Category Archives: FRS

Analyst Estimate: Dividend Watch List

Below is a ranking from our November 9, 2012 watch list based on the analyst’s low earnings estimate for 2013. This list ranks the potential price gain at 10% and above assuming that the analyst’s lowest estimate for earnings materialize and the P/E ratio remains the same as when our original watch list was created.

We chose to utilize the analyst’s low estimates because the mean and high estimates for stocks tend to be too optimistic. By going with the lowest or most pessimistic estimate, we have the ability to “play it safe” for the company prospects going forward.

Symbol
Name Price % Yr Low P/E EPS (ttm) 2013 low EPS est. # of analysts est. price est. % change
UNM Unum Group 19.66 7.55% 23.13 0.85 3.2 16 $74.02 276.48%
JCI Johnson Controls Inc  25.52 9.20% 14.34 1.78 2.76 18 $39.58 55.09%
FRS Frisch’s Restaurants, Inc 17.75 6.29% 16.9 1.05 1.48 n/a $25.01 40.91%
TMP Tompkins Financial Corp. 38.65 7.90% 15.84 2.44 3.38 3 $53.54 38.52%
ABM ABM Industries, Inc. 19.02 6.55% 19.61 0.97 1.32 6 $25.89 36.09%
SON Sonoco Products Co. 30.45 6.43% 17.11 1.78 2.3 14 $39.35 29.24%
FDS FactSet Research Systems 89.83 5.21% 21.8 4.12 5.07 8 $110.53 23.04%
UTX United Technologies Corp. 75.84 7.71% 15.6 4.86 5.98 18 $93.29 23.01%
WGL WGL Holdings, Inc. 38.19 1.43% 19.39 1.97 2.4 7 $46.54 21.85%
MSEX Middlesex Water Company  18.65 7.37% 21.69 0.86 1.04 3 $22.56 20.95%
OMI Owens & Minor, Inc. 29.02 6.03% 16.97 1.71 2.05 7 $34.79 19.88%
STBA S&T BanCorp., Inc.  16.51 5.29% 13.99 1.18 1.4 7 $19.59 18.63%
BUSE First Busey Corp.  4.41 1.38% 20.05 0.22 0.26 5 $5.21 18.21%
EGN Energen Corp. 43.43 8.22% 15.29 2.84 3.35 12 $51.22 17.94%
RAVN Raven Industries, Inc.  27.4 9.21% 18.77 1.46 1.69 1 $31.72 15.77%
NJR New Jersey Resources Corp. 41.21 0.68% 18.23 2.26 2.61 6 $47.58 15.46%
IBKC IBERIABANK Corp.  47.9 8.18% 19.01 2.52 2.9 10 $55.13 15.09%
PEP PepsiCo Inc. 68.85 10.78% 18.31 3.76 4.31 14 $78.92 14.62%
IBM IBM 189.64 7.10% 13.63 13.91 15.88 23 $216.44 14.13%
APD Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. 79.73 4.76% 14.66 5.44 6.2 17 $90.89 14.00%
TNC Tennant Co. 36.96 6.24% 18.12 2.04 2.3 4 $41.68 12.76%
JW-A John Wiley & Sons Inc. CL ‘A’ 42.34 0.76% 13.03 3.25 3.6 2 $46.91 10.79%
CAH Cardinal Health, Inc.  40 8.37% 12.66 3.16 3.49 15 $44.18 10.46%
FNB F.N.B. Corp. 10.65 8.78% 13.83 0.77 0.85 10 $11.76 10.38%

The refinement of our November 9, 2012 watch list should improve the usefulness of that list as a way of determining which companies to concentrate your investment dollars. The very last column is where we believe additional adjustments could be made. As an example, the very first stock on our list is UNM with an expected gain of +276.48% in the coming year (assuming the P/E ratio remains the same with the estimated 2013 earnings). We like to assume that we’d only achieve half of what the potential might be. In the case of UNM, our adjusted expectation is that the stock could gain as much as +138.24% (all thing being equal).

U.S. Dividend Watch List: October 12, 2012

Below are the 50 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are within 11% of their respective 52-week lows. Stocks that appear on our watch lists are not recommendations to buy. Instead, they are the starting point for doing your research and determining the best company to buy. Ideally, a stock that is purchased from this list is done after a considerable decline in the price and rigorous due diligence.

Symbol Name Price % Yr Low P/E EPS (ttm) Dividend Yield Payout Ratio
INTC Intel Corp. 21.48 0.38% 9.10 2.36 0.90 4.19% 38%
ABM ABM Industries, Inc. 18.12 1.51% 18.68 0.97 0.58 3.20% 60%
EXPD Expeditors International 34.78 1.70% 20.70 1.68 0.56 1.61% 33%
IBKC IBERIABANK Corp. 45.25 1.78% 20.38 2.22 1.36 3.01% 61%
CLC Clarcor Inc. 44.69 2.92% 18.39 2.43 0.54 1.21% 22%
ERIE Erie Indemnity Company 63.20 3.39% 22.49 2.81 2.21 3.50% 79%
WGL WGL Holdings, Inc. 39.09 3.82% 19.84 1.97 1.60 4.09% 81%
JW-A John Wiley & Sons Inc. CL 'A' 45.06 4.21% 13.86 3.25 0.80 1.78% 25%
MATW Matthews International Corp. 29.13 4.48% 13.12 2.22 0.36 1.24% 16%
ETP Energy Transfer Partners L P 42.61 3.85% 9.05 4.71 3.58 8.40% 76%
CRR Carbo Ceramics, Inc. 64.49 5.14% 11.29 5.71 1.08 1.67% 19%
HRL Hormel Foods Corp. 28.83 5.68% 16.02 1.80 0.60 2.08% 33%
PBI Pitney Bowes Inc 13.36 5.70% 3.91 3.42 1.50 11.23% 44%
CAT Caterpillar Inc. 82.82 5.84% 9.26 8.94 2.08 2.51% 23%
OMI Owens & Minor, Inc. 29.06 6.17% 15.79 1.84 0.88 3.03% 48%
VVC Vectren Corp. 28.78 6.55% 14.84 1.94 1.40 4.86% 72%
ED Consolidated Edison, Inc. 59.83 6.71% 16.53 3.62 2.42 4.04% 67%
SON Sonoco Products Co. 30.59 6.92% 15.53 1.97 1.20 3.92% 61%
STBA S&T BanCorp., Inc. 16.85 7.46% 14.28 1.18 0.60 3.56% 51%
SRCE 1st Source Corp. 22.06 7.56% 11.55 1.91 0.68 3.08% 36%
MCD McDonald's Corp. 92.51 7.67% 17.39 5.32 3.08 3.33% 58%
BUSE First Busey Corp. 4.76 7.69% 19.04 0.25 0.16 3.36% 64%
APD Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. 82.00 7.74% 13.00 6.31 2.56 3.12% 41%
UTX United Technologies Corp. 75.96 7.88% 15.92 4.77 2.14 2.82% 45%
UNM Unum Group 19.75 8.04% 26.69 0.74 0.52 2.63% 70%
ANAT American National Insurance 72.01 8.16% 10.65 6.76 3.08 4.28% 46%
PNY Piedmont Natural Gas Co., Inc. 31.28 8.24% 20.05 1.56 1.20 3.84% 77%
VLY Valley National BanCorp. 9.85 8.24% 14.49 0.68 0.65 6.60% 96%
CWT California Water Service 18.58 8.40% 21.11 0.88 0.63 3.39% 72%
SJW SJW Corp. 24.59 8.90% 21.76 1.13 0.71 2.89% 63%
LM Legg Mason, Inc. 24.39 9.08% 22.58 1.08 0.44 1.80% 41%
FDS FactSet Research Systems Inc. 93.28 9.25% 22.64 4.12 1.24 1.33% 30%
MDU MDU Resources Group Inc. 21.48 9.31% 19.01 1.13 0.67 3.12% 59%
AMAT Applied Materials Inc. 10.90 9.33% 13.13 0.83 0.36 3.30% 43%
BDX Becton, Dickinson and Co. 76.62 9.38% 13.88 5.52 1.80 2.35% 33%
GD General Dynamics Corp. 66.10 9.53% 9.69 6.82 2.04 3.09% 30%
RBCAA Republic BanCorp., Inc. 20.49 9.87% 4.06 5.05 0.66 3.22% 13%
RLI RLI Corp. 68.06 10.02% 13.24 5.14 1.28 1.88% 25%
SFNC Simmons First National Corp. 24.83 10.11% 16.12 1.54 0.80 3.22% 52%
NJR New Jersey Resources Corp. 45.27 10.12% 20.03 2.26 1.60 3.53% 71%
RAVN Raven Industries, Inc. 27.68 10.32% 18.96 1.46 0.42 1.52% 29%
PPL PP&L Corporation 29.44 10.34% 10.01 2.94 1.44 4.89% 49%
DOV Dover Corp. 55.33 10.35% 12.03 4.60 1.40 2.53% 30%
SJI South Jersey Industries, Inc. 51.49 10.68% 16.19 3.18 1.61 3.13% 51%
JCI Johnson Controls Inc 25.87 10.70% 10.31 2.51 0.72 2.78% 29%
MSEX Middlesex Water Company 19.23 10.71% 24.04 0.80 0.74 3.85% 93%
CAH Cardinal Health, Inc. 40.89 10.78% 13.11 3.12 0.95 2.32% 30%
STR Questar Corp. 20.20 10.81% 17.12 1.18 0.68 3.37% 58%
EMR Emerson Electric Co. 48.35 10.92% 14.65 3.30 1.60 3.31% 48%
COP ConocoPhillips 56.17 10.96% 6.56 8.56 2.64 4.70% 31%
50 Companies

Watch List Review

Topping out list this week is Intel (INTC). The stock continues to be under pressure especially after Advance Micro Devices (AMD) issued a profit warning. Speculation about job cuts, as much as 2,340 jobs (20% of the work force), is also circulating. AMD shares were down -14% on Friday. Despite that, Intel share were down just less than -1%.  At the current price, INTC is yielding 4.19% with a conservative payout ratio of 38%. While the short-term picture seems grim, with the PC market slowing to a halt, we still believe the that there is significant value built into INTC and it shouldn’t be ignored. Again, we took a position in Intel about a week ago and would be very excited to see it trade down to $16.

ABM Industries (ABM) has been trading in a "line" formation (between $18-$20) for nearly three months. The stock appears to be retesting the $18 level we saw in mid-July. The company announced a definitive agreement to purchase Air Serv which provides facility management services to airlines and airports. ABM expects to add $650 million to their top line through this acquisition. Based on that, we assume a Price-to-Sales ratio of 0.24 which is a decent figure. Our valuation model shows a possible downside to $15 and upside to $24, a –19%/+34% risk/reward.

Top Five Performance Review

In our ongoing review of the NLO Dividend Watch List, we have taken the top five stocks on our list from October 14, 2011 and have check their performance one year later. The top five companies on that list can be seen in the table below.

Symbol Name 2011 Price 2012 Price % change
WAG Walgreen Co. 32.90 35.94 9.24%
PEP PepsiCo Inc. 62.09 70.05 12.82%
BDX Becton, Dickinson and Co. 73.85 76.62 3.75%
AROW Arrow Financial Corp. 22.73 24.74 8.84%
FRS Frisch's Restaurants, Inc 19.52 17.13 -12.24%
Average 4.48%
DJI Dow Jones Industrial 11,644.49 13,328.85 14.46%
SPX S&P 500 1,224.58 1,428.59 16.66%

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Our top five underperformed the market by nearly 10% partly due to the loss from Frisch (FRS).  All of the stocks on our watch list achieved a +10% gain within a year.  In fact, 4 of 5 stocks achieved 15% gains within the year. 

Despite the year end losses in FRS, it should be noted that in the process to FRS having a losing year, it also had the largest increase in the year.  FRS gained as much as +67% before collapsing within the last two months.  The performance of FRS is among the primary reasons why we choose to consider selling if the gain exceeds the historical average.