 400 basis points to 26.2%.

The latest short interest report as of March 15, 2018, indicates that RPM International’s (RPM) short interest has increased since the beginning of 2018.

For RPM International, 54% of the analysts recommended a “buy,” 46% recommended a “hold,” and none of the analysts recommended a “sell.”

The smart beta approach aims to benefit from market inefficiencies to deliver higher risk-adjusted returns and improve diversification.

In 3Q17, AbbVie’s (ABBV) Lupron generated revenues of around $201 million, which reflected ~4% growth on a year-over-year (or YoY) basis.

Wall Street analysts have projected Cardinal Health’s fiscal 2018 net profit margins to be 1.0%, which will be similar to what the company reported in fiscal 2017.

What’s behind Seagate’s dividend yield  Seagate Technology (STX) is a data storage technology and solutions provider. The company’s revenue, which has fallen over the years, seems to have recovered in 2017. Its revenue has fallen 3% in 2017, compared with a fall of 19% in 2016 due to intense competition in the data storage market. The company’s […]

Nucor’s (NUE) PE ratio of 21.8x is pitted against a sector average of 19.4x. The dividend yield of 1.5% is pitted against a sector average of 1.4%.

Target’s (TGT) sales for 2016 fell 6.0% due to lower comparable store sales and weak store traffic.

Caterpillar’s (CAT) growth of 7.0% in total sales and revenues for the first half of 2017 were mainly driven by sales of the machinery, energy, and transportation segment.

In December 2016, the European Commission granted Venclyxto conditional marketing approval for the treatment of CLL in the presence of 17p deletion or TP53 mutation.

BD announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.73 per share on July 25, 2017.

VF Corporation (VFC) stock inched higher after the company posted better-than-expected 2Q17 results on July 24, 2017. The stock rose 3.4% on July 25, 2017.

Currently, RPM International is trading at a premium to its peer PPG Industries. RPM International plans to achieve $7.0 billion in revenues by 2020.

After losing 17% of its value in 2015 and 14% in 2016, VF Corporation’s (VFC) stock has risen 4.5% this year as of July 11.

Consumer Discretionary Select Index sales, earnings, and dividends have grown at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 6%, 7.2%, and 10.7%, respectively between 2012 and 2017.

If we compare the performances of the defensive sectors, we can see that their YTD performance and one-year performances have been reasonably uniform with the exception of the energy and telecom sectors.

AbbVie (ABBV) has a focused immunology pipeline in order to address various dermatologic and gastrointestinal conditions.

In 2016, AbbVie’s (ABBV) Lupron generated revenue of $821 million, a slight fall of 0.6% year-over-year (or YoY). In 1Q17, Lupron reported revenue of ~$194 million.

During its 1Q17 results, VFC’s board of directors announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, a rise of 13.5% YoY.

In the past three fiscal years, McCormick has returned more than $1.0 billion to its shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks.

Carlisle rose 0.02% to close at $108.22 per share on January 10, 2017. Its weekly, monthly, and YTD price movements were -0.95%, -5.1%, and -1.9%.

AbbVie (ABBV) has completed enrollment in its Phase 3 pivotal trials testing investigational therapy risankizumab as a treatment option for psoriasis.

In addition to endometriosis, AbbVie’s (ABBV) and Neurocrine Biosciences’s (NBIX) Elagolix is also being investigated as a therapy for uterine fibroids.

What products single out specifically the share buyback companies?

Let’s dive a little bit into the Alphadex® and Dividend Achievers products.

Because the Sunbelt region is the primary market for HVAC manufacturers that are Emerson’s customers, it could be a key growth driver in the coming quarters.

Clorox (CLX) has a market cap of $16.5 billion. It fell 0.77% to close at $123.09 per share on September 13, 2016.

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) reported its 2Q16 results on August 2. The stock didn’t react well to the results. It fell 2% on the same day.

The Clorox Company (CLX) rose by 0.88% to close at $132.22 per share during the first week of August 2016.

Engineered systems sales were responsible for 35.1% of Dover’s (DOV) total sales and 47% of its total segment profits in 2Q16.

For fiscal 2016, Lincoln Electric is targeting $400 million of share repurchases while $399 million was achieved in fiscal 2015.

Medtronic plans to launch more than 80 products over the next three years.

On April 11, 2016, Venclexta became the first BCL-2 inhibitor therapy to be approved by the FDA for chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with 17p deletion.

3M Company’s (MMM) Industrial business works with the top 20 global automotive (FSAVX) original equipment manufacturers (or OEMs) across their value chains.

Despite relying on dealers to sell its iconic tractors for almost a 100 years, Deere & Company (DE) began consolidating its dealer network in the mid-2000s.

For fiscal 2015, Lincoln Electric (LECO) successfully gave back $486 million to its shareholders.

AbbVie (ABBV) has invested substantially in developing innovative treatments in the oncology space such as Imbruvica, Venetoclax, and Duvelisib.

After the release of its 4Q15 earnings results, Becton, Dickinson and Company traded at forward price-to-earnings multiples in the range of 16.6x–17.2x.

AbbVie’s Viekira Pak is approved in 61 countries and should be approved in additional countries in 2016. In 3Q15, the drug performed better than expected in international markets, especially in Japan.

A close look at Essex Property Trust’s trailing-12-month price-to-FFO multiple shows that it’s in line with its historical valuation.

In February 2012, P&G planned to reduce its non-manufacturing overheads by 10% by June 2016. But the company since increased the productivity target to 22%.

P&G’s Gillette, Fusion, and Venus are its largest male and female grooming brands. It has continued to grow with ProGlide and FlexBall in the US.

Steel shipments are a key driver of steel companies’ earnings. They help to increase revenues and to improve capacity utilization and profitability.

Walmart had $2.6 billion in 2Q16 capital expenditures due to ongoing digital investments and plans to expand its store footprint. The company increased its net store count by 43 in the quarter.

Nucor could have used acquisition funds otherwise. But there’s massive overcapacity in steel, and shareholders could ridicule it for being conservative.

In this series, we’ll explore some of the key highlights of major steel companies’ 2Q15 earnings. Most steel companies reported higher steel shipments in 2Q15 compared to 1Q15.

Strong steel demand indicators in the US market have helped steel companies’ shipments in 2Q15.

At the 4Q15 earnings call, P&G’s CEO repeatedly emphasized the company’s focus on “value creation” and “sustainable growth” for its multiple brands and segments.

A strong market position and brand image are some of Colgate’s chief strengths. Colgate holds 44.4% of the global market share in toothpaste.

Colgate has several consumer innovation centers. These primarily look at consumer behavior for inspiring new products and their variants.

Colgate (CL) has been paying uninterrupted dividends on its common stock since 1895.

Colgate’s (CL) oral, personal, and home care segment is the company’s largest segment, accounting for 86.9% of sales or $15 billion in 2014.

Colgate-Palmolive Company, or Colgate (CL), markets its products in over 200 countries and territories. Its supply chain function is complex as a result.

Colgate’s stock price has always been fairly stable primarily due to its oral care business.

The Health Care segment is P&G’s smallest segment. The segment’s net revenue for the year ending June 30, 2014, was $7.8 billion, or 9.5% of the company’s total net revenue.

Home Depot plans to raise its dividend payout ratio to $2.36 in fiscal 2016, an increase of 25.5% over last year.

Walmart is a dividend aristocrat, a select group of S&P 500 Index (SPY) companies with a history of raising dividends for at least 25 years.

Walmart (WMT) has a history of increasing dividends. Its stock is classified as a dividend aristocrat. At 2.4%, Walmart’s dividend yield is healthy.

VFC’s marketing dollars are designed to get the most returns from its stores, other retailers (wholesale customers), and its e-commerce websites.