Your cart is currently empty!
Source: ilikeyellow / Shutterstock.com
Because the Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) company has been around for so long, you might assume that Disney stock is a perfect set-it-and-forget-it portfolio holding. Yet, I encourage you to conduct your due diligence and check the facts. Disneyโs value proposition to the companyโs investors probably isnโt as good as you think it is.
Granted, there are a couple of potentially positive news items about Disney that are worth mentioning. So, weโll delve into the details now. Donโt think about buying Disney shares, though, until youโve learned all of the relevant facts, including the unfavorable ones.
To be fair and balanced, I must admit itโs good news for Disney that the company finally resolved its legal battles with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this year. Now, Disney and Florida seem to be on amicable terms, to where the company might open a โfifth major theme park at Walt Disney World,โ according to The Associated Press.
Assuming the Florida-Disney deal is fully approved, could end up investing as much as $17 billion in Florida. Thatโs a hefty capital outlay, so only time will tell whether another Florida-based theme park could substantially boost Disneyโs revenue and income.
Meanwhile, activist investor Nelson Peltz has reportedly ended his proxy battle with Disney and even sold all of his Disney shares. Thatโs important because, with no share stake in Disney, Peltz wonโt have any meaningful influence over the company.
Hence, thatโs good news for anyone who may have been worried about the prolonged Peltz-Disney soap opera, which appears to be over now.
Despite these two pieces of positive news, Disney stock still isnโt back up to its pre-COVID-19 level. Thatโs undoubtedly frustrating for Disneyโs long-term investors. Still, it least they can count on Disney providing a decent dividend โ right?
It depends on how one defines a โdecentโ dividend. To be perfectly honest, thereโs not much meat on the bone here for income-focused investors.
Currently, Disney offers a forward annual dividend yield of just 0.29%. For reference, the communication-services sectorโs average dividend yield is slightly more than 2.5%.
Come to think of it, maybe Peltz made a smart decision when he divested his Disney stock stake. Even though the share price is still below its pre-pandemic level from 2019, Disneyโs valuation is surprisingly high.
To quantify this, note that Disneyโs GAAP-measured trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio is a whopping 109.33x. In contrast, the sector median P/E ratio is around 18x.
With positive news coming out of Florida and the Peltz proxy battle over, Disney looks like itโs on the fast track to massive success. Disney shares just arenโt enticing from a value-and-yield investment standpoint.
Disney stock has been โdead moneyโ since late 2019 and the bullish argument isnโt very persuasive today. Donโt get me wrong โ Iโm not saying that investors need to dump their Disney shares like Peltz did.
Itโs just that Disney doesnโt seem to offer much โmagicโ for its shareholders in 2024. So, feel free to look for more promising opportunities in the financial markets.
On the date of publication, David Moadelย did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.ย The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comย Publishing Guidelines.
Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.