VF Corp. (NYSE:VFC)

VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) is a leading apparel manufacturer. The company owns a broad range of sportswear and outdoor apparel brands. Its best-known brands include Lee, The North Face, Timberland and Vans. Although VF has its own stores, the company primarily sells its apparel through large retail chains; its five largest customers, including Wal-Mart, Target and Sears, represent more than 25% of the company's turnover.

VFC's share price has been performing outrageously since 2009, and even since 2000 if we go back a little further. It is the best position in my portfolio with 66% of gain in CHF, 98% in EUR and a whopping 106% in USD, and that for just over two years. Not bad for a dividend payer...

Of course, this surge in the share price is not without consequences. The company thus offers a current yield of 1.9%, which has only been falling since 2000, if we exclude the good entry point at the end of 2008 - beginning of 2009. As for the price/earnings ratio, it has certainly increased over the past 3 years, but it still remains at reasonable levels, at 18.38. This difference in attractiveness between the evolution of the yield and that of the P/E ratio is explained by the fact that VFC has maintained and even lowered its distribution ratio, which today stands at only 33.67%. This level allows it to continue to pay and increase its dividend in the future, even in the event of a difficult period.

Medium-term dividend growth is modest at 5.05%. More positively, the company has increased its dividend payout over the past 39 years.

The fashion world is inherently volatile. Well-established brands that were popular last season can lose a lot of their luster in the next. So, with a standard deviation of 29.51%, VFC is my most volatile open position.

One of the great qualities of VFC is its very good performance against dollar fluctuations. The $risk of -0.54 indicates that when the USD falls against the CHF, the value of the security in Swiss francs tends to increase.

The VF share price has experienced, as we have seen, a very strong progression in recent years. My algorithm has made the stock fall to the bottom of the ranking, still in "hold", but just before the "sell" positions. For the moment, VFC is saved in extremis by its modest distribution ratio and by the protection that the stock offers against variations in the greenback, but this could change...