A lot has happened already this week. Yesterday was particularly interesting because I watched two stocks I follow get halted in mid day trading. Herbal Life is about to get investigated by the FTC and everyone will be watching to see what the FTC decides. Of course Herbal Life announced they will cooperate and that there is no merit to the investigation. I found it interesting though that the FTC has clearly defined what qualifies as a pyramid scheme and their definition matches the Herbal Life business model.
Pfizer was also halted yesterday after a federal ruling that invalidated Pfizer’s patent for Celebrex. This is an important ruling and Pfizer will appeal. I own a bit of stock in this company. Pfizer is making a lot of other progress so I’m not terribly concerned about this ruling.
Other Reads
I found this post interesting over at SA. Michael Jaime highlights 9 Dividend Aristocrats that are trading at below average P/E ratios. The market has left these stocks behind for legitimate reasons but it could be a good place to start for contrarian investors hunting for value.
As most dividend investors know many of the soda makers have not had the best returns in 2013. Coca-Cola is now down over the last 12 months. Some are starting to find new strategies and attempting to shift to new sugar substitutes.
Unilever
Am I the only dividend blogger that has not discussed Unilever (UL) lately? It feels like everywhere I look someone has something to say.
Read what other investors that have been saying about this stock:
- Recent buy – Dividend Venture
- UV has not cut its dividend – Compounding Income
- Headwinds Ahead? – Roadmap2Retire
- Reasonably Priced – Mantra
- Why it’s a buy – Motley Fool
- Dividend Update – PIP
- Attractive EM exposure – SA
I’d love to hear reader’s thoughts on Unilever as an investment choice for 2014.
I bought Unilever last month around $38.50 as detailed in my Seeking Alpha article (http://seekingalpha.com/article/1989131-why-i-bought-unilever-this-morning). I look to make 3 to 4 similar purchases in it over the coming months. I like management’s commitment to raising the dividend. I also think they have great emerging market exposure, which will hurt them in the short run…..but I view as a good thing in the long run.
-Bryan
I’m sorry I missed your SA article in the line up but thanks for posting the link.
UL finally took a dip so I had to add a bit there. I think it’s a great complement to a PG holding for product lineup as well as geographic and currency diversification. I’m hoping to be able to buy some more if the share price dips a bit more with the continuing EM “troubles” and/or the Russia/Ukraine mess.
Hey DividendLadder,
Completely agreed, in my book UL is pretty much on the same level as PG, they were much successful in entering EM but have a slightly tighter cash flow. Still doesn’t justify the valuation gap between them, and it looks like Unilever keeps dipping, I’m getting ready to load up some more shares.
Also, thank you very much for mentioning my view on Unilever, I’m glad it was a good read.
Kind Regards
Thanks for the mention, Zach.
DL,
UL is definitely a stock I want to own. It’s near the top of my list after some others that I was looking at (BNS, GIS) popped a bit, and UL dropped. I’m also looking at T and TIS, but I keep finding things that I’m a bit concerned about.
Thanks for the mention! Much appreciated.
Best wishes.
I haven’t looked into Unilever yet, but will definitely do some digging. Thanks for the recommendation.