Liberty Property Trust (LPT) Shares Bought by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LPT) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 387,171 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,658 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Liberty Property Trust were worth $17,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPT. OppenheimerFunds Inc. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $227,000. AXA bought a new position in shares of Liberty Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $246,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Property Trust by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 447,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,244,000 after purchasing an additional 84,179 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Property Trust by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 267,574 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,508,000 after purchasing an additional 15,837 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Property Trust by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Advisors LLC now owns 306,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,178,000 after purchasing an additional 15,025 shares during the period. 90.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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In related news, Director Frederick F. Buchholz sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total value of $200,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 64,044 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,287.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. ValuEngine cut shares of Liberty Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Liberty Property Trust from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Liberty Property Trust from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.00.

Liberty Property Trust stock opened at $43.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 0.71. Liberty Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $37.77 and a fifty-two week high of $45.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $190.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.62 million. Liberty Property Trust had a net margin of 49.95% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Property Trust will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 2nd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Liberty Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.78%.

Liberty Property Trust Company Profile

Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LPT) is a leader in commercial real estate, serving customers in the United States and United Kingdom, through the development, acquisition, ownership and management of superior industrial and office properties. Liberty's 101 million square foot operating portfolio provides productive work environments for 1,200 tenants.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LPT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LPT).

FTSE 100 scores third straight win after weak retail sales throw August rate hike into question

U.K. stocks ended higher on Thursday and the pound tumbled after disappointing British retail sales stoked speculation the Bank of England may refrain from hiking interest rates in August.

What are markets doing?

The FTSE 100 index UKX, +0.10% �rose 0.1% to close at 7,683.97, marking a third straight session in positive territory.

Sterling GBPUSD, -0.2448% �slumped to an intraday low of $1.2958, hitting its lowest dollar level since early September last year. A weaker pound can boost the FTSE 100, as many of the index��s multinational companies generate most of their sales in other currencies.

What is driving the market?

The pound slump and FTSE rise came after a disappointing reading on U.K. retail sales in June. Sales fell 0.5% month-on-month, missing forecasts of a 0.3% rise. The quarterly data, however, painted a more rosy picture, with sales up 2.1% in the second quarter �� the largest increase since February 2015, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The mixed report comes after June inflation numbers out Wednesday missed forecasts, coming in at 2.4% versus the 2.6% expected. The disappointing reading raised questions as to whether the BOE will hike rates at its Aug. 2 meeting, as has been widely expected. Analysts said, however, that the central bank is still seen as raising rates next month, but then stay quiet on the tightening front for a while.

What are analysts saying?

��The latest retail sales data for June present a confusing picture for Mark Carney but he��s unlikely to lose much sleep over them. The wide range of forecasts ahead of today��s 0.5% reduction compared with May underscore the difficulty in reading much into the short-term signals from the High Street,�� said Tom Stevenson, investment director for Personal Investing at Fidelity, in a note.

��With only a short time to go before the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting, these figures probably won��t change the bank��s calculations. These will continue to focus on weaker-than-expected inflation and wage growth. An August rate hike is in the balance; whether or not one is delivered, the trajectory thereafter will be extremely shallow.��

Which stocks are in focus?

Shares of WPP PLC WPP, -2.93% �slid 2.9% after the advertising giant��s competitor Publicis Groupe SA PUB, -8.78% �missed revenue forecasts for the second quarter. Publicis shares closed down 8.8% in Paris.

SSE PLC SSE, -2.35% �fell 2.4% after the utility company reported core earnings below expectations, saying warm weather had weighed on gas demand.

Unilever PLC ULVR, +3.03% UL, +2.97% �rose 3% even after profit at the consumer goods giant declined in the first half of 2018.

Anglo American PLC AAL, -4.08% �gave up 4.1% after a production update. Overall, miners posted losses in London, tracking a selloff in metals prices. Shares of BHP Billiton PLC BLT, -1.85% BHP, -2.53% BHP, +0.12% �closed 1.9% lower, while Rio Tinto PLC RIO, -1.19% RIO, -2.70% RIO, +1.40% �fell 1.2%.

Sara Sjolin

Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.

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Comment Related Topics United Kingdom London Stock Exchange London Markets Bank of England Europe European Markets Quote References UKX +7.69 +0.10% GBPUSD -0.0032 -0.2448% WPP -34.50 -2.93% PUB -5.12 -8.78% SSE -32.50 -2.35% ULVR +127.50 +3.03% UL +1.63 +2.97% AAL -69.00 -4.08% BLT -30.80 -1.85% BHP -1.26 -2.53% RIO -49.00 -1.19% Show all references MarketWatch Partner Center Most Popular One chart puts mega tech��s trillions of market value into eye-popping perspective Dennis Gartman: An ��exaggerated�� and ��stunning�� rally could be on the way Why Trump isn��t backing down in the trade fight �� in one chart Chase and Southwest have a new travel credit card, but is it a good deal? Thai Cave Rescue Boys Recount Their Ordeal Community Guidelines �� FAQs BACK TO TOP MarketWatch Site Index Topics Help Feedback Newsroom Roster Media Archive Premium Products Mobile Company Company Info Code of Conduct Corrections Advertising Media Kit Advertise Locally Reprints & Licensing Your Ad Choices   Dow Jones Network WSJ.com Barron's Online BigCharts Virtual Stock Exchange Financial News London WSJ.com Small Business realtor.com Mansion Global

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Domino's Pizza Extends Its Growth Streak

Domino's�Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) announced second-quarter earnings results this week that extended the pizza chain's impressive streak of growth in both its U.S. and international markets.

Here's a look at how the pizza delivery leader's headline results stacked up against the prior-year period:�

�Metric

Q2 2018

Q2 2017

Year-Over-Year Change

Revenue	$779 million	$629 million	24%
Net income	$77 million	$66 million	18%
EPS	$1.78	$1.32	35%

Data source: Domino's financial filings.

What happened this quarter?

Revenue rose 24% thanks to the combination of a quickly growing store base and robust sales gains at existing locations. Domino's profitability took a small step lower, though, as rising expenses outpaced savings from tax cuts to push margins down.

Image source: Getty Images.

Here are some of the key highlights from the quarter:

Comparable-store sales growth was a robust 7% in the core U.S. segment. That marked a slight slowdown from the prior quarter's 8% rate but easily kept Domino's among the best-performing fast-food companies around. The international segment slowed a bit, too, falling to a 4% increase from 5%. Yet this division stayed within management's target of between 3% and 6% for the year. Domino's added 156 stores to its global base, split between 43 locations in the U.S. and 113 new restaurants in outside markets. Operating costs expanded faster than sales, which pushed operating margin down to 16.2% of sales from 18% a year ago. Tax payments dove, but the reduced operating margin combined with higher interest payments to push bottom-line profitability down to 9.9% of sales from 10.5% of sales. The chain spent $219 million repurchasing its stock, which led per-share earnings to rise by 35% compared to the 18% growth in net income. Domino's ended the quarter with $158 million of cash and $3.5 billion in debt. What management had to say

CEO Ritch Allison, in his first quarter as the company's new leader, highlighted the chain's strong sales and store growth metrics." Global retail sales remain strong as we see our franchisees building new stores, growing same store sales and bringing customers back again and again," Allison said.

Management noted that customers reacted positively to tech initiatives like its recent "hotspots" program, which has created over 200,000 non-traditional delivery locations for places like beaches and parks that lack standard addresses. "I'm delighted to report that our franchisees and team members continued to deliver great results across the global Domino's system," Allison concluded.

Looking forward

Domino's doesn't issue specific sales guidance, but its recent results keep the company right on track to meet -- or exceed -- its long-term objectives. In fact, comps in the core U.S. market have been running ahead of management's annual target for the last six months, which suggests the chain has a good shot at improving on last year's 13% overall sales increase in 2018.

Profits are being pinched by increasing wages and higher commodity costs, particularly cheese. Domino's significant debt load, meanwhile, has kept interest payments at a hefty 4% of sales. Still, the chain has generated $166 million of net income through the first half of 2018, or 10.6% of sales, compared to $128 million, or 10.2% of sales in the prior-year period. As long as Domino's continues winning market share at home while expanding its store base internationally, shareholders can expect that profitability uptick to power robust earnings growth.

Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Edison International (EIX)

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 1,826 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 619% compared to the typical volume of 254 call options.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tiedemann Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edison International by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Tiedemann Advisors LLC now owns 24,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Edison International by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,415,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,994,000 after purchasing an additional 150,064 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edison International by 67.3% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 3,533 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edison International by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 689,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,613,000 after purchasing an additional 66,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Edison International in the 4th quarter valued at about $369,000. Institutional investors own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

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A number of analysts recently commented on the company. ValuEngine cut Edison International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Edison International from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 1st. SunTrust Banks set a $72.00 price objective on Edison International and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 19th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Edison International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Edison International in a research report on Wednesday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Edison International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.36.

EIX opened at $65.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.16. Edison International has a 12 month low of $57.63 and a 12 month high of $83.38.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. Edison International had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 10.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. sell-side analysts forecast that Edison International will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.605 dividend. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 29th. Edison International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.78%.

Edison International Company Profile

Edison International, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in the United States. It generates electricity through hydroelectric, diesel/liquid petroleum gas, natural gas, nuclear, and photovoltaic sources. The company supplies electricity primarily to residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and other customers, as well as public authorities through transmission and distribution networks.

Infosys surges over 2% after management assures of faster growth at its AGM

Infosys on Monday surged over 2 percent as investors cheered positive commentary from its management at the annual general meeting (AGM) held on Saturday.

The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 1,274.40 and an intraday low of Rs 1,250.00.

The IT bellwether��s non-executive Chairman Nandan Nilekani said on June 23 that India��s second largest software exporter was ready to get back to faster growth as the focus shifts to execution of previously laid out plans.

��Our focus is now on relentless execution. Will spare no efforts to do all it will take to realise our aspirations," Nilekani said, while addressing shareholders at its 37th Annual General Meeting in Bengaluru.

related news Goldman Sachs upgrades HDFC to buy; hikes target price by 10% Tata Motors falls 4% on auto imports tariff fears in US, weak JLR trends

He further said the company took stock of its current capabilities and was convinced that there was no better time strategically than now for Infosys.

The AGM was the first for Infosys�� new chief Salil Parekh who turned up looking dapper in a crisp suit.

Apart from Nilekani, none of the other co-founders were present. NR Narayana Murthy did not attend as he was out of the country.

Meanwhile, Nilekani stressed that Infosys has worked on addressing stability issues that have plagued the company since the past couple of years.

��When I stepped for the second time into Infosys in August last year, one of the concerns raised was about the company's stability and we have taken several steps to remedy this. We have a stable board and management and everyone is united,�� he said.

His comment was seen as assuring shareholders about Infosys�� future after a bitter public battle ensued between the first non-co-founder CEO Vishal Sikka and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy over corporate governance issues.

Infosys non-executive Chairman Nandan Nilekani said on June 23 that India��s second largest software exporter was ready to get back to faster growth as the focus shifts to execution of previously laid out plans.

��Our focus is now on relentless execution. Will spare no efforts to do all it will take to realise our aspirations," Nilekani said, while addressing shareholders at its 37th Annual General Meeting in Bengaluru.

He further said the company took stock of its current capabilities and was convinced that there was no better time strategically than now for Infosys.

The AGM was the first for Infosys�� new chief Salil Parekh who turned up looking dapper in a crisp suit.

Apart from Nilekani, none of the other co-founders were present. NR Narayana Murthy did not attend as he was out of the country.

Meanwhile, Nilekani stressed that Infosys has worked on addressing stability issues that have plagued the company since the past couple of years.

��When I stepped for the second time into Infosys in August last year, one of the concerns raised was about the company's stability and we have taken several steps to remedy this. We have a stable board and management and everyone is united,�� he said.

His comment was seen as assuring shareholders about Infosys�� future after a bitter public battle ensued between the first non-co-founder CEO Vishal Sikka and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy over corporate governance issues. First Published on Jun 25, 2018 01:24 pm

Blair William & Co. IL Boosts Position in Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (CNK)

Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CNK) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,906 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,929 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Cinemark were worth $1,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CNK. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Cinemark by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Cinemark in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. We Are One Seven LLC acquired a new stake in Cinemark in the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Holistic Financial Partners acquired a new stake in Cinemark in the 1st quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in Cinemark in the 4th quarter valued at about $279,000. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Shares of Cinemark opened at $35.79 on Friday, according to MarketBeat Ratings. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Cinemark Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.03 and a fifty-two week high of $44.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.95.

Cinemark (NYSE:CNK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 9th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.11). Cinemark had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $780.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.47 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Cinemark’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. equities analysts forecast that Cinemark Holdings, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 7th. Cinemark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.64%.

CNK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush set a $47.00 price target on Cinemark and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 9th. ValuEngine lowered Cinemark from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Cinemark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 9th. Barrington Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Cinemark in a research report on Friday, March 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Cinemark to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.05.

Cinemark Profile

Cinemark Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the motion picture exhibition business. It operates theatres in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Bolivia, Curacao, and Paraguay. As of December 31, 2017, the company operated 533 theatres and 5,959 screens.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CNK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CNK).

GameStop Surges on Report About Potential Private Equity Deal

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GameStop Corp. rose the most in more than three years on a report that the beleaguered video-game retailer has drawn takeover interest from private equity firms.

The chain attracted interest from such firms as Sycamore Partners, Reuters reported on Monday. That sent the shares up as much as 13 percent to $15.78, marking their biggest intraday gain since January 2015.

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A takeover would bring a payday to investors after a more than four-year stock slump. The Grapevine, Texas-based company has been struggling to remain relevant in an era when more and more gamers download their software, rather than buying it at a store.

The stock was down 22 percent this year through the end of last week.

GameStop has hired advisers to help with buyout discussions, though there’s no guarantee that talks will lead to a deal, Reuters reported.

In Your 70s? Here's 1 Stock You Might Want to Buy

You've worked hard for your money, and now you'd like to protect it. But you'd also like to generate a solid -- and ideally, growing -- stream of income from your investment portfolio, one that can give you the freedom you deserve in retirement.

Fortunately, there are a select few businesses that can help you do just that. Read on to learn about one of the best income investments available in the market today.

Searching for yield? Then check out this company. Image source: Getty Images.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) is one of the largest infrastructure companies in the world, with a broad and diverse collection of high-quality assets spanning five continents.

Brookfield operates in four main segments: utilities, transportation, energy, and communications infrastructure -- think electricity distribution lines, toll roads, pipelines, and cell towers.

Importantly, Brookfield's businesses enjoy significant barriers to entry. High replacement costs, regulatory protection, and long-term contracts often help to shield profits from competitors. Brookfield is therefore able to produce reliable cash flow through nearly all manner of business cycles and market environments, which helps reduce risk for investors.

A history of value creation

Moreover, Brookfield excels at capital allocation. It has a strong track record of buying undervalued assets, improving their cash-generating ability, and either harvesting the long-term cash flows they generate or selling them at a sizable profit. In turn, Brookfield has increased its funds from operations (FFO) by 19% annually over the past decade. And, aligned with its target payout ratio of 60% to 70%, it has raised its per unit distribution by 11% annually during this time. Together, this impressive growth has helped Brookfield deliver annualized total returns of 20% over the past 10 years, compared to only 9% for the S&P 500.

Strong growth prospects

Brookfield's goals are to generate long-term returns on equity of 12% to 15% and annual distribution growth of 5% to 9%. The company has identified several key opportunities it believes will help to fuel this growth. In addition to its core markets, Brookfield sees tantalizing growth potential in water, data, and smart cities. Examples include desalination facilities, data centers, and Internet of Things enabled infrastructure. Brookfield estimates that water supply spending alone could reach nearly $7 trillion through 2050, and tens of trillions more dollars in investments are expected to be needed in its other infrastructure markets. Thus, Brookfield should enjoy ample growth in the years -- and decades -- ahead.

An attractive price...and a bountiful yield

After surging more than 30% in 2017, Brookfield's shares have pulled back by about 13% so far in 2018. Shortsighted investors appear to be overreacting to the company's conservative near-term financial forecast. But with $2 billion in organic growth projects slated to come online, Brookfield is well-positioned to deliver on its long-term expansion targets. In addition, the company's proven management team remains on the hunt for more value-creating acquisitions.

Better still, shares now trade for about 12 times FFO and yield 4.8%. That's an attractive valuation and cash distribution yield, particularly from a high-quality business that's set to grow at above-average rates.

Additionally, as a limited partnership and "flow-through" entity, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. can provide U.S. investors with certain tax benefits (but be sure to check with your tax professional about its suitability in retirement accounts).

All told, with its valuable collection of global infrastructure assets, strong and steady operations, and battle-tested acquisition team, Brookfield has everything it needs to continue to deliver market-beating returns in the coming years. Furthermore, its relatively low-risk profile, discounted share price, and hefty cash distribution yield make it an excellent option for investors in their seventies to consider buying today.

Wayside Technology Group (WSTG) Earns Coverage Optimism Rating of 0.12

News articles about Wayside Technology Group (NASDAQ:WSTG) have been trending somewhat positive this week, according to Accern Sentiment. The research group identifies negative and positive press coverage by reviewing more than twenty million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Wayside Technology Group earned a media sentiment score of 0.12 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news coverage about the company an impact score of 47.9828653623855 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

Shares of Wayside Technology Group traded up $0.03, reaching $13.75, during midday trading on Tuesday, according to Marketbeat.com. 999 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,110. Wayside Technology Group has a 1-year low of $12.60 and a 1-year high of $20.60. The stock has a market cap of $61.82 million, a PE ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 0.23.

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Wayside Technology Group (NASDAQ:WSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Wayside Technology Group had a net margin of 1.42% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $40.55 million during the quarter.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 14th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 11th.

In other Wayside Technology Group news, CEO Simon F. Nynens sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.26, for a total value of $92,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,296 shares in the company, valued at $3,911,460.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

About Wayside Technology Group

Wayside Technology Group, Inc operates as an information technology channel company worldwide. It operates in two segments, Lifeboat Distribution and TechXtend. The company distributes technical software and hardware to corporate and value added resellers, consultants, and systems integrators; and software, hardware, and services for corporations, government organizations, and academic institutions.

Zacks: Brokerages Anticipate Paccar (PCAR) Will Announce Earnings of $1.43 Per Share

Equities research analysts expect Paccar (NASDAQ:PCAR) to report earnings per share of $1.43 for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Seven analysts have made estimates for Paccar’s earnings. The highest EPS estimate is $1.50 and the lowest is $1.39. Paccar reported earnings of $1.06 per share during the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year over year growth rate of 34.9%. The business is scheduled to issue its next earnings report on Tuesday, July 24th.

On average, analysts expect that Paccar will report full-year earnings of $5.63 per share for the current financial year, with EPS estimates ranging from $5.32 to $5.95. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the business will report earnings of $5.76 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $5.30 to $6.25. Zacks’ EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of analysts that cover Paccar.

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Paccar (NASDAQ:PCAR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.14. Paccar had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 21.26%. The company had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

PCAR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Longbow Research upgraded shares of Paccar from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 6th. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Paccar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Paccar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Paccar in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares set a $78.00 target price on shares of Paccar and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Paccar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.47.

Paccar traded down $0.59, hitting $64.64, on Friday, according to Marketbeat.com. 911,065 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,878,655. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Paccar has a fifty-two week low of $60.36 and a fifty-two week high of $79.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.24.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 14th. This is an increase from Paccar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Paccar’s dividend payout ratio is 26.29%.

In related news, VP C Michael Dozier sold 13,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.45, for a total transaction of $846,930.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $562,167. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider T. Kyle Quinn sold 9,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.69, for a total transaction of $644,571.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,070,080. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PCAR. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paccar by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,378,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,088,211,000 after buying an additional 2,401,617 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Paccar by 1,334.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,936,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,649,000 after buying an additional 1,801,500 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paccar by 5,414.0% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,540,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after buying an additional 1,512,462 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of Paccar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,152,000. Finally, Fulcrum Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paccar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,026,000. 63.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Paccar

PACCAR Inc designs, manufactures, and distributes light, medium, and heavy-duty commercial trucks in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Truck, Parts, and Financial Services. The Truck segment offers trucks that are used for the over-the-road and off-highway hauling of commercial and consumer goods.

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The curious case of the White House official Trump says 'doesn't exist'

On Thursday the Trump administration held a "background briefing" where a "senior White House official" provided information to reporters from The New York Times, CNN and lots of other news outlets.

On Saturday, President Trump claimed the aide "doesn't exist."

It's a flagrant example of Trump's problem with the truth.

The president frequently claims, without evidence, that journalists make up sources. This is widely recognized to be a fib at best and a lie at worst.

He said it again in a tweet against The Times on Saturday: "Use real people, not phony sources."

But members of the White House press corps quickly pointed out that the unnamed "official" met with a roomful of reporters. Trump's claim was easily proven false.

To attend the briefing -- about the status of President Trump's possible summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- reporters had to agree to leave the aide's name out of their stories.

This tactic, a "background briefing," is frequently employed by White House press shops. Reporters regularly object to it, but it's a long standing fact of White House coverage.

At Thursday's briefing, the aide was asked to justify the anonymous nature of the Q&A, and the official said the White House wanted to "let the president's remarks stand."

So on Thursday the aide was identified in stories as "a senior White House official" or "a senior administration official."

The aide discussed Trump's surprise decision to cancel the June 12 summit between the United States and North Korea.

According to CNN's report, the official "downplayed the likelihood of the summit proceeding on course."

Among other things, the official said "the ball is in North Korea's court right now, and there's really not a lot of time."

The aide added, "June 12th is in 10 minutes."

By the next day, Trump was talking about rescheduling the summit. In a story for Saturday's paper, The New York Times pointed out the disconnect between what Trump was saying and what his aides had been saying.

The Times wrote: "On Thursday, for example, a senior White House official told reporters that even if the meeting were reinstated, holding it on June 12 would be impossible, given the lack of time and the amount of planning needed."

Trump singled out the "impossible" sentence in his faulty tweet on Saturday. He evidently objected to that word. Technically the aide did not say the June 12 date was "impossible," but that was the impression the Times reporters came away with, based on the tone and tenor of Thursday's briefing.

'If': The magic word for President Trump's conspiracy theory

Trump wrote on Saturday: "The Failing @nytimes quotes 'a senior White House official,' who doesn't exist, as saying "even if the meeting were reinstated, holding it on June 12 would be impossible, given the lack of time and the amount of planning needed." WRONG AGAIN! Use real people, not phony sources."

"Impossible" is open to interpretation. But the White House official definitely exists.

David Sanger, one of the two reporters who wrote the story, tweeted in response, "The reason that this official was not named in our story is that the White House press office insisted that its briefing -- for hundreds of reporters -- was on background. Best way to alleviate the President's concern about anonymous sources would be for WH to name the official."

Sanger's colleague Maggie Haberman added: "Imagine being the WH background briefer who led this briefing, who now has his boss -- the president of the US -- saying he/she doesn't exist."

The dust-up caused some onlookers to laugh and others to lament Trump's constant attacks against the press.

It also lent credence to "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl's recent remarks about Trump's real anti-media agenda.

Stahl recalled saying to Trump, "That is getting tired, why are you doing it?"

According to Stahl, he replied, "You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you."

PCSB Bank (PCSB) and Heritage Financial (HFWA) Critical Comparison

PCSB Bank (NASDAQ: PCSB) and Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

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This table compares PCSB Bank and Heritage Financial’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PCSB Bank	$45.04 million	8.25	$3.22 million	N/A	N/A
Heritage Financial	$183.29 million	6.02	$41.79 million	$1.48	21.93

Heritage Financial has higher revenue and earnings than PCSB Bank.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

43.1% of PCSB Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.0% of Heritage Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of PCSB Bank shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Heritage Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares PCSB Bank and Heritage Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PCSB Bank	4.48%	2.55%	0.50%
Heritage Financial	20.10%	9.09%	1.16%

Dividends

PCSB Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Heritage Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Heritage Financial pays out 40.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for PCSB Bank and Heritage Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PCSB Bank	0	0	1	0	3.00
Heritage Financial	0	0	5	0	3.00

PCSB Bank currently has a consensus target price of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.42%. Heritage Financial has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.86%. Given PCSB Bank’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PCSB Bank is more favorable than Heritage Financial.

Summary

Heritage Financial beats PCSB Bank on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

PCSB Bank Company Profile

PCSB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for PCSB Bank that provides financial services to individuals and businesses in Putnam, Southern Dutchess, Rockland, and Westchester Counties in New York. Its deposits products include non-interest bearing demand, NOW, money market, escrow, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial real estate, multi-family residential real estate, commercial business, construction, residential mortgage, consumer, and consumer and business installment loans, as well as home equity lines of credit. It provides its services from executive offices/headquarters and 15 banking offices. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Yorktown Heights, New York.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank that provides various financial services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest demand accounts, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, personal checking accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, owner-occupied and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans, one-to-four family residential loans, real estate construction and land development loans, consumer loans, business lines of credit, term equipment financing, and term real estate loans, as well as commercial loans focuses on real estate related industries and businesses in agricultural, healthcare, legal, and other professions. The company also originates loans that are guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration; and offers trust services through trust powers, as well as objective advice. As of December 31, 2017, the company had a network of 59 branches located in Washington and Oregon. The company was formerly known as Heritage Financial Corporation, M.H.C. and changed its name to Heritage Financial Corporation in 1998. Heritage Financial Corporation was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Olympia, Washington.

Positive Correlation Holds for Bond Yields and Stocks

Higher U.S. bond yields aren’t to blame for the lackluster stock-market returns of the past three months.

So says Credit Suisse’s chief U.S. equity strategist Jonathan Golub, who found that the Russell 1000 Index has performed much better this year when bond yields went up. Specifically, the index has accumulated gains of 8.2 percent on days when 10-year Treasury yields rose, compared with losses of 6.3 percent when yields fell.

“Many investors are espousing the view that higher rates are the cause of 2018’s higher volatility and weaker performance,” Golub wrote in a note to clients Monday. “The data clearly contradicts this assertion.”

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One prevailing fear this year was that stocks would become less attractive relative to bonds as the Federal Reserve continued its monetary policy tightening. Higher rates would also make it more expensive for companies to borrow money, eroding profit gains even as the economy expands.

That theory has been battered in recent weeks, with the S&P 500 heading for the best month since January at the same time 10-year yields spiked above 3.1 percent for the first time in seven years.

Part of the gains came from corporate profits that grew 24 percent, the fastest pace in seven years. The surge boosted the S&P 500’s earnings yield to an extent that the runup in bond yields by 50 basis points did little to dent the stock market’s advantage over fixed income.

The latest resilience doesn’t mean the equity market will take ever higher yields in stride. Wall Street equity strategists agree that it’d be a mistake to ignore the yield risk, though they’re split on the levels at which bond yields pose an imminent threat to stocks.

According to Golub, the red line is at 3.5 percent in the 10-year yield, about 44 basis points above its current level. David Kostin at Goldman Sachs sees danger at either 4 percent or a one-month surge in rates of roughly 20 basis points or more.

For a large part of the past two decades, stocks and bond yields have enjoyed a positive relationship, meaning higher yields tend to go hand in hand with higher equity prices. That’s been the case as inflation has been nowhere to find, leaving economic growth the main driver for both assets.

Yet as the economic recovery approaches its 10th year and the labor market tightens, inflation may creep up, causing the link to break down. In other words, rates may keep going up, but stocks may suffer should companies fail to pass on higher costs to customers. Such negative correlation persisted in the three decades through 1998, when consumer price gains were running at 5 percent a year.

“Rising labor costs, commodity prices and logistics costs post a significant risk to S&P 500 profit margins,” Kostin wrote in a note to clients Friday. “As a result, the ability of companies to increase earnings growth to offset valuation contraction stemming from rising interest rates may be constrained.”

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$465.05 Million in Sales Expected for Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings (AJRD) This Quarter

Wall Street brokerages expect Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings (NYSE:AJRD) to post sales of $465.05 million for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Two analysts have issued estimates for Aerojet Rocketdyne’s earnings, with the lowest sales estimate coming in at $456.80 million and the highest estimate coming in at $473.30 million. Aerojet Rocketdyne reported sales of $459.60 million in the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 1.2%. The business is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings report on Thursday, August 2nd.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Aerojet Rocketdyne will report full year sales of $1.93 billion for the current year, with estimates ranging from $1.90 billion to $1.96 billion. For the next financial year, analysts anticipate that the company will report sales of $2.01 billion per share, with estimates ranging from $2.00 billion to $2.03 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research firms that follow Aerojet Rocketdyne.

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Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The aerospace company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $492.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.68 million. Aerojet Rocketdyne had a positive return on equity of 46.38% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share.

A number of research firms recently commented on AJRD. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 4th. ValuEngine raised shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.33.

Aerojet Rocketdyne stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.19. The stock had a trading volume of 547,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,415. Aerojet Rocketdyne has a twelve month low of $20.17 and a twelve month high of $36.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.03.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AJRD. Carillon Tower Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Aerojet Rocketdyne in the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,445,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Aerojet Rocketdyne by 621.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 464,294 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,485,000 after purchasing an additional 399,958 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Aerojet Rocketdyne by 433.7% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners Inc. now owns 384,282 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,990,000 after purchasing an additional 312,274 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Aerojet Rocketdyne by 151.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 365,756 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,230,000 after purchasing an additional 220,428 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Aerojet Rocketdyne by 461.3% in the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 261,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,312,000 after purchasing an additional 214,838 shares during the period. 97.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Company Profile

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aerospace and defense products and systems in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Aerospace and Defense, and Real Estate. The Aerospace and Defense segment offers aerospace and defense products and systems for the United States government, including the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and aerospace and defense prime contractors.

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Too Many of 2017's Highest-Paid CEOs Did a Terrible Job for the Money

In this segment of the MarketFoolery podcast, host Chris Hill and Foolish investor-at-large Tim Hanson discuss the absurdity of C-suite compensation. Granted, running a large public company is a tough job, but the complete disconnect between what the top executives are paid and the results they produce should have shareholders, board members, and employees up in arms.

The Fools consider the number of overpaid CEOs who were actually fired for cause, the lack of a connection between CEO pay and organizational or shareholder benefit, the size of their golden parachutes, and more.

A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on May 15, 2018.

Chris Hill: It's nice that some of the CEOs of public companies are making a good living, because I was really worried about some of them. And congrats to Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap�(NYSE:SNAP), who, as it turns out, was the highest paid CEO in 2017. He made just over $500 million.

Tim Hanson: That wasn't all cash, though, was it? No!

Hill: No, much of that came from a huge stock grant that vested when Snap went public.

Hanson: I mean, that'll be worthless soon.

Hill: [laughs] But here's the thing. When you juxtapose the just north of $500 million that he made in 2017 with the $720 million loss that Snap took in 2017, I can't help but think, there's a way to decrease that loss. You looked at the list. What stood out to you?

Hanson: This came from The Wall Street Journal. What they were pointing out was, was it nine of --

Hill: Eight.

Hanson: Eight of the top 20 --

Hill: Eight of the top 20!

Hanson: -- don't even have their jobs anymore! They included Steve Wynn, who obviously resigned in shame for that. Then, Hunter Harrison, who passed away after trying to steer CSX. After successfully turning around some other railroads, he was attracted to CSX by an activist investor. He had health problems and passed away. Still pocketed something on the order of $100 million or something along those lines.

It was just fascinating. You like to think, at any company, that you have a pay-for-performance culture, right? That the people who are making the money are the people who are helping grow value for the business. And obviously, CEOs make a lot of money. And the fact that the turnover is so high for doing a bad job -- these people mostly lost their jobs for cause. They were doing a terrible job! And they were making well into nine figures!

Hill: Yes.

Hanson: Crazy!

Hill: That's the thing that always has me scratching my head. Because you're right. All kidding aside about Evan Spiegel, in general, rather than CEOs being paid a tremendous amount of cash, we'd much rather see their interests align with the interests of individual shareholders like you and me. But, I don't think I will ever stop shaking my head at some of the pay packages that are put together for CEOs who don't perform, to the point that you made, and also some of the parachutes. Even people who are being fired for cause, it's like, "Oh, yeah, but we're also going to give you this enormous bag of money on your way out the door."

Hanson: Yeah, it's crazy. In sports, there are obviously some overpaid athletes, but they got overpaid because at some point, they were probably underpaid, or their talents were marketable. There's some connection there between the compensation and their relative ranking among their peer group. With CEOs, there's almost no correlation between skill and pay when it comes to C-level management. None. So, why any board of directors feels the need to overpay a CEO to keep them or to hire them when you could probably find someone of equal or greater ability for less money if you're just willing to work a little harder continues to baffle me. And you have all sorts of corporate executive headhunting firms that make a lot of money looking for these people. And yet, there's no science to it! I mean, I like to measure things and be very quantitative --

Hill: Data-driven.

Hanson: Yeah, and I believe in meritocracy, so on and so forth. And this is a thing that continues to annoy me about management teams, is how much money they think they're worth when it's demonstrably not true that they're worth that money.

Hill: You just reminded me, when you mentioned professional athletes, of the great line that Chris Rock had about the difference between being rich and being wealthy. It was, "Shaquille O'Neal is rich. The owner of the team who signs his paychecks, he's wealthy."

Allegiant grows fast in small cities, but will…

�

EVANSVILLE, Ind. �� Bob Whitmer was ecstatic�his hard work had paid off.�

It was 2011, and he had just shepherded through a runway extension and other improvements�at Owensboro��s airport in western Kentucky.�

Representatives of the low-cost carrier Allegiant were flying into town to tell Whitmer, the airport director, that Owensboro had landed flights to Las Vegas.�

��This is a dream come true for Owensboro!�� he gushed in a news release touting the service��s launch alongside existing flights to the Orlando area.

But six months later,�amid prohibitive�fuel costs, that dream ended when Allegiant announced it was pulling its Las Vegas route.�

As Evansville celebrates the arrival �� and rapid expansion �� of Allegiant service, words of caution abound that the routes may be short-lived. Perhaps no entity is more honest about that than Allegiant itself. The airline��s rallying cry to the communities it serves: Use it or lose it.�

��Allegiant��s pretty agile,�� said Kristen Schilling-Gonzales, the airline��s director of planning. ��We��re monitoring every flight. We��re looking at every route we operate on a monthly basis, quarterly basis, even more than that.��

Allegiant is unique in that even seemingly successful service sometimes finds itself on the chopping block.�

32 COOL AVIATION PICS: Disney- and Dodgers-themed jets, 747s and more�(story continues below)

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Westjet's 'Frozen' themed Disney jet departs Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 15, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen Cargo jets for UPS, top, and FedEx, bottom, trade places at Anchorage International Airport on Dec. 3, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen Outfitted for marine surveillance, a Canadian Government Dash-8 departs Vancouver International Airport in December 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A gaggle of partially completed Boeing KC-46 tankers awaits their fate while parked at Paine Field near Everett, Wash., in December 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Pacific Coastal Beech 1900D taxis in to a small domestic terminal at Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 15, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen An Augusta Westland 139 helicopter lands at Vancouver International Airport on Dec 15, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen Snow covers a Cessna seaplane on a very cold day at the Lake Hood Seaplane Base in Anchorage, Alaska, in December 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 departs Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 15, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 takes off for London from San Francisco International Airport on Oct. 23, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A KD Air Piper Navajo Chieftan taxies to a gate after landing at Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 15, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen An Alaska/Horizon Bombardier Q400 painted in an Oregon Ducks livery taxis for departure as a Virgin America Airbus A319 takes off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Dec. 24, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen An Air Canada Boeing 777-300 departs Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 15, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen Pilots aboard a UPS Boeing 747 don Santa hats as they ready for a flight across the Pacific on Dec. 3, 2016 in Anchorage, Alaska.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A China Eastern Airbus A330 takes off from Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 15, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen An Air China Boeing 747-400 lands at Anchorage International Airport on Dec. 3, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Saudi Arabian Boeing 777-300 delivers from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., on Dec. 24, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen The winter holiday travel season was one of the busiest ever in 2016-17. Here crowds pulse through Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Jan. 4, 2017.  Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAYFullscreen An unfinished Boeing 747-8 rests outside at Paine Field, near Everett, WA, in December of 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen The Caribbean Sea and Mexico's Yucatan coastline as seen from American Airlines Flight 886 from Cancun to Charlotte.  Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAYFullscreen Jets at one of San Francisco International Airport's international concourses in October 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Centurion Cargo Boeing 747-400 takes off from Anchorage International Airport in December 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen An Emirates Airbus A380 departs for Dubai from San Francisco International Airport on Oct. 23, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A United Airlines Boeing 777-300 takes off on a delivery flight from Paine Field, near Everett, Wash,, in late December, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Korean Air Boeing 777-300 lands at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Dec. 24, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Hawaiian Airbus A330 takes off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Dec. 24, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A China Airlines Cargo Boeing 747 takes off from Anchorage International Airport in December 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A rare Everts Air Cargo Douglas DC-6 lands at Anchorage International Airport in December 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Cargolux Boeing 747-8F freighter jet lands at Anchorage International Airport on Dec. 4, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A Lynden Air Cargo Lockheed C-130 makes an aggressive landing approach to Anchorage International Airport in December 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen An EVA Air Cargo Boeing 747-400 freighter lands at Anchorage International Airport in December 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen Purples, pinks, and blues roll over the mountains of Alaska, seen from a Delta Air Lines flight on Dec. 4, 2016.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAYFullscreen A USA TODAY newspaper sits on a first-class seat of an American Airlines A319 for a flight from Charlotte to Cancun, Mexico, on Dec. 30, 2016.  Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAYFullscreenLike this topic? 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That's because Allegiant's low-cost fares are dependent upon its ability to up-sell customers on everything from seat selection to hotel rooms. Jets full of frugal passengers who paid for their flights, but nothing else, end up costing the airline money.�

In regulatory filings, the company said it averages expenses of�about $100 per passenger per flight, or $200 round trip. As an airline that routinely offers round trip fares as low as $100 on flights, Allegiant needs to sell customers rental cars and tickets to events to make those routes profitable.

��If you took just our airfares alone, that doesn��t cover our costs. That��s honest,�� Schilling-Gonzales said. ��So we do offer ancillary products as a way to let customers customize their vacations.���

Et tu, Allegiant?�

Few airlines tweak their route maps as frequently as Allegiant. While legacy carriers, such as American, Delta and United, are more apt to play the long game when it comes to allowing new routes to perform, Allegiant opts for a different approach.

Take Owensboro. At one point, Allegiant flew four round-trip flights per week between Orlando and Owensboro, as well as the twice-weekly Las Vegas flight.

"We were very elated that we had non-stop flights to two of the most popular vacation destinations in the United States," Whitmer said. "It was a very attractive offering we had at our airport. We were extremely pleased."

Today, Allegiant only flies twice-weekly Orlando flights.�

While Allegiant still serves Owensboro, there are plenty of other airports �� including Casper, Wyo.; Akron-Canton, Ohio; and Youngstown-Warren, Ohio, �� where Allegiant has departed completely.�

When Allegiant left Casper, "they never issued a news release," Airport Director Glenn�Januska said. "They took the service out of the schedule, and I think the only way people would have known that the service was going to be discontinued was they went to book a flight and noticed, 'Hey, wait a minute. Casper isn't there anymore.'"

A similar situation happened at Akron-Canton, where Allegiant also abruptly pulled its flights.�

Marketing Director Lisa Dalpiaz�said Akron-Canton was "disappointed in Allegiant's decision."

At Youngstown-Warren, which lies between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Allegiant �� in its trademark honesty �� "told us, straight up, we can make more money at the larger airports," Aviation Director�Dan Dickten said.�

IN PICTURES: 30 cool aviation photos�(story continues below)

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With iconic Mount Rainier forming a dramatic backdrop, a Virgin America Airbus A320 lands at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in September of 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen The soft yellowish-gold glow of Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport ceiling greets visitors arriving to the nation's capitol in May of 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen "Star Wars" characters R2-D2 and C-3P0 pose with All Nippon Airways' R2-D2-themed Boeing 787-9 at a ceremony in Everett, Wash., on Sept. 12, 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen C-3PO and R2-D2 pass by the engine of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner while welcoming a Star Wars-themed jet to ANA's fleet on Sept. 12, 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen A brand-new Cargolux Boeing 747-8 cargo jet takes off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., on Sept. 13, 2015, for a test flight.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen A rare Boeing 727, operating a charter for a Major League Baseball team, takes off from Boeing Field in Seattle in September of 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen A Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-300 taxis to the gate on a rainy afternoon in December 2014.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen Heading out for a test flight, an Avianca Cargo Airbus A330 Freighter is towed to position via a tug at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, in December 2014.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen With its distinctive architecture, Doha's Hamad International Airport is abuzz with activity despite the 3 a.m. local hour in December of 2014.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen An Emirates Airbus A380 superjumbo taxis to the gate after landing in Houston in December 2014.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen An American Airlines Boeing 737-800 departs Phoenix Sky Harbor in January of 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen Cessnas trade places on a taxiway at Paine Field in Everett, Wash., in February of 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen F-18 Growler fighter jets practice carrier landings at a remote landing strip on Whidbey Island in Washington State in March of 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen ANA's R2-D2-themed Boeing 787 Dreamliner after it emerged from a Boeing hangar in Everett, Wash., on Sept. 12, 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreen The unfinished nose of a 777-300, seen during a tour of Boeing'swidebody jet factory inEverett, Wash., onJune 1, 2015.  Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAYFullscreenBlogThis!