Apple will announce its 14th year of dividend growth in the latter half of April. Ake Ngiamsanguan/iStock Editorial via Getty Images This is the latest in my series of articles where I provide predictions of annual dividend increases for long-term dividend growth companies. At the end of March, I provided predictions for 9 dividend growth companies that have historically announced annual payout in...
Apple will announce its 14th year of dividend growth in the latter half of April. Ake Ngiamsanguan/iStock Editorial via Getty Images This is the latest in my series of articles where I provide predictions of annual dividend increases for long-term dividend growth companies. At the end of March, I provided predictions for 9 dividend growth companies that have historically announced annual payout increases in the first half of April. In this article I’ll look at another 15 dividend growth companies that I expect will announce their annual dividend increases in the second half of April. Before I get to my predictions for the next two weeks, let's see how I did with my predictions (you can see the article with my original predictions here .) (All yields are based on stock prices at the market close on Friday, April 17th.) Results for Dividend Increase Announcements in the First Half of April AON plc ( AON ) – 15 years of dividend growth Prediction: 10.1 – 12.8% increase to $3.28 - $3.36 Actual: 10.1% increase to $3.28 Forward yield: 0.99% The Irish insurance broker continues to compound its dividend at 10% annually. American Water Works Co., Inc. ( AWK ) – 17 years Prediction: 6.9 – 9.1% increase to $3.54 - $3.61 Actual: Deferred to the 2nd half of April The New Jersey-based utility should announce its next annual increase when it reports earnings on April 30th. Costco Wholesale Corporation ( COST ) – 22 years Prediction: 11.5 – 13.1% increase to $5.80 - $5.88 Actual: 13.1% increase to $5.8 Forward yield: 0.59% As expected, the wholesale retailer continues to grow its payout at 12-13% annually. H. B. Fuller Company ( FUL ) – 56 years Prediction: 5.3 – 7.4% increase to $0.99 - $1.01 Actual: 4.3% increase to $0.98 Forward yield: 1.52% Dividend growth continues to slow at the specialty chemical company as this year’s payout increase is down from 5.6% last year. Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) – 64 years Prediction: 5.8 – 6.9% increase to $5.50 - $5.56 Actual: 3.1% increase to $5...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images MercadoLibre ( MELI ) is one of, if not the best, Latin American companies out there. Yet, the stock has only returned around 19% in the past five years after huge gains in the five years before that. But that's the opportunity. MELI Stock Chart (TradingView) The valuation has now caught up to the growth potential, with a forward PEG ratio not too far a...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images MercadoLibre ( MELI ) is one of, if not the best, Latin American companies out there. Yet, the stock has only returned around 19% in the past five years after huge gains in the five years before that. But that's the opportunity. MELI Stock Chart (TradingView) The valuation has now caught up to the growth potential, with a forward PEG ratio not too far away from 1x. Some investors might be worried about the company's investments in growth, which have hurt margins a bit, but I'd argue that MercadoLibre is making the right move. And it's doing what it always does, investing in the future to capture more profits over time. Analysts expect margins to recover next year and in 2028, which can propel the stock higher relatively soon. Additionally, it's a leader in Latin American e-commerce by far, and its market share is expected to get bigger over time, all while EPS growth is forecast to be in the 28-40% range for the next three years. For these reasons, I give MELI stock a Buy rating. The Clear Market Leader, and That Should Continue According to EMARKETER, MercadoLibre had a 33% share of total retail e-commerce sales in Latin America last year. The closest competitor is Amazon, at 10.7%, and it's not even close. That's despite Amazon entering the Latin American market 14 years ago. Retail E-Commerce Market Share In Latin America ( eMarketer ) If Amazon can't overtake MercadoLibre in Latin America, that's a testament to MELI's moat. According to an article from the University of Michigan: Marcos Galperin [MercadoLibre's co-founder and CEO] has credited the success of the MercadoLibre because they built the platform from the ground up and developed a unique, technological and commercial solution designed to meet the distinctive cultural and geographical challenges of operating an online trading solution in Latin America. Operating an online marketplace in Latin America, where shipping and postal routes are generally less reliab...
Pope Leo sought to downplay his feud with US President Donald Trump on Saturday, saying reporting about comments he has made so far during his Africa tour “has not been accurate in all its aspects”. Speaking to reporters in English aboard his flight to Angola for the third leg of his ambitious 10-day Africa tour, the first US pope said comments he made two days earlier in Cameroon decrying tha...
Pope Leo sought to downplay his feud with US President Donald Trump on Saturday, saying reporting about comments he has made so far during his Africa tour “has not been accurate in all its aspects”. Speaking to reporters in English aboard his flight to Angola for the third leg of his ambitious 10-day Africa tour, the first US pope said comments he made two days earlier in Cameroon decrying that the world was being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not aimed at Trump. That speech, said...
Colin Temple/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Shares of F.N.B. Corporation ( FNB ) have been a strong performer over the past year, rallying 42%. It has been a strong 12 months for most banking stocks, as fears about credit losses last April amid tariff announcements never came to pass. FNB (which operates the First National Bank) has delivered especially strong underwriting results, while its ca...
Colin Temple/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Shares of F.N.B. Corporation ( FNB ) have been a strong performer over the past year, rallying 42%. It has been a strong 12 months for most banking stocks, as fears about credit losses last April amid tariff announcements never came to pass. FNB (which operates the First National Bank) has delivered especially strong underwriting results, while its capital position is peer-leading. These strengths have left me bullish on shares, reiterating them at a buy when I last covered FNB in January . Shares are up slightly since then, similar to the broader market. With updated financials, now is a good time to revisit shares. Seeking Alpha In the company’s first quarter , F.N.B. Corporation earned $0.38, which was in line with expectations . EPS was up 19% from last year thanks to balance sheet growth and widening margins, while credit quality has been excellent. Deposits averaged $38.4 billion in the quarter, and balances were up 3.8% from last year, a very healthy level given a competitive environment for deposits. This growth was led by strength in money market balances. There has been a shift away from CDs to these deposit types as they offer greater flexibility for FNB to cut rates should the Fed pivot to a dovish stance, unlike CDs, which are fixed out for a contractual period of time. I was also encouraged to see non-interest-bearing (“NIB”) balances up about $200 million from last year, as these are very accretive to margins. Interest-bearing deposit costs were down 36bps from last year at 2.4%. With more than $7 billion of balances still over 3.25%, I see scope to continue pushing down deposit rates. F.N.B. Corporation On the asset side of its balance sheet, average loans were $34.9 billion, which was up 2.5% from last year. It has a diversified portfolio with a quarter in commercial real estate, a quarter in residential mortgages, 21% in traditional business lending, and then a host of smaller exposures. During the qua...