Tag Archives: georgia

A Few Reasons Why Investors Need Advisors: Financial Advisors’ Daily Digest

Wealthfront, one of the big three robo-advisors, says low fees aren’t everything – an excellent arrow for human advisors’ quivers as well. Evan Powers exemplifies the benefit of having an advisor (and listening to him), as he recounts the sorry tale of Prince’s recent passing without a will. Michelle Waymire provides the bottom line for FAs’ social media usage, and Lance Roberts recounts the experiences of clients on their first day of retirement. Today’s Seeking Alpha Financial Advisors’ Daily Digest provides an embarrassment of riches for advisors, so I’ll try to keep this brief before getting to the links. First, I was struck by Wealthfront’s latest post. Of course, the robo-advisor par excellence is supposed to be advisors’ chief nemesis, and indeed the article is not shy about extolling its offerings as an investor’s ultimate solution. Yet, in arguing that ” investment fees matter, but taxes matter even more,” I believe the robo-advisor is perhaps unintentionally offering a pretty juicy bone to human advisors by saying, in essence, don’t sweat the small stuff like fees. And as if to prove that point, comes along one of SA’s newer contributors, Evan Powers, with an article about how Prince’s untimely intestate passing will cost his heirs hundreds of millions of dollars in avoidable fees and taxes. Powers is an investment advisor, not an estate attorney, and yet his highly intelligent and informed framing of the issue is a clear reminder of the value of having an advisor’s counsel. And speaking of intelligent and well-informed new contributors, Michelle M. Waymire offers a highly readable and clear description of what advisors need to know about using social media. I admit I’ve seen a fair amount of kitschy stuff on that topic, but Michelle has done the homework of going through the rulebooks and provides a bottom line in a simple and pleasant way. Before moving on to today’s links, it is my strong recommendation that you follow Evan’s and Michelle’s feeds straightaway to avoid the risk of missing their next articles. And as I mentioned, we’ve got some really great advisor content today: Your comments, as always, are welcome below.

Best And Worst Q2’16: Consumer Staples ETFs, Mutual Funds And Key Holdings

The Consumer Staples sector ranks third out of the ten sectors as detailed in our Q2’16 Sector Ratings for ETFs and Mutual Funds report. Last quarter , the Consumer Staples sector ranked first. It gets our Neutral rating, which is based on aggregation of ratings of nine ETFs and 15 mutual funds in the Consumer Staples sector. See a recap of our Q1’16 Sector Ratings here . Figure 1 ranks from best to worst all nine Consumer Staples ETFs and Figure 2 shows the five best and worst rated Consumer Staples mutual funds. Not all Consumer Staples sector ETFs and mutual funds are created the same. The number of holdings varies widely (from 16 to 115). This variation creates drastically different investment implications and, therefore, ratings. Investors seeking exposure to the Consumer Staples sector should buy one of the Attractive-or-better rated ETFs or mutual funds from Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1: ETFs with the Best & Worst Ratings – Top 5 Click to enlarge * Best ETFs exclude ETFs with TNAs less than $100 million for inadequate liquidity. Sources: New Constructs, LLC and company filings Figure 2: Mutual Funds with the Best & Worst Ratings – Top 5 Click to enlarge * Best mutual funds exclude funds with TNAs less than $100 million for inadequate liquidity. Sources: New Constructs, LLC and company filings Fidelity Select Automotive Portfolio (MUTF: FSAVX ) is excluded from Figure 2 because its total net assets are below $100 million and do not meet our liquidity minimums. Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (NYSEARCA: FSTA ) is the top-rated Consumer Staples ETF and fidelity Select Consumer Staples Portfolio (MUTF: FDFAX ) is the top-rated Consumer Staples mutual fund. FSTA earns a Very Attractive rating and FDFAX earns an Attractive rating. PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PBJ ) is the worst rated Consumer Staples ETF and ICON Consumer Staples Fund (MUTF: ICRAX ) is the worst-rated Consumer Staples mutual fund. PBJ earns a Neutral rating and ICRAX earns a Very Dangerous rating. 117 stocks of the 3000+ we cover are classified as Consumer Staples stocks. Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG ) is one of our favorite stocks held by FSTA and earns an Attractive rating. Over the past decade, Procter & Gamble has grown its after-tax profit ( NOPAT ) by 6% compounded annually. Since 2008, PG has earned a double digit return on invested capital ( ROIC ) and over the last twelve months earns an 11% ROIC. In spite of revenue declines, Procter & Gamble has generated a cumulative $64 billion in free cash flow over the past five years. However, at current prices, PG remains undervalued. At its current price of $82/share, PG has a price-to-economic book value ( PEBV ) ratio of 1.1. This ratio means that the market expects PG’s NOPAT to only grow 10% over the life of the corporation. If Procter & Gamble can grow NOPAT by 3% compounded annually for the next decade, (half the rate of the previous decade), the stock is worth $94/share today – a 15% upside. The company’s 3% dividend yield also adds to the attractiveness of PG. Mondelez International (NASDAQ: MDLZ ) is one of our least favorite stocks held by ICRAX and earns a Very Dangerous rating. MDLZ was placed in the Danger Zone in late March 2016 . Despite impressive revenue growth, Mondelez has never generated positive economic earnings . In fact, since 2008, the company’s economic earnings have declined from -$763 million to -$1.3 billion. The company’s ROIC has declined from 7% in 2009 to 5% in 2015. As we pointed out in our Danger Zone report, MDLZ likes to push focus away from the deterioration of business operations by using misleading non-GAAP metrics that remove many standard operating costs. Worst of all, MDLZ is significantly overvalued. To justify its current price of $42/share, MDLZ must grow NOPAT by 10% compounded annually for the next 17 years . The expectations embedded in the stock price are simply too high considering the decline in profits and the corporate governance risk related to the company’s reliance on non-GAAP measures of performance. Figures 3 and 4 show the rating landscape of all Consumer Staples ETFs and mutual funds. Figure 3: Separating the Best ETFs From the Worst ETFs Click to enlarge Sources: New Constructs, LLC and company filings Figure 4: Separating the Best Mutual Funds From the Worst Mutual Funds Click to enlarge Sources: New Constructs, LLC and company filings D isclosure: David Trainer and Kyle Guske II receive no compensation to write about any specific stock, sector or theme. Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Upbeat Industrial Q1 Results Fail To Lift ETFs

Most of the industrial bellwethers have beaten on earnings in the first quarter of 2016. However, it’s not surprising given the low estimates, which had fallen ahead of this reporting cycle. Among other factors, a recent pullback in the greenback and encouraging manufacturing trends could have played a role in the beat. A strong dollar impacts most industrial bigwigs adversely as most of these companies have significant international exposure. However, the earnings beat came largely on the back of lowered expectations (read: ETFs to Watch on U.S. Manufacturing Revival ). Meanwhile, revenue weakness in the sector remains thanks to reduced spending, volatility in oil prices and lackluster global growth. Below we have highlighted in greater detail earnings of some of the major industrial companies which really drive this sector’s outlook. Industrial Earnings in Focus General Electric Company (NYSE: GE ) Diversified industrial conglomerate General Electric posted mixed first quarter results as it reported in line earnings but missed on revenues. The company’s earnings came in at 21 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but up 5% from the year-ago quarter. Shares of the company fell slightly after the earnings release. Revenues were up 6% to $27.8 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $29 billion. The revenue miss was due to a weak global economy and an oil price slide that hurt the renewable and oil and gas segments. For 2016, the company reaffirmed its earnings per share guidance of $1.45-$1.55 (read: Industrial ETFs in Focus on Mixed GE Q1 Performance ). 3M Company (NYSE: MMM ) Another major conglomerate, 3M Company reported earnings of $2.05 per share in first-quarter 2016, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92. Net sales during the quarter were $7.4 billion, down 2.2% year over year but ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.3 billion. The year-over-year decrease in sales was largely due to a significantly negative foreign currency translation impact. 3M shares fell on the day of its earnings release. Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON ) Honeywell International’s earnings per share of $1.53 in the reported quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.50. Revenues in first-quarter 2016 were up 3% year over year to $9.5 billion, ahead the Zacks Consensus Estimate $9.4 billion. Based on favorable business conditions, Honeywell narrowed its 2016 guidance. The company anticipates earnings in the range of $6.55 to $6.70 per share on revenues of $40.3 billion and $40.9 billion. Shares of the company rose slightly on the day of its earnings release. Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP ) The rail transportation operator, Union Pacific reported first-quarter 2016 earnings of $1.16 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.09. Earnings declined 11% on a year-over-year basis. Revenues decreased 14% year over year to $4.8 billion in the first quarter, falling short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.9 billion. A 14% decline in freight revenues hurt the top line. Declining coal shipments weighed on the railroad operator’s results yet again. The stock gained after reporting results. ETF Impact Despite reporting encouraging earnings, most of the industrial stocks failed to hold up gains over the past 10 days, sending the related ETFs into rocky territory. This has put the spotlight on industrial ETFs. Below we discuss four of these ETFs having a sizeable exposure to the above stocks. Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLI ) This product tracks the Industrial Select Sector Index. General Electric occupies the top spot with 11.2% allocation, while 3M, Honeywell and Union Pacific have a combined exposure of roughly 14.7% in the fund. XLI has garnered $7.2 billion in assets and trades in a heavy volume of 13.2 million shares per day. It has a low expense ratio of 0.14%. The fund has the highest exposure to Aerospace & Defense (26%), followed by Industrial Conglomerates (21%). The product gained 0.3% in the past 10 days and currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #4 or ‘Sell’ rating with a Medium risk outlook. Vanguard Industrials ETF (NYSEARCA: VIS ) This fund follows the MSCI US IMI Industrials 25/50 index and holds about 342 securities in its basket. Of these firms, GE occupies the top position with 12.7% share, while 3M, Honeywell and Union Pacific together comprise almost 10.7% of the fund’s assets. The fund manages nearly $2.1 billion in its asset base and charges only 10 bps in annual fees. From an industry perspective, the fund has the highest exposure to Aerospace & Defense (21.7%), followed by Industrial Conglomerates (20.6%). Volume is moderate as it exchanges roughly 112,000 shares a day on average. The product lost 0.1% in the past 10 days and currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 or ‘Hold’ rating with a Medium risk outlook. iShares U.S. Industrials ETF (NYSEARCA: IYJ ) IYJ tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index to provide exposure to 214 U.S. companies that produce goods used in construction and manufacturing. General Electric occupies the top spot in the fund with almost 11% share while 3M, Honeywell and Union Pacific have a combined exposure of more than 10%. The ETF manages an asset base of $737.6 million and trades in an average volume of 75,000 shares. The fund has top exposure to Capital Goods (58.9%) and Software & Services (12.7%) and Transportation (11.7%) have double-digit exposure each. The fund is slightly expensive with 45 basis points as fees. It rose almost 0.4% in the last 10 days and currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook. Fidelity MSCI Industrials Index ETF (NYSEARCA: FIDU ) This fund tracks the MSCI USA IMI Industrials Index, holding 342 stocks in its basket. General Electric takes the top spot at 12.7% share while 3M, Honeywell and Union Pacific have a combined exposure of almost 11.5%. The product has amassed $161.2 million in its asset base while it trades in moderate volume of nearly 115,000 shares a day on average. The fund has top exposure to Aerospace & Defense (23.4%) and Industrial Conglomerates (20.9%). It is one of the low cost choices in the space charging 12 bps in annual fees from investors. The fund gained 0.5 % in the last 10 days and currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook. Link to the original post on Zacks.com