Value Investing News

Fair value is really a simple concept. Given some select information such as dividends, dividend growth, holding period, discount rate and few other inputs, one can easily calculate the fair value of a stock. As with most simple things, the devil is in the details - the inputs must be correct to calculate a reasonable fair value, otherwise, garbage in, garbage out.

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Have you noticed that investing in dividend growth stocks has gone main stream? What a change from a couple of years ago when dividends were considered "stodgy, for old people, yawn, boring!" With its new found attention, dividend growth stocks aren't disappointing their newly acquired fans. When all is said and the last word is written, 2011 was a great year for dividends!

32 best dividend stocks selected for 2012 based on valuation and earnings.

To make our world easier to understand and explain, we like to organize and categorize things into groups for ease of reference. Dividend Stocks are no different. They can be placed into a few categories based on their historic performance and expectations for the future. Here are three broad categories and some representative selections from each:

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Who wouldn't like to earn a safe 15% on their original investment? Normally double-digit returns are the fodder of con artists or associated with extraordinarily risky investments. In either of these cases, the person is usually left holding despair in one hand and an empty wallet in the other. However, I have discovered that you can actually enjoy high yields with minimal risk...

The latest 10-K filing by WALGREEN CO

Walgreen Co. is the largest U.S. retail drug chain in terms of revenues, this company operates more than 8,000 drug stores throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

Payback is the amount of time needed for an investment to earn its cost, undiscounted. Once you earn back your investment, some might say you are in a no-lose situation. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but you have found an investment that that has provided you a good historical revenue stream, and hopefully it will continue to do so in the future.

This week week, I screened my dividend growth stocks database for stocks that will be yielding 10% in 10 years at current yield and dividend growth rate (based on Monday's close). The results are presented below:

If we were able to design the perfect dividend stock it would be one that is both high-yield and provide a high dividend growth rate. Its share price would appreciate ratable with its increasing dividend. All of this would be driven by increasing earnings and cash flow.

Dividends are not paid with sales, earnings, EPS, EBIT or EBITDA. Instead dividends are paid with cash. As an investor, you want to pay close attention to the cash flow statement. Unfortunately, it is probably the least used and most misunderstood statement. Ultimately, cash flow is what drives the value of any financial asset.

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Just as picking fruit from a mango tree does not harm it, living off dividends does not damage the investment’s ability to produce future results. A mango tree’s life will easily span an entire generation. Similarly, well-chosen dividend investments will not only provide income in retirement, but can be passed to your children who can continue to reap the benefits.

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When selecting dividend growth stocks, I take a value approach in determining the maximum price I can pay and still obtain my long-term target. The focus is on the investment's value derived from the future dividend stream generated by the stock. Since I am looking at stocks differently than many other investors, I can often find value, as I have defined it, when others can not.

The natural inclination is to buy the stock with the highest yield, Sometimes it may be the best stock. Other times the high-yielding stock is the next in line to cut its dividend and/or see its price collapse. So how do find pick and choose between the alternatives to find the best available dividend stock? Here is what I look for when buying a dividend growth stock for my long-term portfolio:

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For most people fortunate enough to be born in the U.S., or any other industrialized country, they have access to the two main ingredients to achieve financial success: 1. Opportunity and 2. Time. Unfortunately, very few people are able to take advantage of the situation enough to even build a secure retirement.