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The Daily Dow LEXINGTON, Ky. (Apr. 24): Are you ever spiteful about your stocks? You know ... silently cheer a little when your stocks go up while the market sinks? No? Oops ... forget I brought it up.
Today was one of those days for the Foolish Four though. Chevron continues to pick up a little pace as the double-duty stock for us and both Eastman Kodak and Minnesota Mining helped in today's out-performance. With the DJIA down 35 points today, it's nice to see the Foolish Four post a reasonable gain.
The only Foolish Four loser today was DuPont, which sloughed off about 1% after reporting its first-quarter earnings. Citing lower chemicals and specialties earnings, the company posted $1.57 per share net, up from $1.40 last year, even though revenues fell by $80 million. (Because of last year's purchase of Seagram, the average outstanding shares dropped 18%.)
First Call estimates were $1.61, so at first glance, DuPont looks to have missed by 4 cents a share, but if one excludes non-recurring items, DuPont's earnings were actually 15% higher, right in line with the estimate of $1.61.
A company spokesman analyzed the results: "First quarter results reflect higher earnings in petroleum, but lower results in a number of our chemicals and specialties businesses.... "Chemicals and specialties continue to face a difficult business climate in most markets around the world. Although volumes are up two percent from last quarter, they are about five percent below last year's record first quarter." The company foresees a pick up in demand later in 1996.
DuPont also announced a 10% hike in its quarterly dividend, from $0.52 per share to $0.57. Already among the top-ten yielders in the Dow, this dividend hike further solidifies DuPont's position within the Dow Dividend Approach.
In other Foolish Four news, Standard & Poor's raised its rating on Kodak's senior debt to double-A'-minus from single-A'-plus, commercial paper to A-1'-plus from A-1', and shelf debt securities to preliminary double-A'-minus from preliminary single-A'-plus. According to S&P, the upgrade reflects the firm's progress in improving on-going profitability and its favorable prospects for continued strengthening in earnings.
With today's market-beating day, the Foolish Four puts a little bit of distance between itself and the DJIA on the year. After lagging behind the market throughout the first quarter, Chevron's recent movement and DuPont's early run have powered the portfolio ahead of the index. Now if we could just get 3M back in the winners column, we might be able to sustain the approach's winning streak this year. Transmitted: 4/24/96
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THE FOOLISH FOUR (4/24/96) |
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