• Chevron Returns To Stock Buybacks In Size

    Large-scale stock buyback programs in the oil patch often draw a mixed response from investors. This is for the very simple reason that buybacks inevitably occur when cash flow is plentiful before being promptly abandoned when it dries up during downturns. A more interesting policy (at least to me) would be to store up mountains […]

  • Exxon Mobil: Fixing The Roof While The Sun Is Shining

    I like to think that somewhere out there there’s an investor who purchased Exxon Mobil (XOM) stock for exactly $30.11 in March 2020. According to Yahoo Finance, that price represents the lowest intraday low in what must have been the worst year for oil stocks since heck knows when. Such was the carnage in Exxon […]

  • Kraft Heinz Stock Pops Up In The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust

    A reader of this site recently asked what Warren Buffett and Bill Gates might see in Kraft Heinz (KHC). It’s a good question given the stock’s struggles: Kraft shares have dropped from above $90 per share in 2017 to $38.40 currently with only around $11.15 per share in cumulative dividend cash to cushion the blow. […]

  • Anheuser-Busch InBev Has A Dollar Problem

    Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) has significantly underperformed mega-cap consumer defensive stocks since it closed on the SABMiller acquisition in late 2016. Back then, the BUD ADSs that trade in New York changed hands for around $130 per share. Currently, they change hands for $61.85 per share, while shareholders only collected around $12 per share in dividend […]

  • The Flip Side To Procter & Gamble’s Recent Success

    My view for a long time has been that ultra-high quality defensive stocks should be afforded extra leeway during periods of business-level stagnation. Procter & Gamble (PG) provides a good case study for this. Among the many thousands of publicly listed firms there are relatively few that match the business of selling brands like Tide, […]