Replies to post #285 on Texas Pacific Land Corporation (TPL)

[bar1080]

Will be watching TPL but the market is currently in something of a buying panic... not the best time for adding shares. Most of my stocks were way up today, even my long-held Boeing and MMM that had been clobbered by Trump's tariff talk.

I researched TPLs dividend history which was mostly flat since the 1980s at around 40 cents a share until 2018. I understand that much of TPL's earnings have gone into buying back shares.

Thanks!

[Enterprising Investor]

Dividends have also been minor for a reason.

The mandate has always been simple: sell the land and repay the shareholders.

No time limit.

When the trust sells land or is paid royalties or other fees for things like grazing or easements, it uses that cash to buy back its shares. Paying dividends only extends the life of the trust.

[bar1080]

Another red flag are pump posts in the "hot" Pennyland style on several TPL stock boards. Some refer to "getting on the TPL bus." My own stocks are all blue chips and many of them have soared recently. My Boeing doubled in 2017, the #1 Dow stock, and my Cintas is up 320% in recent years. Skyworks Solutions, a Rockwell spinoff did even better in its early years.

I DO get excited about my winners -- love dividend increases especially -- but my posts are always tempered by the reality that comes with decades of investing experience. About the only thing I really pump are index funds. It worries me that only a very few TPL posts mention risk. And many refer to the stock as "under the radar" even tho its boards are more active than corps 100X its size. Many posts imply the stock at >$800 will soar after a split. That also smacks of Pennyland-style hype.

Where's the Buffett-style moat around TPL, around its oil and water? At TPL's sky-high PE, I'd like to see some moat. Heck, Exxon, probably the most successful business in history, trades at just 16X earnings. In the US oil and water are plentiful if you pay a bit extra to bring them in. I can't get excited about water. Where I live we have these things called rivers and rainclouds.

Watching this interesting stock.