Week in Review 30/14

Welcome and thanks for reading! In this review, I will gather together important and interesting news and events over the last week related to my portfolio holdings. In my week review, I put also together some interesting articles from other websites that caught my attention during the past week.

Dividends from My Portfolio Holdings:

• On July 25 I received a dividend of € 28.97 from Kraft Foods Group Inc.

Dividend income reported after the deduction of taxes. I have also updated my Monthly Dividend sheet.

Transactions of My Portfolio: 

• On July 24, 2014 I bought 100 shares of Ensco plc. (More here)

News from My Portfolio Holdings:

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. July 21, 2014 Declares Quarterly Dividends For Common Stock

• The company's board of directors authorized a quarterly cash dividend of $0.83 per share to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on September 15, 2014.  The dividend on the common stock will be paid on September 30, 2014.

Chevron Corporation: July 21, 2014

• Commercial Production Begins at Chevron’s New Premium Base Oil Plant (More here)

Altria Group, Inc. July 22, 2014, Interim Report Second Quarter 2014 (More here)

• Altria’s 2014 second-quarter reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased 1.6% to $0.64, as comparisons were affected by special items.
• Altria’s 2014 second-quarter adjusted diluted EPS, which excludes the impact of special items, increased 4.8% to $0.65.
• Altria’s 2014 first-half reported diluted EPS decreased 6.8% to $1.23, as comparisons were affected by special items.
• Altria’s 2014 first-half adjusted diluted EPS, which excludes the impact of special items, increased 5.2% to $1.22.
• Altria revises its 2014 full-year reported diluted EPS guidance from a range of $2.53 to $2.60 to a range of $2.54 to $2.59.
• Altria revises its 2014 full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance from a range of $2.52 to $2.59 to a range of $2.54 to $2.59, representing a growth rate of 7% to 9% from an adjusted diluted EPS base of $2.38 in 2013.
• Altria announces a new $1 billion share repurchase program to be completed by the end of 2015.

The Coca-Cola Company: July 22, 2014, Second quarter and year-to-date 2014 results (More here)

• Global unit case volume grew 3% in the quarter and 2% year to date. Coca-Cola International volume grew 3% in the quarter while North America volume was even.
• Sparkling volume and brand Coca-Cola volume accelerated in North America, Eurasia and Africa, Europe and Asia Pacific in the quarter.
• Global price/mix increased 2% in both the quarter and year to date.
• Reported net revenues declined 1% in the second quarter and 3% year to date. Excluding the impact of structural changes, comparable currency neutral net revenues grew 3% in both the quarter and year to date.
• Reported operating income declined 2% in both the quarter and year to date. Excluding the impact of structural changes, comparable currency neutral operating income grew 5% in the quarter and 6% year to date, resulting in improved operating margins while we continued to invest for growth in our brands with our global system partners.
• Second quarter reported EPS was $0.58, down 1%, and comparable EPS was $0.64, up 1%. Comparable currency neutral EPS increased 6%.
• Year-to-date cash from operations was $4.5 billion.

PepsiCo, Inc. July 23, 2014 Reports Second Quarter 2014 Results (More here)

• Organic revenue grew 3.6 percent and reported net revenue grew 0.5 percent versus the prior-year quarter. Foreign exchange translation had a 3-percentage-point unfavorable impact on reported net revenue and structural change related to the 2013 refranchising of the company's bottling operations in Vietnam had a slight negative impact in the quarter.
• Organic revenue grew 5 percent for global snacks and 2 percent for global beverages in the quarter. On a reported basis, net revenue grew 2 percent for global snacks, reflecting unfavorable foreign exchange translation, and declined 1 percent for global beverages, reflecting unfavorable foreign exchange translation and the Vietnam refranchising.
• Developing and emerging market organic revenue grew 8 percent in the quarter. On a reported basis, developing and emerging market net revenue declined 1 percent in the quarter, reflecting the Vietnam refranchising and unfavorable foreign exchange translation.
• Core gross margin expanded 60 basis points in the quarter reflecting implementation of effective revenue management strategies and productivity initiatives. Core operating margin expanded 10 basis points in the quarter. Excluding the gain related to the Vietnam refranchising, net of incremental investments from the prior-year quarter results, core operating margin expanded 65 basis points in the quarter. Reported gross margin increased 95 basis points and reported operating margin increased 10 basis points in the quarter.
• Core constant currency operating profit increased 3 percent. Excluding the $137 million gain recorded in the prior-year quarter related to the Vietnam refranchising, net of incremental investments, core constant currency operating profit increased 6 percent. Reported operating profit increased 1 percent and included the net impact of mark-to-market gains on commodity hedges and restructuring and impairment charges.
• The company's core effective tax rate was 26.3 percent and the reported effective tax rate was 26.5 percent, both of which were two percentage points higher than the prior-year quarter.
• Core EPS was $1.32 and reported EPS was $1.29. Core EPS excludes a positive net impact of $0.01 per share related to mark-to-market net gains on commodity hedges and a $0.04 per share negative impact from restructuring and impairment charges. Mark-to-market net gains and losses on commodity hedges are subsequently reflected in core division results when the divisions recognize the cost of the underlying commodity in operating profit.
• On track to deliver targeted $1 billion of productivity savings in 2014.
• Cash flow provided by operating activities was $2.7 billion year to date. Free cash flow (excluding certain items) was $1.9 billion year to date.
• The company expects to return a total of $8.7 billion to shareholders in 2014 through approximately $5.0 billion in share repurchases and $3.7 billion in dividends.

AT&T: July 23, 2014, Interim Report Second Quarter 2014 (More here)

• $0.68 diluted EPS compared to $0.71 diluted EPS in the year-ago quarter. Excluding significant items, EPS was $0.62 versus $0.67 a year ago
• Second-quarter consolidated revenues of $32.6 billion, up 1.6 percent versus the year-earlier period
• More than 2 million new wireless and wireline high speed broadband connections added

TAL International Group, Inc. July 23, 2014, Reports Second Quarter 2014 Results (More here)

• TAL reported Adjusted pre-tax income of $1.45 per fully diluted common share for the second quarter of 2014, a decrease of 12.7% from the second quarter of 2013.
• TAL reported leasing revenues of $144.7 million for the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 3.2% from the second quarter of 2013.
• TAL continues to achieve strong operational performance. Utilization increased 0.8% during the quarter and averaged 97.3% for the second quarter of 2014.
• TAL announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share payable on September 24, 2014 to shareholders of record as of September 3, 2014.

Intel Corporation: July 24, 2014, Intel Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend

• Intel Corporation's board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 22.5 cents per share (90 cents per share on an annual basis) on the company's common stock. The dividend will be payable on Sept. 1, 2014, to stockholders of record on Aug. 7, 2014. 

     

Articles that caught my attention:

• 8 Cheap Dividend Growth Stars You Must Know.... by Tom Roberts on Dividend Yield - Stock, Capital, Investment
• Margin of Safety – Chapter 20 – The Intelligent Investor Book Review by KenFaulkenberry on AAAMP Value Blog
• Five Dividend Machines With Growing Distributions by Dividend Growth Investor
• Archer-Daniels Midland: This Dividend Aristocrat by Dividend Ladder
• Chevron Corporation: Is a Cash Flow Boom on the Way?  by Dividend Ladder
• Are Growth Stocks Appropriate For Retirement Portfolios? by Chuck Carnevale on Seeking Alpha
• Sysco Corporation (SYY) Dividend Stock Analysis by Dividend Growth Stocks
• Building A Snowball by Dividend Mantra
• My Thoughts/Valuation on Mattel, and a Few Quotes to Learn By Income Surfer
• Valuation in the Aerospace and Defense Sector by Roadmap2Retire
• 2014 Semi Annual Dividend Growth Portfolio Review by Dan Mac on Dividend Growth Stock Investing
• Surprise: The real cost of inversions are paid by shareholders by Dividend Growth Investor
• Diversifying with Multiple Streams of Income by Retire Before Dad
• How You Start A Dividend Stock Portfolio by Tim McAleenan Jr. on The Conservative Income Investor
• These 26 Dividend Challengers Could Soon Boost Payouts by David Fish on Daily Trade Alert
• Nachtrag zum Kauf von Unilever N.V. by Dividenden-Sammler
• Should I invest in AT&T and Verizon for high dividend income? by Dividend Growth Investor
• Why Warren Buffett Built A Perpetual Income Machine by Tim McAleenan Jr. on The Conservative Income Investor
• 6 Stocks With A High Possibility To Double Dividends by Tom Roberts on Dividend Yield - Stock, Capital, Investment
   

I wish all readers comfortable next week.

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