All posts by PARKERYL

New bimetallic commemorative:

“Belgium 2 euro 2025 – National lotery“

TECHNICAL DATA
External ring: copper-nickel
Center disc: nickel-brass, nickel and nickel-brass three layers
Diameter: 25.75 mm
Weight: 8.50 g
Thickness: 2.20 mm



(image and data from www.herdenkingsmunten.be)

LINK: Herdenkingsmunten België

Updated on February 24th, 2024 by Bob Ciura
Spreadsheet data updated daily

Real estate investment trusts – or REITs, for short – can be fantastic securities for generating meaningful portfolio income. REITs widely offer higher dividend yields than the average stock.

While the S&P 500 Index on average yields less than 2% right now, it is relatively easy to find REITs with dividend yields of 5% or higher.

The following downloadable REIT list contains a comprehensive list of U.S. Real Estate Investment Trusts, along with metrics that matter including:

• Stock price
• Dividend yield
• Market capitalization
• 5-year beta

You can download your free 200+ REIT list (along with important financial metrics like dividend yields and payout ratios) by clicking on the link below:

 

In addition to the downloadable Excel sheet of all REITs, this article discusses why income investors should pay particularly close attention to this asset class.

And, we also include our top 7 REITs today based on expected total returns.

Table Of Contents

In addition to the full downloadable Excel spreadsheet, this article covers our top 7 REITs today, as ranked using expected total returns from The Sure Analysis Research Database.

The table of contents below allows for easy navigation.

How To Use The REIT List To Find Dividend Stock Ideas

REITs give investors the ability to experience the economic benefits associated with real estate ownership without the hassle of being a landlord in the traditional sense.

Because of the monthly rental cash flows generated by REITs, these securities are well-suited to investors that aim to generate income from their investment portfolios. Accordingly, dividend yield will be the primary metric of interest for many REIT investors.

For those unfamiliar with Microsoft Excel, the following images show how to filter for high dividend REITs with dividend yields between 5% and 7% using the ‘filter’ function of Excel.

 

Step 1: Download the Complete REIT Excel Spreadsheet List at the link above.

Step 2: Click on the filter icon at the top of the ‘Dividend Yield’ column in the Complete REIT Excel Spreadsheet List.

Step 3: Use the filter function ‘Between’ along with the numbers 0.05 and 0.07 to display REITs with dividend yields between 5% and 7%.

This will help to eliminate any REITs with exceptionally high (and perhaps unsustainable) dividend yields.

Also, click on ‘Largest to Smallest’ at the top of the filter window to list the REITs with the highest dividend yields at the top of the spreadsheet.

Now that you have the tools to identify high-quality REITs, the next section will show some of the benefits of owning this asset class in a diversified investment portfolio.

Why Invest in REITs?

REITs are, by design, a fantastic asset class for investors looking to generate income.

Thus, one of the primary benefits of investing in these securities is their high dividend yields.

The currently high dividend yields of REITs is not an isolated occurrence. In fact, this asset class has traded at a higher dividend yield than the S&P 500 for decades.

Related: Dividend investing versus real estate investing.

The high dividend yields of REITs are due to the regulatory implications of doing business as a real estate investment trust.

In exchange for listing as a REIT, these trusts must pay out at least 90% of their net income as dividend payments to their unitholders (REITs trade as units, not shares).

Sometimes you will see a payout ratio of less than 90% for a REIT, and that is likely because they are using funds from operations, not net income, in the denominator for REIT payout ratios (more on that later).

REIT Financial Metrics

REITs run unique business models. More than the vast majority of other business types, they are primarily involved in the ownership of long-lived assets.

From an accounting perspective, this means that REITs incur significant non-cash depreciation and amortization expenses.

How does this affect the bottom line of REITs?

Depreciation and amortization expenses reduce a company’s net income, which means that sometimes a REIT’s dividend will be higher than its net income, even though its dividends are safe based on cash flow.

Related: How To Value REITs

To give a better sense of financial performance and dividend safety, REITs eventually developed the financial metric funds from operations, or FFO.

Just like earnings, FFO can be reported on a per-unit basis, giving FFO/unit – the rough equivalent of earnings-per-share for a REIT.

FFO is determined by taking net income and adding back various non-cash charges that are seen to artificially impair a REIT’s perceived ability to pay its dividend.

For an example of how FFO is calculated, consider the following net income-to-FFO reconciliation from Realty Income (O), one of the largest and most popular REIT securities.

Source: Realty Income Annual Report

In 2023, net income was $872 million while FFO available to stockholders was above $2.8 billion, a sizable difference between the two metrics.

This shows the profound effect that depreciation and amortization can have on the GAAP financial performance of real estate investment trusts.

The Top 7 REITs Today

Below we have ranked our top 7 REITs today based on expected total returns.

Expected total returns are in turn made up from dividend yield, expected growth on a per unit basis, and valuation multiple changes. Expected total return investing takes into account income (dividend yield), growth, and value.

Note: The REITs below have not been vetted for safety. These are high expected total return securities, but they may come with elevated risks.

We encourage investors to fully consider the risk/reward profile of these investments.

For the Top 10 REITs each month with 4%+ dividend yields, based on expected total returns and safety, see our Top 10 REITs service.

Top REIT #7: Innovative Industrial Properties Inc. (IIPR)

• Expected Total Return: 15.4%
• Dividend Yield: 10.5%

Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. is a single-use “specialty REIT” that exclusively focuses on owning properties used for the cultivation and production of cannabis.

Because the industry is in the midst of a legal transition, there are constraints on capital available to businesses engaged in the marijuana business.

Due to the cannabis boom over the past few years, as well as its exclusivity in terms of the listing giving the trust access to public markets, Innovate Industrial Properties is a unique REIT.

On November 6th, 2024, Innovative Industrial Properties released its Q3 results for the period ending September 30th, 2024. For the quarter, revenues and normalized AFFO/share were $75.6 million and $2.25, both down 1.7% compared to last year.

Revenues declined due to a $3.0 million drop in rent and property management fees from repossessed properties since June 2023, and a $1.3 million decrease from reclassified sales-type leases.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on IIPR (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Top REIT #6: Clipper Realty (CLPR)

• Expected Total Return: 14.6%
• Dividend Yield: 10.7%

Clipper Realty is a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, that was founded by the merger of four pre-existing real estate companies. The founders retain about 2/3 of the ownership and votes today, as they have never sold a share.

Clipper Properties owns commercial (primarily multifamily and office with a small sliver of retail) real estate across New York City.

Clipper Realty Inc. (CLPR) reported strong third-quarter 2024 results, with record revenues of $37.6 million, a 6.8% increase from the same period in 2023, driven largely by growth in residential leasing and higher occupancy.

Net operating income (NOI) reached a record $21.8 million, while adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) hit $7.8 million, or $0.18 per share, up from $6.3 million, or $0.15 per share, a year earlier.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on CLPR (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Top REIT #5: Plymouth Industrial REIT (PLYM)

• Expected Total Return: 15.9%
• Dividend Yield: 5.8%

Plymouth Industrial REIT is a full-service, vertically integrated real estate investment trust which acquires, owns, and manages single and multi-tenant industrial properties, which include distribution centers, warehouses, light industrial and small bay industrial properties.

The majority of the property portfolio is located in Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois, and Georgia. As of June 30, 2024, the trust owned and managed 210 buildings, totaling 33.8 million square feet in over 10 markets.

Plymouth’s property portfolio resides almost entirely within The Golden Triangle states, which is within a day’s drive to 70% of the U.S. population, and contains more ports than any other region in the country.

Plymouth Industrial reported third quarter 2024 results on November 6th, 2024. The trust reported core funds from operations (FFO) of $0.44 per common share, down two cents compared to last year.

Adjusted FFO per share of $0.40 was a 4.8% decrease compared to Q3 2023. Same store net operating income (NOI) on a cash basis rose by 0.6% year-over-year when excluding early termination income.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on PLYM (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Top REIT #4: Ellington Credit Co. (EARN)

• Expected Total Return: 16.4%
• Dividend Yield: 14.7%

Ellington Credit Co. acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage and real estate related assets. Ellington focuses primarily on residential mortgage-backed securities, specifically those backed by a U.S. Government agency or U.S. government–sponsored enterprise.

Agency MBS are created and backed by government agencies or enterprises, while non-agency MBS are not guaranteed by the government.

On November 12th, 2024, Ellington Residential reported its third quarter results for the period ending September 30th, 2024. The company generated net income of $5.4 million, or $0.21 per share.

Ellington achieved adjusted distributable earnings of $7.2 million in the quarter, leading to adjusted earnings of $0.28 per share, which covered the dividend paid in the period.

Net interest margin was 5.22% overall. At quarter end, Ellington had $25.7 million of cash and cash equivalents, and $96 million of other unencumbered assets.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on EARN (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Top REIT #3: Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE)

• Expected Total Return: 17.0%
• Dividend Yield: 5.5%

Alexandria Real Estate Equities owns and operates life science, technology and ag-tech campuses across North America.

Key locations for this Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) include Boston, San Francisco, New York, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and the Research Triangle (North Carolina). The company focuses on high quality properties in prime locations.

Alexandria’s business model has taken on renewed importance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a significant number of the company’s life science tenants are working on solutions for similar future crises.

On January 27th, 2025, Alexandria reported fourth quarter 2024 results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. For the quarter, the company generated $789 million in revenue, a 4.2% increase compared to Q4 2023.

Adjusted funds from operations (FFO) totaled $412 million or $2.39 per share compared to $390 million or $2.28 per share in Q4 2023.

Alexandria ended the quarter with $5.7 billion in liquidity. And more than fifty percent of the company’s tenants are investment-grade or publicly traded large cap businesses.

Alexandria issued its 2025 guidance, expecting $9.23 to $9.44 in adjusted FFO.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ARE (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Top REIT #2: American Assets Trust (AAT)

• Expected Total Return: 17.0%
• Dividend Yield: 6.2%

American Assets Trust (AAT) is a REIT that was formed in 2011 as a successor of American Assets, a privately held company founded in 1967.

AAT is headquartered in San Diego, California, and has great experience in acquiring, improving and developing office, retail and residential properties throughout the U.S., primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

Its office portfolio and its retail portfolio comprise of approximately 4.1 million and 3.1 million square feet, respectively.

In late October, AAT reported (10/29/24) financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2024. Adjusted same-store net operating income grew 16% and funds from operations (FFO) per share grew 20% over last year’s quarter, thanks to a lease termination fee, rent hikes and slightly higher occupancy.

Thanks to a non-recurring termination fee, AAT raised its guidance for FFO per share in 2024 from $2.48-$2.54 to $2.51-$2.55.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on AAT (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Top REIT #1: Community Healthcare Trust (CHCT)

• Expected Total Return: 17.6%
• Dividend Yield: 9.9%

Community Healthcare Trust is an REIT which owns income-producing real estate properties linked to the healthcare sector, such as physician offices, specialty centers, behavioral facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and medical office buildings.

The trust has investments in 197 properties in 35 states, totaling 4.4 million square feet.

Source: Investor Presentation

On February 18th, 2025, Community Healthcare Trust reported fourth quarter results for the period ending December 31st, 2024.

Funds from operations (FFO) per share dipped 16% to $0.48 from $0.57 in the prior year quarter. Adjusted FFO per share, however, declined by 10% to $0.55.

During the quarter, Community Healthcare acquired three properties for $8.2 million. These properties were 100% leased with lease expirations through 2029.

The trust also has seven properties under definitive purchase agreements, with a combined purchase price of roughly $170 million, expected to close from 2025 through 2027.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on CHCT (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Final Thoughts

The REIT Spreadsheet list in this article contains a list of publicly-traded Real Estate Investment Trusts.

However, this database is certainly not the only place to find high-quality dividend stocks trading at fair or better prices.

In fact, one of the best methods to find high-quality dividend stocks is looking for stocks with long histories of steadily rising dividend payments.

Companies that have increased their payouts through many market cycles are highly likely to continue doing so for a long time to come.

You can see more high-quality dividend stocks in the following Sure Dividend databases, each based on long streaks of steadily rising dividend payments:

You might also be looking to create a highly customized dividend income stream to pay for life’s expenses.

The following lists provide useful information on high dividend stocks and stocks that pay monthly dividends:

 

Hello, Reader.

Tom Yeung here with today’s Smart Money.

Earlier this month, I found myself staring at a crisp white envelope on my desk.

The paper seemed to glow under the fluorescent lamp… a glossy corporate logo in the corner winking ominously at me.

It was… cue the foreboding music… my utility bill.

Now, I knew my Massachusetts-state utility bill would be high, because New England has the worst utility prices in the nation. However, it was even higher than I expected, because a surge in nationwide utility prices means that just about all Americans’ utility bills are rising 60% faster than average inflation.

Here’s the thing: This little envelope from my utility company and the sky-high bill likely sitting in your own inbox have more to do with your portfolio’s potential profits than you think.

For the first time since moving into our home, we’re considering adding solar panels to this 200-year-old house.

And as millions of other homeowners (and their state representatives) come to the same conclusion, we’re going to see a new boom in solar spending.

As Eric detailed in a recent Smart Money, solar stocks may soon become hot, hot, hot once again… especially during this second Trump administration.

So, in today’s Smart Money, I’d like to dive deeper into the solar industry’s latest, upcoming revolution, why we could see an uptick in solar spending, and what this all means for your portfolio.

Let’s dive in…

The Solar Revolution’s Third Act

The first American solar “revolution” started in California after then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Million Solar Roofs initiative – a cash incentive and rebate program that began in 2006. By 2020, roughly 15% of the state’s utility grid was from solar.

The second revolution began during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

The surprising truth about the “drill, baby, drill” president is that solar output doubled under his watch, before doubling again during the Biden administration. Trump’s hands-off approach to power generation meant states like Texas and Florida expanded their incentive programs for solar installations with minimal federal intervention, and these efforts continued through the following administration. (These two states combined now produce more solar than California.)

The result is that power prices in both states have fallen in real terms since Trump first took office in January 2017.

The third revolution is now set to start… for three specific reasons:

1. Red-Hot Electricity Demand: The acceleration of AI data center construction has turned electricity generation into a “sunrise” industry, especially in states still lacking solar power.

   In the Mid-Atlantic, for example, auction prices for wholesale electricity have risen almost tenfold since last year on insatiable demand.

2. Cheapening Solar Prices: The levelized cost of solar energy is at least 29% lower than the cheapest fossil fuel option. The price of lithium-ion batteries – an essential component of solar installations – is also in retreat.

   Prices have dropped 25% in the past year alone, thanks to sharp year-over-year decreases in lithium prices (-22%) and cobalt prices (-25%). This makes solar broadly more affordable for utilities, which must provide energy in both daytime and night.

3. State Regulations: Then there are homeowners like me… staring at our rising utility bills.

   One effect of this will be more residential solar. The U.S. Energy Information Administration believes residential rooftop solar is growing at 25% annually, and that rate could accelerate as electricity prices continue to rise.

   But the biggest prize will come from regulatory pressures for utilities to construct more capacity. Utility-scale projects currently make up around two-thirds of installed U.S. capacity and will likely remain the largest growth driver thanks to economies of scale.

In all, we’re already seeing some effects of these three catalysts…

A Compelling Opportunity

Last week, Massachusetts state regulators announced plans to force local utilities to reduce total gas bills “by at least 5%” after public outcry over heating costs. Utilities seeking to raise prices in states like New York will almost certainly find it more difficult going forward.

The math is also changing for public utilities.

Eversource Energy (ES), a New England-based utility company with few historical ties to solar power, is now considering large-scale solar as far north as New Hampshire – a state better known for icy downhill skiing than abundant sunshine.

In addition, solar farms can take as little as eight months to construct – far faster than gas-powered (one to three years) and nuclear (five-plus years) power plants.

Energy companies are seeing unprecedented short-term demand, and solar offers a quick way to meet that need while appeasing regulators and customers.

That is why Eric believes that solar stocks are presenting a compelling opportunity. It’s also why he recently added a promising solar investment to his Fry’s Investment Report portfolio that’s primed for significant growth.

It’s an investment that Eric previously took an almost 80% gain from during the first Trump administration. This go-around, he believes double that first gain is well within reach.

To learn more about this company, and all the stocks in Eric’s portfolio, click here to learn about becoming a Fry’s Investment Report member today.

Regards,

Thomas Yeung

Markets Analyst, InvestorPlace

P.S. As we’ve been talking about all week here, at 8 p.m. ET tonight, TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan goes live with his full market briefing: The Last Melt-Up. And it couldn’t be more urgent. The S&P 500 is pulling back. President Trump’s agenda is facing headwinds in Washington. Inflation looms. And the Fed seems stuck in neutral.

Is the great meltdown finally here? Is it time to cut your losses and sell? Join Keith tonight at 8 p.m. ET here and you’ll get the full answers. Or you can sign up here.

New bimetallic circulating commemorative to be issued very soon:

“500 years of the first printed text in Estonian“

TECHNICAL DATA
External ring: copper-nickel
Center disc: nickel-brass, nickel and nickel-brass three layers
Diameter: 25.75 mm
Weight: 8.50 g
Thickness: 2.20 mm



LINK: Eesti Pank

Updated on February 24th, 2025 by Bob Ciura

It isn’t surprising that we favor stocks that pay dividends, as studies have shown that owning income producing securities is an excellent way to build wealth while also protecting to the downside.

In bull markets, dividends can add to the gains from the stock while also purchasing additional shares. When prices decline, dividends can reduce the losses while being used to acquire more shares at a now lower price.

With this in mind, we created a full list of the Dividend Kings, a group of stocks with over 50 consecutive years of dividend increases.

You can see the full downloadable spreadsheet of all 54 Dividend Kings (along with important financial metrics such as dividend yields, payout ratios, and price-to-earnings ratios) by clicking on the link below:

 

The Dividend Kings  have rewarded shareholders with rising income for decades.

The following 10 stocks represent Dividend Kings that can continue to raise their dividends for decades to come.

The list includes 10 Dividend Kings with our highest Dividend Risk Score of ‘A’ in the Sure Analysis Research Database, that also have payout ratios below 70% to ensure a sustainable dividend payout.

The stocks are sorted by dividend payout ratio, from lowest to highest.

Table of Contents

Dividend King To Hold Forever: Nordson Corp. (NDSN)

Nordson was founded in 1954 in Amherst, Ohio by brothers Eric and Evan Nord, but the company can trace its roots back to 1909 with the U.S. Automatic Company.

Today the company has operations in over 35 countries and engineers, manufactures, and markets products used for dispensing adhesives, coatings, sealants, biomaterials, plastics, and other materials, with applications ranging from diapers and straws to cell phones and aerospace.

Source: Investor Presentation

On August 14th, 2024, Nordson increased its dividend by 15% to $0.78 per share quarterly, marking 61 years of increases.

On December 11th, 2024, Nordson reported fourth quarter results for the period ending October 31st, 2024. For the quarter, the company reported sales of $744 million, 4% higher compared to $719 million in Q4 2023, which was driven by a positive acquisition impact, and offset by organic decrease of 3%.

Industrial Precision saw sales decrease by 3%, while the Medical and Fluid Solutions and Advanced Technology Solutions segments had sales increases of 19% and 5%, respectively. The company generated adjusted earnings per share of $2.78, a 3% increase compared to the same prior-year quarter.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on NDSN (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: Sysco Corp. (SYY)

Sysco Corporation is the largest wholesale food distributor in the United States. The company serves 600,000 locations with food delivery, including restaurants, hospitals, schools, hotels, and other facilities.

Source: Investor Presentation

On January 28th, 2025, Sysco reported second-quarter results for Fiscal Year (FY)2025. The company reported a 4.5% increase in sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, reaching $20.2 billion.

U.S. Foodservice volume grew by 1.4%, while gross profit rose 3.9% to $3.7 billion. Operating income increased 1.7% to $712 million, with adjusted operating income growing 5.1% to $783 million. Earnings per share (EPS) remained at $0.82, while adjusted EPS grew 4.5% to $0.93.

The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, projecting sales growth of 4%-5% and adjusted EPS growth of 6%-7%.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SYY (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

Archer-Daniels-Midland is the largest publicly traded farmland product company in the United States. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s businesses include processing cereal grains, oilseeds, and agricultural storage and transportation.

Archer-Daniels-Midland reported its third-quarter results for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 on November 18th, 2024. The company reported adjusted net earnings of $530 million and adjusted EPS of $1.09, both down from the prior year due to a $461 million non-cash charge related to its Wilmar equity investment.

Consolidated cash flows year-to-date reached $2.34 billion, reflecting strong operations despite market challenges.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ADM (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (FMCB)

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp is a locally owned and operated community bank with 32 locations in California. Due to its small market cap and its low liquidity, it passes under the radar of most investors.

F&M Bank has paid uninterrupted dividends for 88 consecutive years and has raised its dividend for 59 consecutive years.

In late January, F&M Bank reported (1/23/25) financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. The bank grew its earnings-per-share 9% over the prior year’s quarter, from $28.55 to a new all-time high of $31.11. Loans and deposits grew 1% each.

Net interest income dipped -3% due to a contraction of net interest margin from 4.30% to 4.05% amid higher deposit costs. Management remains optimistic for the foreseeable future, as the bank enjoys one of the widest net interest margins in its sector.

We reiterate that F&M Bank is one of the most resilient banks during downturns, such as the pandemic, a potential recession or the financial turmoil caused by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse and First Republic.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on FMCB (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: Hormel Foods (HRL)

Hormel Foods was founded back in 1891 in Minnesota. Since that time, the company has grown into a juggernaut in the food products industry with nearly $10 billion in annual revenue.

Hormel has kept with its core competency as a processor of meat products for well over a hundred years, but has also grown into other business lines through acquisitions.

Hormel has a large portfolio of category-leading brands. Just a few of its top brands include include Skippy, SPAM, Applegate, Justin’s, and more than 30 others.

It has also pursued acquisitions to drive growth. For example, in 2021, Hormel acquired the Planters snack nuts business from Kraft-Heinz (KHC) for $3.35 billion, which has boosted Hormel’s growth.

Source: Investor Presentation

Hormel posted fourth quarter and full-year earnings on December 4th, 2024, and results were in line with expectations. The company posted adjusted earnings-per-share of 42 cents, which met estimates. Revenue was off 2% year-on-year to $3.14 billion, also hitting estimates.

Operating income was $308 million for the quarter on an adjusted basis, or 9.8% of revenue. Operating cash flow was $409 million for Q4.

For the year, sales were $11.9 billion, and adjusted operating income was $1.1 billion, or 9.6% of revenue. Adjusted earnings-per-share was $1.58. Operating cash flow hit a record of $1.3 billion.

Guidance for 2025 was initiated at $11.9 billion to $12.2 billion in sales, with organic net sales growth of 1% to 3%.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on HRL (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: PPG Industries (PPG)

PPG Industries is the world’s largest paints and coatings company. Its only competitors of similar size are Sherwin-Williams and Dutch paint company Akzo Nobel.

PPG Industries was founded in 1883 as a manufacturer and distributor of glass (its name stands for Pittsburgh Plate Glass) and today has approximately 3,500 technical employees located in more than 70 countries at 100 locations.

On January 31st, 2025, PPG Industries announced fourth quarter and full year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. For the quarter, revenue declined 4.6% to $3.73 billion and missed estimates by $241 million.

Adjusted net income of $375 million, or $1.61 per share, compared favorably to adjusted net income of $372 million, or $1.56 per share, in the prior year. Adjusted earnings-per-share was $0.02 below expectations.

Source: Investor Presentation

For the year, revenue from continuing operations decreased 2% to $15.8 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share totaled $7.87.

PPG Industries repurchased ~$750 million worth of shares during 2024 and has $2.8 billion, or ~10.3% of its current market capitalization, remaining on its share repurchase authorization. The company expects to repurchase ~$400 million worth of shares in Q1 2025.

For 2025, the company expects adjusted earnings-per-share in a range of $7.75 to $8.05.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on PPG (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: California Water Service Group (CWT)

California Water Service is a water stock and is the third-largest publicly-owned water utility in the United States.

It was founded in 1926 and has six subsidiaries that provide water to approximately 2 million people in 100 communities, primarily in California but also in Washington, New Mexico and Hawaii.

Source: Investor Presentation

California Water Service reported its third quarter earnings results on October 31st. Operating revenues totaled $300 million during the quarter, which was 18% higher than the same quarter last year. This represents a stronger performance compared to what the analyst community had forecasted.

The operating revenue increase was driven by rate increases over the last year as well as by higher accrued unbilled revenue compared to the previous year’s quarter.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on CWT (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: Gorman-Rupp Co. (GRC)

Gorman-Rupp began manufacturing pumps and pumping systems back in 1933. Since that time, it has grown into an industry leader with annual sales of nearly $700 million and a market capitalization of $1 billion.

Today, Gorman-Rupp is a focused, niche manufacturer of critical systems that many industrial clients rely upon for their own success.

Gorman Rupp generates about one-third of its total revenue from outside of the U.S.

Source: Investor Presentation

Gorman-Rupp posted fourth quarter and full-year earnings on February 7th, 2025, and results were weaker than expected. Adjusted earnings-per-share came to 42 cents, which was three cents light of estimates.

Revenue was up 1.3% year-over-year to $162.7 million, which matched expectations. The increase in sales was primarily attributed to the impact of pricing increases taken in the year-ago period.

Gross profit was $49.2 million for the quarter, or 30.2% of revenue. These were down from $50.9 million and 31.7%, respectively, in the same period of 2023.

The decline in gross margins of 150 basis points included 220 basis points of increased labor and overhead costs, which were driven by healthcare expenses.

That was partially offset by a 70-basis point improvement in cost of materials, which itself was driven by a 140-basis point improvement in selling prices offset by a 70-basis point decline from inventory costing.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on GRC (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: SJW Group (SJW)

SJW Group is a water utility company that produces, purchases, stores, purifies and distributes water to consumers and businesses in the Silicon Valley area of California, the area north of San Antonio, Texas, Connecticut, and Maine.

SJW Group has a small real estate division that owns and develops properties for residential and warehouse customers in California and Tennessee. The company generates about $670 million in annual revenues.

Source: Investor Presentation

On October 28th, 2024, SJW Group reported third quarter results for the period ending June 30th, 2024. For the quarter, revenue grew 9.9% to $225.1 million, beating estimates by $11.6 million. Earnings-per-share of $1.18 compared favorably to earnings-per-share of $1.13 in the prior year and was $0.04 more than expected.

As with prior periods, the improvement in revenue was mostly due to SJW Group’s California and Connecticut businesses, which benefited from higher water rates, while growth in customers aided the Texas business.

Higher rates overall added $40 million to results for the quarter, higher customer usage added $4.8 million, and growth in customers contributed $2.4 million. Operating production expenses totaled $166.7 million, which was a 12% increase from the prior year.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SJW (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Dividend King To Hold Forever: Stepan Co. (SCL)

Stepan manufactures basic and intermediate chemicals, including surfactants, specialty products, germicidal and fabric softening quaternaries, phthalic anhydride, polyurethane polyols and special ingredients for the food, supplement, and pharmaceutical markets.

It is organized into three distinct business lines: surfactants, polymers, and specialty products. These businesses serve a wide variety of end markets, meaning that Stepan is not beholden to just a handful of industries.

Source: Investor presentation

The surfactants business is Stepan’s largest by revenue, accounting for ~68% of total sales in the most recent quarter. A surfactant is an organic compound that contains both water-soluble and water-insoluble components.

Stepan posted fourth quarter and full-year earnings on February 19th, 2025, and results were mixed once again. Revenue was down 1.2% year-on-year to $526 million, but did beat estimates by almost $5 million. Adjusted earnings-per-share came to 12 cents, which missed estimates by 21 cents.

Global sales volume was off 1% year-over-year as double-digit growth in surfactants was offset and then some by demand weakness in polymers. Surfactants were up 3% year-over-year in Q4 to $379 million. Polymer net sales fell 12% to $130 million.

The company managed to generate about $13 million in pre-tax cost savings during the quarter, and about $48 million for the full year.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SCL (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Final Thoughts

Screening to find the best Dividend Kings is not the only way to find high-quality dividend growth stocks to hold forever.

Sure Dividend maintains similar databases on the following useful universes of stocks:

There is nothing magical about investing in the Dividend Kings. They are simply a group of high-quality businesses with shareholder-friendly management teams that have strong competitive advantages.

Purchasing businesses with these characteristics–at fair or better prices–and holding them forever, will likely result in strong long-term investment performance.

The Last Melt-up starts tonight at 8 PM … Nvidia’s earnings are strong but disappoint Wall Street … how Louis Navellier is investing today … a rare earth metals deal between Ukraine and the U.S. … another good headline for Bitcoin

We begin today with a final reminder that tonight at 8 PM Eastern, Keith Kaplan, CEO of our corporate affiliate TradeSmith, is going live.

His presentation focuses on two things:

• The coming stock melt-up that Keith’s algorithms have just flagged (even considering the sell-off in recent days)
• A suite of tools that can help investors ride that surge higher and then get out near the top, escaping before the worst of the ensuing crash wipes out unprepared investors

Behind Keith’s melt-up prediction is a market signal that’s rooted in historical data – and data is where TradeSmith excels.

You see, beyond being our corporate partner, TradeSmith is an investment research shop that focuses on quantitative analysis. They’ve spent over $19 million and over 11,000 man-hours developing their analytical algorithms. And their latest quant breakthrough – the “MQ Algorithm” – has been signaling a coming melt-up.

But even in a melt-up, some stocks suffer sharp drawdowns – which can present fantastic buying opportunities. Given this, Keith and his team of engineers developed a complementary strategy that isolates such pullbacks in top-tier stocks then buys them to ride the rebound.

Overall, in the back tests, the strategy boasted a near 80%-win rate 21 days later, with an average return of just under 16%.

Tonight at 8 PM, Keith will dive more into more details on this. He’ll also cover:

• What’s behind the recent market melt-up signal
• How he’s preparing investors users to take advantage
• 10 stocks positioned to ride the melt-up higher…and 10 stocks to avoid

If you haven’t reserved your seat yet, just click here for instant registration, and we’ll see you tonight.

Nvidia’s “good, but not good enough” earnings

In yesterday’s Digest, we highlighted how the S&P 500 had just bounced off the critical support level of its 100-day MA. Whether that bounce continued or not could drive market direction for the next several weeks.

The most immediate influence on that budding bounce was Nvidia’s earnings report that arrived yesterday after the closing bell.

The numbers were good, but not good enough to kick Wall Street back into full-blown “party” mode.

The chip giant’s Q4 results easily beat Wall Street estimates, and management upped its forward guidance. But Nvidia’s largest source of revenue, data center revenue, slowed substantially. This raised some eyebrows, as did some margin compression.

Here’s MarketWatch:

Nvidia’s stock decline is building [in Thursday’s session], with investors seemingly focused on quibbles such as continued margin pressure and a smaller-than-usual beat on the guidance.

As I write at mid-day, Nvidia shares are down almost 3% despite the beat.

Meanwhile, the major indices have been all over the place. Wall Street is digesting Nvidia’s earnings, the news that Trump’s Mexico/Canda tariffs will go into effect on March 4, and weekly jobless claims that came in above expectations.

Unfortunately, that leaves us where we were yesterday…

With the S&P sitting directly atop its 100-day MA.

We’re still cautiously optimistic about a bounce.

The next big catalyst is tomorrow’s Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index report, and what is reveals about inflation.

We’ll report back.

The more interesting part of Nvidia’s earnings report

Coming into Nvidia’s earnings report, investors were concerned about the impact of the Chinese low-cost AI platform DeepSeek.

Its advanced technology suggested that the global AI buildout could occur at a lower cost with less power consumption.

Yesterday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang threw cold water on that idea. From CNBC:

[Huang] said next-generation AI will need 100 times more compute than older models as a result of new reasoning approaches that think “about how best to answer” questions step by step.

“The amount of computation necessary to do that reasoning process is 100 times more than what we used to do,” Huang told CNBC…

He cited models including DeepSeek’s R1, OpenAI’s GPT-4 and xAI’s Grok 3 as models that use a reasoning process.

In Tuesday’s Digest, I wrote, “I hope you didn’t sell your AI energy stocks back in January when the news of DeepSeek broke.”

That goes double today after Huang’s comment.

Bottom line: Despite Wall Street’s pouty reaction to Nvidia’s earnings, the AI trend is alive and well.

How legendary investor Louis Navellier recommends you invest in AI today

If you’re new to the Digest, Louis is a multidecade veteran investor who’s been out in front of just about every twist and turn of the AI boom. His quantitative algorithms have enabled him to get in early on each mini-phase of the AI rush.

Most notably, his quantitative stock picking system got his Growth Investor subscribers into Nvidia in 2019. They’re currently sitting on 2,924% gains.

Today, Louis is urging investors to add “AI Appliers” – companies finding ways to use AI to grow revenue and improve margins – to their portfolios. His most recent example of an AI Applier is one we flagged earlier this month…

Walmart.

(Full disclosure: I own Walmart.)

Louis reviewed Walmart’s earnings report in his latest issue of Market 360. After addressing how the report reflected consumer concerns about tariffs, Louis dove into the details that many investors overlooked, and they suggest one thing…

Walmart is becoming an AI Applier Juggernaut.

Here’s a quick summation of Louis’ points:

• Walmart has created a new AI agent for its merchants to help “get to the root cause of issues related to things like out of stocks or overstocks with more accuracy and speed.”
• The company is using tools for coding assistance that will “help streamline deployments and deliver code faster with fewer bugs.”
• Walmart has already been using AI to help reduce costs and boost margins.
• The Walmart+ subscription service is helping management understand its shoppers. This AI tool tracks spending habits and creates better recommendations for future buys.
• Walmart is using AI in its supply-chain automation. The company was an early user of warehouse robots.

From Louis:

I bring all this up because you might not think of Walmart when you think about AI.

But mark my words… In the not-too-distant future, every company will be involved with AI to one degree or another.

And those that don’t will go the way of the Dodo bird.

Walmart gets this, and so do a handful of AI Appliers, the companies that apply AI to better optimize their businesses.

The fact is, the early adopters of AI are already becoming more efficient and profitable. And we’re only at the beginning stages of this process.

If this message sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve heard similar versions from Eric Fry and Luke Lango. All our experts are banging the drum on this next evolution of AI.

We’re seeing an investment line in the sand between the companies that are applying AI to increase revenue, make smarter capital allocation decisions, and reduce costs… and those that are falling behind as technology races past them.

It’s worth doing a deep dive into the companies in your portfolio to make sure they’re implementing AI effectively.

For more on the AI Appliers Louis likes today – specifically, in the wake of the emergence of DeepSeek – you can check out his free research video right here.

Why the potential agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. on access to critical rare minerals is about AI

According to President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Washington tomorrow to sign an agreement on sharing Ukraine’s rare earth minerals with the U.S. in exchange for greater U.S. security guarantees against Russia.

This would boost U.S.’s efforts to solidify its tech/AI supply chain away from China.

You see, “rare earth” minerals and metals are needed to make high-tech products – notably AI. But they’re also key for the green energy transition, a bevy of consumer electronics, infrastructure, and weaponry.

Ukraine has about 5% of the world’s rare earth deposits, according to a 2022 report by Ukraine’s association of geologists.

China has the largest volume of deposits and is behind most of the global processing.

Here’s the Center for Strategic & International Studies:

At present China produces 60 percent of the world’s rare earths but processes nearly 90 percent, which means that it is importing rare earths from other countries and processing them.

This has given China a near monopoly…

China announced a ban of rare earth extraction and separation technologies on December 21, 2023.

This has significant implications for U.S. national, economic, and rare earth security.

Rare earth elements—a group of 17 metals—are used in defense technologies, including missiles, lasers, vehicle-mounted systems such as tanks, and military communications…

Bottom line: This potential deal would be a big step toward the U.S. insulating itself from China in the AI race.

Finally, here’s something for bruised crypto investors to hold onto as prices slump

On Wednesday, Bitcoin entered an official bear market, as defined by a 20% pullback from the most recent high. Many altcoins are down far more.

In times like these, Bitcoin investors might find solace by focusing more on adoption and less on price.

After all, as a loose parallel, in the same way that a stock’s price eventually mirrors the quality of the underlying company’s earnings, Bitcoin’s price has, historically, mirrored the degree of its global adoption. And on that note, yesterday brought encouraging news.

Block (formerly “Square”) is officially rolling out its “Bitcoin inheritance” product.

Here’s CNBC:

What happens to your bitcoin when you die?

While traditional financial institutions allow for the seamless transfer of stocks, mutual funds and retirement plans, bitcoin’s self-custodial nature makes inheritance and estate planning inherently thorny. 

Coinbase requires probate court documents and specific will designations before releasing funds, while physical wallets offer little to no support, potentially leaving all that digital value stuck on a private key.

Jack Dorsey’s Block says it’s created a fix, and the company is now bringing it to market…

Block’s Bitkey self-custody bitcoin wallet [has] an inheritance feature that lets users set a beneficiary for their bitcoin holdings, creating a simple system for transferring the digital currency in the case of death.

This is just another piece of evidence demonstrating Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption. And that suggests higher prices out on the horizon.

To be clear, perhaps Bitcoin’s new bear market will turn into a real bruiser, and we have far lower to go. But even if that’s the case, history shows that this asset is fantastic at rising from the dead and proving the naysayers wrong.

We’ll keep you updated on all these stories here in the Digest.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

Written by Steven Dooley, Head of Market Insights, and Shier Lee Lim, Lead FX and Macro Strategist

Global markets weaken led by tech shares

The Australian dollar was the biggest loser overnight after US president Donald Trump warned of another round of 10% tariffs on Chinese goods entering the US and said tariffs on Mexico and China would be introduced from next week.

The tariff news hit already shaky US markets with tech stocks leading the losses as AI chipmaker Nvidia fell 8.5% despite a strong earnings report.

The tech-focused Nasdaq fell 2.8%, the S&P 500 lost 1.6% while the Dow Jones index lost 0.5%.

The AUD/USD fell 1.2% with the pair at three-week lows – a sharp turnaround from the two-month highs seen at the start of the week.

The NZD/USD lost 1.1% with the pair now down 2.5% from last week’s highs.

Inflation fears support EUR

In Europe, the euro and British pound were both sharply lower.

Looking forward, today we see the release of the Euro Area ECB Consumer Expectations Survey.

Since their September 2024 lows, the 1y and 3y forward median inflation predictions have increased. Currently, they are 2.8% and 2.4%, respectively.

In order to prevent inflation expectations from rising and running the danger of de-anchoring, the ECB will be regularly monitoring them.

Even though we think that the impact of US tariffs and Europe’s retaliatory tariffs on European inflation would be minimal, consumer inflation expectations might nonetheless rise slightly as a result.

In APAC, the euro’s been mixed, down near three-year lows versus the Singapore dollar, but mostly stronger against the Australian dollar.

USD/SGD, USD/CNH jump on tariff news

The overnight moves in the US dollar saw big shifts in Asia FX, with regional pairs highly sensitive to news around tariffs.

The USD/SGD jumped 0.7% as it neared the 1.3500 level, while USD/CNH gained 0.5% towards 7.3000.

Over the weekend, China’s official PMI will be made public. Given the pent-up demand for the consumer trade-in program, we anticipate that the official manufacturing PMI will increase from 49.1 in January to 50.2 in February.

As USD/CNH recovers from support, further upward momentum is possible.

Aussie dollar limbo – how low can you go-go?

Table: seven-day rolling currency trends and trading ranges  

Key global risk events

Calendar: 24 February – 1 March  

All times AEDT

Have a question? [email protected]

*The FX rates published are provided by Convera’s Market Insights team for research purposes only. The rates have a unique source and may not align to any live exchange rates quoted on other sites. They are not an indication of actual buy/sell rates, or a financial offer.