It’s mid-October. Covid-19 cases are rapidly growing in Europe, the US presidential election is heating up and earnings season has really started.
Never a dull moment I would say!
This also means that enough new content keeps popping up for the 5-Bullet Sunday series. It’s rather unlikely that I would face a writer’s block for my Sunday updates 😃
Having said that, enjoy today’s edition of 5-Bullet Sunday and as always, have a lovely remainder of the weekend!
5-Bullet Sunday is a weekly blog post with 5 topics that were on my mind this week related to Financial Independence and Dividend Growth Investing or something that just fed my curiosity. An overview of earlier posts can be found here
🌟 International Statistics Day
Mark your calendar! 20 October is international statistics day and the theme this time is connecting the world with data we can trust.
International statistics days happens only once in 5 years and I’m not surprised by the theme this year at all. We need proper data to really start benefiting from data science. Therefore it’s great that this theme has been chosen and that it’s also supported by the United Nations.
Having said that, who can really trust European stock data available in online sources?
I know that the EU commission is on to something, but shouldn’t we collectively, as a community, start building our own open source European dividend related stock data?
Let me know your thoughts. I’d be willing to organize a zoom call/hangouts meet to explore this idea further if we have some volunteers.
It’s just a possibility, not sure about the probability 😉
🌟 Last week’s Earnings
Earnings season started and I’m really excited again 😃.
Johnson & Johnson sold 21.1 Billion in products in Q3 2020 which was an increase of 1.7% YoY. Adjusted EPS came out at $2.20 compared to $2.12 last year (+3.8%). GAAP EPS came in at $1.33. The difference between the numbers is explained by 1.4 Bln in impairment on intangible assets and another Bln in litigation for the Opium case. Guidance for the year stayed the same at ~$8.00 adjusted EPS. This would mean a Forward EPS of 18.5 which is definitely not over-expensive. The stock currently yields 2.73%.
Walgreens sales came in at 34.7 Bln which was an increase of 2% YoY. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.02 which was a decrease of 28% YoY, mainly attributable to COVID-19 (~$0.46). GAAP EPS came in at $0.43 and the difference is explained by the company mainly due to the execution of a cost management program and a partial impairment of an acquisition (one off costs — yeah right). The company currently yields 5.21%.
This quarter was also the last quarter of their fiscal year. If you’re interested in those numbers, then check their 10-K here.
Roche Holding AG is a proud Noble 30 index member and reported their first 9 months of sales. I couldn’t find pure Q3 data, so I’ll go with their Year-to-date first 9 months approach. Sales came in at 44 Bln CHF which was a decline of 5% YoY. They don’t give any EPS numbers on a quarterly basis (like Unilever) but generally they expect a full year EPS growth in the low- to mid-single digits. They are also expecting an increase in dividend next year. I find these numbers quite OK given the COVID-19 circumstances. The stock currently yields 2.9%.
Would you like to know a bit more about the earnings from Johnson & Johnson and Walgreens? If so, then also check out the latest Dividend Talk Podcast on YouTube, Spotify or one of the other podcast platforms:
🌟 Upcoming Earnings
This week will be the most important week for me regarding earning reports in Q3. Especially Thursday will be a stellar day of earnings and therefore Engineer My Freedom and I have declared it #DividendDay.
We have decided to have a live event on Thursday at 22.30 CET to celebrate #DividendDay. We will do live commentary on the earnings and we would love to hear your commentary as well. So, if you would like to join us on Thursday then please send me a DM via Twitter or contact me via email and I’ll make sure that you will get an invite.
Having said that, below are the upcoming earnings. Noble Index members are highlighted with the âš” icon.
19-Oct-20: Philips NV ($AMS:PHIA) âš”, IBM ($IBM)
20-Oct-20: Danone SA ($EPA:BN) âš”, Procter & Gamble ($PG), Phillip Morris ($PM), Texas Instruments ($TXN)
21-Oct-20: Nestle SA ($SWX:NESN) âš”, Novozymes ($CPH:NZYM-B), Assa Abloy ($STO:ASSA-B) âš”, Abbott Laboratories ($ABT), Verizon ($VZ)
22-Oct-20: Unilever NV ($AMS:UNA) âš”, L’Oreal SA ($EPA:OR) âš”, Hermes International ($EPA:RMS) âš”, AT&T ($T), Coca-Cola ($KO), Intel Corp. ($INTC), Kimberly-Clark ($KMB)
23-Oct-20: American Express ($AXP)
Feel free to also use the below graphic and share it with anyone interested.

🌟 Recommended Reads
Let’s focus today on sharing some stock analysis blog posts from within the community:
Dividend Growth Stocks did a stock analysis on Phillips 66. A pure downstream player in the Oil & Gas sector. He always gives a very mechanical way of analyzing dividend growth stocks based on the numbers. I like that such an approach gives a pretty unbiased view on a company by purely looking at the numbers.
Jason Fieber did an analysis about Essex Property Trust on Daily Trade Alert. I found this stock an interesting pick, especially if you’re interested in adding REIT’s into your portfolio. I don’t own the stock and I don’t have an intention to buy it, because I’m not so into REIT investing.
Josh Arnold from Sure Dividends wrote an article about Hormel Foods Corporation. It’s always nice to read objective stock analysis especially also if they include sell recommendations. It keeps us aware that not every dividend aristocrat is a good fit in our portfolios.
I don’t own any of the above stocks and I neither intend to own them, because they aren’t part of my allocation strategy. However, I’m sharing these with you as inspiration 👌
🌟 Recommended Video
I don’t know how it popped up on my timeline, but I found this interesting video from 2016 last week. I like the concept of having investment lessons on an index card which is for free available in a library.
It’s really a video for beginners, so this video might not be that interesting for you if you’re already more advanced in your financial journey.
Still interested? Find out below which are the 10 different rules on the index cards 👇
That’s it for the week. I hope that you enjoyed this week’s 5-Bullet Sunday 💪
As always, have a lovely week ahead!
PS: don’t forget that every comment = 1 Euro to Kiva.
Yours Truly,
European Dividend Growth Investor
Disclaimer
I’m not a certified financial planner/advisor nor a certified financial analyst nor an economist nor a CPA nor an accountant nor a lawyer. I’m not a finance professional through formal education. I’m a person who believes and takes pride in a sense of freedom, satisfaction, fulfillment and empowerment that I get from being financially competent and being conscious managing my personal money. The contents on this blog are for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial, accounting, or legal advice. I can’t promise that the information shared on my blog is appropriate for you or anyone else. By reading this blog, you agree to hold me harmless from any ramifications, financial or otherwise, that occur to you as a result of acting on information provided on this blog.