Yes, we have a new logo. At this exact moment, you’re trying to decide whether you like it or not. That’s fair. We get it. Change is hard. Give it a chance, and we promise it’ll grow on you as it did us.

Why the new look? Every logo needs a bit of spiffing up over time to stay current — cleaner lines, more modern colors, etc.  But we had a bigger reason that spurred us roughly a year ago to make a change. When many people looked at our old logo, they failed to see something very important: themselves. 

Elvis was created to represent the jester of yore who could, through humor, speak the truth to the king or queen without having his head lopped off. That appealed to us as we sought to speak truth about Wall Street and level the playing field for all to invest and grow their wealth.

Being fans of Shakespeare ourselves, we had his classic characters such as Touchstone and Will Sommers in mind — characters often portrayed as male and caucasian. But this same character, the jester, can be found in many diverse cultures around the world, and it isn’t exclusively the domain of blue-eyed men. The notion of using humor and good storytelling to spread truth is global. And so is The Motley Fool. 

We decided our logo should reflect the vibrancy, inclusivity, and humor of our Foolish community. By focusing on the jester cap with our new logo, we hope more people can imagine donning the hat and seeing themselves as Fools, too. 

When we bring employees, entrepreneurs, investors, leaders, and innovators together from every community around the world, we all benefit. The world and the markets operate best when the opportunities for growth, impact, and prosperity are clearly available to all.

We want to give a huge thanks to Luke Hayman and his team at the international design consultancy Pentagram who collaborated with us on the new logo, which transforms Elvis’s jester cap into an iconic symbol for The Motley Fool. 

Again, we really can’t overstate this: While our look has changed, our purpose remains the same. The Motley Fool is here to make the world smarter, happier, and richer. 

We are committed to helping ensure that our employees, our members, our future members, and our fellow humans are safer, treated fairly, and given every opportunity to live out their true potential. This idea is more important than ever: Anyone can learn to invest for a better future, whether in their business, in the stock market, or in themselves.

Thank you for suffering Fools gladly over our 27 year history. We hope you’ll join us in looking to the future with our new logo! Fool on!

PS: We have a new store where you can get Motley Fool t-shirts, baseball hats, and more.

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Not every company is purpose-driven, but The Motley Fool is—as are many of the companies we admire. Whole Foods, Southwest Airlines, and Google come to mind.

To understand what it means to be a purpose-driven company, we look to Roy Spence, who wrote that a company’s purpose is “a definitive statement about the difference you are trying to make in the world. … It’s your reason for being that goes beyond making money…”

Roughly eight years ago, we revisited this idea and, after much introspection, decided The Motley Fool’s purpose would become To Help the World Invest—Better.

It made a lot of sense for us at the time and served us excellently. But by 2018, our company had grown quite a bit and added a number of new ventures with new possibilities that convinced us we now had a broader purpose.

So, here we are, more than 25 years since The Motley Fool was founded, revisiting our purpose and returning to our roots. We asked ourselves, what happens after you’ve educated, amused, and enriched? What does the world look like?

[Insert a drumroll here.]

The new purpose statement of The Motley Fool is: To Make the World Smarter, Happier, and Richer.

The most important word in our purpose statement may surprise you. It’s “and.”

While other companies try to make the world smarter, happier, or richer, we aim to do all three.

Smarter: By sharing our expertise as a leader in long-term investing, entrepreneurialism, workplace culture, and more—in a way that is approachable and jargon-free.

Happier: By being a voice of optimism and community builders of like-minded people who enjoy learning together.

And Richer: In the most literal sense, by providing guidance that helps people manage their financial resources, but also by enabling them to live a more fulfilling, richer life, beyond their assets.

When we are at our very best, we are making our world smarter, happier, and richer. Never one without the other two, never two without the third.

We look forward to exploring in the coming years how our purpose can be put to work serving our members, building our community, and helping the world. Thank you for joining us on this journey.

Fool on!

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Of course, I accept that the company is going through a tough time and that it may take quite a while for it to come good. The key thing for me, though, is that I believe it will make a very strong comeback and will return to being viewed as a highly attractive retailer by the stock market.

Indeed, the company’s management strategy is an area that has come under close scrutiny in recent years. In my view, Tesco has made mistakes, most obviously in the USA with its Fresh & Easy brand. However, it has shifted from being on the back foot to being on the front foot, with stores being freshened up, new marketing campaigns (such as Brand Match) being launched and a renewed focus on maintaining customers via generous reward programmes.

Furthermore, I feel that diversifying the Tesco brand is the best way to generate future growth, so the release of the Hudl (the Tesco tablet) is a positive step in my opinion. Of course, some ideas are not going to work, but I think the lesson taught by the difficulties over the last few years is that Tesco should try new ideas out on a smaller scale and not risk vast losses should things not work out as planned.

Certainly, management need to come up with new ideas to achieve top-line growth and it seems as though a focus on new products that provide the ability to cross-sell (as the Hudl does) via the Clubcard rewards programme is a logical move for the company.

In addition to management strategy being sound, I’m also considering increasing my stake in Tesco because its shares trade on a low price to earnings (P/E) ratio. Indeed, Tesco’s P/E is just 11.5 which, on an absolute basis, is cheap.

However, when viewed relative to the wider stock market and to the food retail sector, Tesco looks even better value. The FTSE 100 trades on a P/E of 15.5, while the food retail sector (to which Tesco belongs) has an average P/E of 13.7. Given the quality of the company and its clear recovery prospects, I think such a large discount is unwarranted and I would expect it to narrow over the medium to long term.

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> Peter owns shares in Tesco.  The Motley Fool also owns shares in Tesco.

Boardroom battles hang heavily

Gulf Keystone Petroleum’s executive structure has come under the microscope recently from major shareholder M&G Recovery Fund, who criticised directors’ remuneration as well as the state of corporate governance at the firm.

The fund sought to address the problem by appointing four independent directors and, after stiff opposition the firm, Gulf Keystone Petroleum was forced to concede and assuage to M&G’s demands.

Fresh incumbents include Jeremy Asher, who was described as “disruptive” by chairman Simon Murray during his period shift on the board, a comment made just a week before the changes. Question marks thus abound over how effectively the re-jigged board will be able to operate.

Oil explorer still courting trouble

Gulf Keystone Petroleum remains locked in a bitter court battle with Excalibur Ventures — a story that stretches back to 2011 — which claims that it holds the rights to up to a third of the former’s oil assets in Kurdistan.

Although the case adjourned in March and a decision expected during the summer, both sides are still awaiting a ruling due to the complexity of the case. Needless to say the outcome of the matter could have huge ramifications on future revenues.

Risks outweigh rewards at current prices

Despite these worries, analysts expect Gulf Keystone Petroleum’s revenues to more than double in 2013, to £46.8m, helping to narrow pre-tax losses to £32.3m. Further out, the prospect of exploding production is anticipated to drive revenues to £189.6m in 2014, snapping the firm into profit to the tune of £63.5m.

In turn, losses per share of 3.1p this year are anticipated to swing to earnings per share of 6.9p in 2014. Still, next year’s figure creates a P/E rating of 26.5, above the current forward average of 22.7 for the rest of the UK’s listed oil and gas producers.

In my opinion, this sours an already fragile investment case for the firm. Undoubtedly, Gulf Keystone Petroleum has excellent production potential through its gigantic oil assets in Kurdistan. But until a resolution to the Excalibur Ventures saga — an issue that would have catastrophic implications for future income — is obtained, I believe that the hazards currently outweigh any potential rewards.

Drill for riches with the Fool

Regardless of all the boardroom strife and overhanging legal battle, Gulf Keystone petroleum — like all natural resources plays — still comes attached with a heightened risk profile. Drilling for oil and minerals mining is often a ‘hit and miss’ business where the timing, and indeed quantities, of potential payloads are extremely unpredictable.

To help you avoid these potential pitfalls, The Motley Fool’s exclusive “How To Unearth Great Oil & Gas Shares” report gives an expert view on how you can make a fortune from what lies under our feet. Click here now to download our report — it’s 100% free and comes with no further obligation.

> Royston does not own shares in Gulf Keystone Petroleum.

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In Europe, London markets were closed for a public holiday, but eurozone markets fell this morning. The biggest falls were seen in Italy, where investors are increasingly worried about the stability of the country’s government, and the likelihood of a snap election, which could delay progress with economic reforms and raise yields on Italian government debt. Italy’s biggest bank, UniCredit SpA, was down by 4.3% at 7am ET, while Italy’s FTSE MIB index was down by 2.44%. Elsewhere, the DAX was down 0.25%, and the CAC 40 was down 0.63%.

US investors will be watching for July’s durable goods orders report, which is due at 8.30am ET, and is expected to show that durable goods orders fell by 4.9% in July, after gaining 3.9% in June. Economic highlights due later this week include August’s consumer confidence index on Tuesday, July’s pending home sales on Wednesday and the revised second-quarter GDP estimate on Thursday, all of which may provide further clues as to the strength of the US recovery. Investors are becoming concerned that the Fed taper will cause the housing market to stall, after figures released on Friday showed that new home sales fell by 13.5% in July.

Companies that may be actively traded today include Microsoft. The Windows giant closed up by 7.3% on Friday, after the firm’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, announced his retirement, but the firm’s stock price was virtually unchanged in pre-market trading this morning. No major corporate earnings announcements are due today, but Onyx Pharmaceuticals was 5.7% higher in pre-market trading after news emerged that the firm has agreed a $10.4bn sale to Amgen, whose stock price was 5.6% higher in pre-market trading. Amgen’s decision to purchase Onyx is likely to have been influenced by Onyx’s recently-approved blood cancer drug Kyprolis, which analysts estimate may deliver more than $3bn in revenue by 2021, according to Bloomberg.

Finally, let’s not forget the Dow’s daily movements can add up to some serious long-term gains. Indeed, Warren Buffett recently wrote: “The Dow advanced from 66 to 11,497 in the 20th Century, a staggering 17,320% increase that materialized despite four costly wars, a Great Depression and many recessions.” If you, like Buffett, are convinced about the long-term power of the Dow, you should read “5 Stocks To Retire On“. Your long-term wealth could be transformed, even in this uncertain economy. Simply click here now to download this free, no-obligation report.

> Roland does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.

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Earnings continue to drag amid market difficulties

BHP Billiton announced earlier this week that revenues toppled 8.7% in the year ending June 2013, to $65.97bn. This saw underlying earnings before interest and tax hurtle 22.4% lower to $21.13bn.

Barring its aluminium, manganese and nickel business, earnings slipped across all of its major divisions, led by severe weakness in its coal arm — here, earnings dropped by 73.3% to $746m. BHP Billiton noted the effect of heavily constrained prices in both the iron ore and metallurgical coal markets, while oversupply also harmed copper, aluminium and nickel prices.

In a bid to bolster its balance sheet, the mining leviathan said that it will keep capital expenditure down to $16.2bn in fiscal 2014 compared with $20.22bn last year. It is also planning to keep its busy divestment programme rolling to create a more streamlined operation. Still, a backdrop of difficult market conditions look likely to more than offset these measures.

Commodities still under the cosh

The mining giant followed up an 18% earnings per share (EPS) decline in the year ending June 2012, with an even worse showing for fiscal 2013 — EPS slid by 29% to 147p, falling short of analyst consensus. However, brokers anticipate a 20% bounceback in 2014, to 170p.

BHP Billiton was recently trading on a forward multiple of 11.2, providing a decent discount to a comparative figure of 14.4 for the broader mining sector and 15.7 for the FTSE 100. However, in my opinion, the company — like all mining plays — carries a huge degree of risk, which could severely hamper any earnings turnaround.

While economic newsflow in Europe and the United States has improved in recent times, fears over the state of affairs in Japan — and signs of slowdown in emerging markets worldwide, particularly commodity glutton China — continues to keep commodity prices in the doldrums.

And many of BHP Billiton’s raw materials markets are likely to suffer from increasingly worsening supply/demand fundamentals, particularly in the critical iron ore market which accounts for a third of group revenues. Indeed, the firm warned that “increased supply is likely to exert downward pressure on prices” across commodity markets over the near-term.

Electrify your dividend income with the Fool

So although I am not tempted to plough my cash into BHP Billiton at present, there are plenty of other lucrative payout plays out there to help you really propel the income from your stock portfolio. And I recommend you take a look at this exclusive, in-depth report about another FTSE 100 high-income opportunity.

The blue chip in question offers a prospective dividend yield comfortably north of 5%, and has been declared “The Motley Fool’s Top Income Stock For 2013“! Click here to download the report now — it’s absolutely free and comes with no further obligation.

> Royston does not own shares in BHP Billiton.

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Which individual shares are reaching new highs? Here are three from the various FTSE indices:

National Express

National Express Group (LSE: NEX) is still climbing, with its shares hitting another new 52-week high today of 266.9p, though they have dropped back a little to 263.5p at the time of writing. First-half results released on 24 July showed the firm’s turnaround plan coming good, though we should still be seeing a fall in earnings per share (EPS) of around 15% for the year to December 2013.

But the shares are on a forward P/E of a fairly undemanding 12, dropping to 11.5 for a predicted 5% EPS rise the year after. Dividends should be adequately covered, and look set to yield around 4%.

Brammer

Maintenance and repair products distributor Brammer (LSE: BRAM) might not sound like an exciting company, but its share price is up nearly 75% over the past 12 months, ending yesterday on a 52-week closing high of 450.5p — it was back a few pence from that to 448.5p by mid-afternoon today. A good part of that gain has come since early July, with the firm reporting first-half pre-tax profit up 3.5% to £14.6m and earnings per share up 3.3% to 9.4p.

The forward P/E is maybe a bit high at 19, but we do have a 9% rise in EPS forecast with expectations of a further 17% for 2014.

Hilton Food Group

Meat packing firm Hilton Food Group (LSE: HFG) has had a pretty good year too with its shares up 45%, and that includes a 19p (4.5%) rise today to a 52-week high of 445p. A trading update in July told us that “performance has been in line with the board’s expectations“, with first-half results due on 10 September.

We’ve seen five years of steady earnings and dividend rises from Hilton, and the City is expecting at least two more years of the same to come. With the share price having appreciated well, the 2013 dividend should yield about 3%.

Finally, if you’re looking for high-performing top-drawer shares that should take you all the way to a comfortable retirement, I recommend the Fool’s special new report detailing five blue-chip shares. They’ll be familiar names to many, and they’ve already provided investors with decades of profits.

But you can only get the report for a limited period, so click here to get your hands on these great ideas — they could set you on the road to long-term riches.

> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.

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Legal eagle

Last time I examined Legal & General Group, way back in November, it was on top form. It had post record sales over the year and management was confident of more to come in 2013. Has L&G delivered on that promise? And should I buy it?

L&G certainly has delivered to investors. Its share price is up 50% over the past 12 months to £1.97, against less than 12% for the FTSE 100 as a whole. Over two years, it is up 108%, against 26% for the index. And it just keeps on growing, up 25% over six months and 10% over three months. 

Its latest half-year results, published earlier this month, showed a 13% rise in profit before tax to £592m and a 10% rise in operating profits to £571m. Net cash generation leapt 23% generation to £500m, earnings per share (EPS) rose 13% to 7.82p. No wonder investors were pleased.

L&G now manages total of £111bn, up from £70bn in 2012, thanks to acquisitions such as the fund management platform Cofunds, and healthy stock market growth. There were strong figures everywhere, across annuities, where individual sales rose 44% to £754m, and protection, where modest 3% UK growth to £689m was dwarfed by 10% US growth to $503m.

Asia adventures

L&G hasn’t got everything right. It doesn’t have the same exposure as Prudential (LSE: PRU) (NYSE: PUK.US) to fast-growing Asia and emerging market economies although, given the growing crisis over there, that may prove a blessing in disguise. And there are wider threats, such as the impact of US tapering off QE on stock and bond markets, which could hit investment returns and customer appetite for new products. But my biggest worry is where the group can go from here. Can it maintain this blistering pace?

L&G’s valuation is starting to look a little pricey, at 14.1 times earnings. That’s slightly more than the life insurance sector as a whole, which trades at 12.73 times earnings. Its dividend yield is markedly below the sector average, at 3.9% covered 1.8 times, against an average of 4.8%. These results, of course, are a tribute to its recent success.

Prudential, another insurance sector success story, trades at a similar 14.6 times earnings, yet yields a far lowlier 2.6%. L&G’s forecast EPS growth of 13% this calendar year and 7% next year suggests its momentum will slacken a little. Prudential’s EPS outlook is a little rosier, at 10% this year and 12% in 2014 (Asia notwithstanding).

Both are great companies in fine form. L&G has had a glorious run, but may struggle to maintain its recent blistering pace. One to buy on weakness, maybe, but definitely one to buy.

There are more exciting growth opportunities out there. Motley Fool analysts have found what they believe is the single best UK growth stock of this year. That’s why they have named it Motley Fool’s Top Growth Share For 2013. To find out more, download our free report. It won’t cost you a penny, so click here now. 

> Harvey owns shares in Prudential. He doesn’t own shares in L&G.

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Dividend policy and history

Direct Line was floated on the stock market as recently as October 2012. In announcing the flotation the company said, in clipped language:

“Intention to pay full final dividend for the 2012 financial year … (final dividend to represent two-thirds of pro-forma full year dividend). Pro-forma full year dividend pay-out ratio for the 2012 financial year expected to be between 50-60% of any consolidated post-tax profit from the Group’s ongoing business [excludes Run-off and Restructuring and other one-off costs]. Progressive dividend policy thereafter”.

Direct Line paid an 8p final dividend for 2012, implying a pro-forma 2012 interim of 4p.

The company released its first-half results for 2013 earlier this month. The board announced an interim dividend of 4.2p, representing an increase of 5% on the pro-forma 2012 interim. The directors said:

“The Group’s progressive dividend policy aims to increase the dividend annually in real terms. If trends in the second half of 2013 follow those in the first half of 2013, the Group expects the growth in the final dividend to be at a similar level to that of the interim dividend”.

The board also stated specific circumstances in which the company would consider returning capital to shareholders over and above the ordinary dividend:

“The Group’s current risk-based capital coverage ratio of 147.6% (adjusted for interim dividend) is within the 125% to 150% target range. The Board will continue to review the capital adequacy of the Group and if it believes the Group has capital surplus to requirements, indicated by the expectation of a risk-based capital coverage ratio significantly in excess of this range for a prolonged period, it would consider returning surplus capital to shareholders. In the event of any proposal to return capital to shareholders this would be expected to occur concurrently with any proposed final dividend.”

Despite Direct Line’s short life on the stock exchange, the directors have given shareholders and potential investors one of the most specific and concrete dividend policies you’ll find among the 600-odd companies of the FTSE All-Share market.

Dividend prospects

As we know, Direct Line expects to increase the final dividend at the same rate as the interim if trends in the second half of 2013 follow those of the first half. That would give an 8.4p final dividend to go with the 4.2p interim, making a full-year dividend of 12.6p. Analyst earnings forecast suggest a dividend payout ratio in the same 50-60% range as last year.

The company’s shares are currently trading at 217p, so the dividend yield is 5.8% — some 1.8 times the market average. Why such a high yield? Well, investors are cautious: the company’s not only new to the stock market, but it’s a competitive world out there right now for all insurers, and Direct Line needs to execute on a transformation and cost-cutting plan.

Direct Line could deliver and reward income investors handsomely, but I can tell you there’s a big blue-chip company that also yields 5.8%, but operating within a far less competitive industry.

The Motley Fool’s chief analyst believes this company is currently the UK’s top income stock. Furthermore, he reckons fair value for the shares is 850p compared with 741p today. You can read our leading analyst’s in-depth review of the company in this exclusive free report.

The report comes with no obligation and can be in your inbox in seconds — simply click here.

> G A Chester does not own any shares mentioned in this article.

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But what’s beating the FTSE today? Here are three shares from the various indices that look set to do just that:

WPP

News of an acquisition sent shares in WPP (LSE: WPP) (NASDAQOTH: WPPGY.US) up 29p (2.4%) to 1,220p today. One of the advertising and media giant’s subsidiaries, Kantar, has bought up US-based research and consulting firm Benenson Strategy Group (BSG) for an undisclosed sum. BSG was the firm behind President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, and has a number of other high-profile clients.

WPP shares are now up around 40% over the past 12 months, with the latest forecasts for a 5% rise in earnings per share (EPS) putting them on a P/E of 14.6. The firm is due to release first-half results next Thursday, 29 August.

Henry Boot

Henry Boot (LSE: BHY) released first-half figures today, and the construction firm’s share price climbed 8.2p (4.4%) to 195p as a result — it’s now up 55% over the past 12 months. Pre-tax profit is up 35% to £7.4m with earnings per share up 64% to 3.6p, and that was enough for the board to lift the interim dividend by 8% to 1.95p per share. Net asset value is up to 144p, from 139p, but net debt is also up, from £21.9m to £38.8m.

Forecasts for the firm (which, incidentally, became the UK’s first quoted housebuilder when it floated in 1919), suggest a 10% rise in full-year EPS, but that does rate the shares on a P/E multiple of 23.

Berendsen

Textile services firm Berendsen (LSE: BRSN) has seen its share price soar by 65% over the past 12 months, to 876p. That includes a 5.5p (0.6%) rise on the release of first-half results, and it might just be enough for it to beat the FTSE today.

With revenue for the period up 7%, adjusted pre-tax profit gained 21% to £60.2m and adjusted EPS was up by the same mark to 26.2p. The interim dividend was boosted by 10% to 8.8p per share. Chairman Iain Ferguson told us that “the Board continues to expect to achieve a year of good progress in line with its previous expectations“.

Finally, if you’re looking for investments that should take you all the way to a comfortable retirement, I recommend the Fool’s special new report detailing five blue-chip shares. They’ll be familiar names to many, and they’ve already provided investors with decades of profits.

But the report will only be available for a limited period, so click here to get your hands on these great ideas — they could set you on the road to long-term riches.

> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.

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