There are many reasons corporations deteriorate over the long haul, taking shareholder value and stakeholder well-being down with them. When it comes to true business health and fixing structural problems, many issues could be alleviated by focusing on a factor that is too often overlooked or underestimated: shaking up boards of directors.
Great work if you can get it
The spotlight's seldom focused squarely on directors' role in business decisions, from CEO pay to business-killing initiatives and short-term thinking. Let's change that.
Exactly who these people are and what they're doing should be of utmost concern to investors. Too often, boards are manned by long-standing directors who happen to be highly paid CEOs of other companies. Just for starters, those who head up compensation committees easily have a conflict of interest, since using peer groups tends to float all CEO compensation boats higher.
In recent years, directors have rarely taken a stand against managements' decisions. They have little incentive to do so, given the benefits and even psychology of remaining friendly. Who wants to fight all the time, after all? It's a hard road to walk, even if it's the right thing to do.
Top Consumer Companies To Invest In Right Now: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)
Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Teresa Rivas]
We think KMB will be perceived as the safest of the multinationals. Its sales outside the US are about 55% of total; this compares to 65%-70% for Procter & Gamble (PG) and Coty (COTY) and 80%-90% for Colgate (CL), Avon and Tupperware (TUP). In general, its risk to the most volatile currencies is below average (its exposure to Eastern Europe is less than 2% of sales), though it is still translating results in Venezuela (about 3% of sales and profit) at the official rate of 6.3 VEF/$ (the parallel rate just hit 175 VEF/$) and Argentina (also 3% of sales) may devalue again. The cost of important raw materials has started to weaken; as they follow oil�� decline they could boost gross margins in 2H15. Of note, polypropylene and natural gas are off 17% 4Q-to-date; pulp prices, while not declining much, seem manageable.
- [By Arie Goren]
After running this screen on May 21, 2013, before the markets' open, I discovered the following eight stocks: Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (SXL), Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG), Copa Holdings SA (CPA), RPC Inc. (RES), Tupperware Brands Corp. (TUP), Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), John Wiley & Sons Inc. (JW.A) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (CHRW).
- [By James Brumley]
CSCO stock might be one of the market’s dark-horse stories of 2014; the dividend yield is the icing on the cake.
Dividend Stocks to Buy: Tupperware Brands (TUP)Dividend Yield: 3.2%
Hot Value Companies To Invest In Right Now: Dollar Tree Inc.(DLTR)
Dollar Tree, Inc. operates discount variety stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer merchandise primarily at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates its stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant, and Dollar Bills. Its stores offer consumable merchandise, including candy and food, and health and beauty care, as well as household consumables, such as paper, plastics, household chemicals, in select stores, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise, which includes toys, durable housewares, gifts, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, and other items; and seasonal goods, such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas merchandise. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 4,089 stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 88 stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-305703{display:none}.cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-305703,#postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-305703{width:570px;height:411px;display:block} NEW YORK -- The fight for penny pinchers is intensifying. Dollar Tree (DLTR) said Monday it is buying rival discounter Family Dollar (FDO) for $8.5 billion, significantly broadening its reach as it looks to fend off Walmart, which has been stepping up its courtship of lower-income customers The deal makes Dollar Tree the biggest player in the dollar store segment, with its more than 13,000 combined locations eclipsing current leader Dollar General (DG), which has about 11,300. Dollar stores grew during the recession as people across income groups searched for cheaper options. To attract a broader array of customers, they also expanded their offerings to include more groceries and brand-name products, instead of just the party favors and other knickknacks people often associated with them. More recently, however, sales at dollar stores have been suffering because the lower-income customers who go to them are facing persistent job instability and slow wage growth in the aftermath of the recession. Walmart Stores (WMT) and Kroger (KR) also have been opening smaller store formats to directly compete with dollar stores. During its current fiscal year, Walmart plans to open 270 to 300 smaller outlets designed to cater to shoppers looking for more convenience. Brian Sozzi, CEO and chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors, said because the Dollar Tree deal will allow the company to lower expenses by merging its operations, it will ultimately be able to lower prices to better compete with Walmart. "Now they're going to take the fight back to Walmart," Sozzi said. The deal also gives Dollar Tree more flexibility. Dollar Tree is true to its name, with everything in its stores costing just a buck. The fixed pricing has helped attract more customer
Hot Value Companies To Invest In Right Now: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)
Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matt Thalman]
The big losers
Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) was the worst Dow component of the week, down 4.19% after the company reported earnings on Wednesday and missed expectations. Earnings per share came in at $1.45, down 43% from $2.54 from the second quarter last year and much worse than the $1.69 Wall Street wanted to see. Revenue came in at $14.6 billion, which was also lower than the $15.1 billion analysts wanted to see. Furthermore, the company cut its full-year forecast and told investors it will begin cutting costs as a way to deal with lower sales. � - [By Chuck Carnevale]
Our first example once again looks at Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) from the earnings and price correlated relationship with a free cash flow overlay (orange shaded area marked with a capital F) added. Clearly we see that Caterpillar (CAT) does generate free cash flow which is a sign of a strong and healthy business. However, we also see that price tracks earnings in a much more correlated fashion than it relates to free cash flow.
Hot Value Companies To Invest In Right Now: Schlumberger N.V.(SLB)
Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Smith]
A promising partnership
Total outlays for subsea facilities were slightly more than $25 billion in 2011. That number is expected to rocket to about $130 billion by 2020. Among several companies that will benefit from this nearly five-fold growth are Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ) and Cameron International (NYSE: CAM ) . - [By Eric Volkman]
A day before it's to release its latest quarterly results, Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ) has declared a fresh dividend. The company announced it will hand out a $0.3125 per share common stock distribution on October 11 to shareholders of record as of September 4. That maintains Schlumberger's dividend policy, as it has paid that amount in both of its preceding quarters. The most recent of the pair was disbursed last Friday. Prior to that, the firm paid $0.275 per share.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $1.24 per share on revenue of $11.58 billion.
Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.24 per share on revenue of $9.92 billion.
- [By Aaron Levitt]
For investors, oil stocks are certainly shining this earnings season. OXY and BP, as well previous reports by Schlumberger (SLB) and Halliburton (HAL), are proving that fact.
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