
Kenya Weighs Splitting Biggest Listed Company Into Three Units
An assessment has found that there would be 'a huge benefit' from splitting the company into telecommunications firm, a tower operator and M-Pesa, its popular payments platform, Treasury Secretary John Mbadi said in an interview in the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday.
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Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
The Slow Demise Of Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) was created through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 and is designed to provide loan forgiveness to individuals who work in public service. The program allows federal student loan borrowers who work in government or for nonprofits to have the remaining balance on their student loans forgiven after making 120 qualifying payments - 10 years. To be a qualifying payment, a borrower must work for a qualifying employer, make payments under a qualifying repayment plan, and send in a certification of their employment. Since PSLF was created by law, it cannot simply be ended without Congress passing a new law. However, over the last year, there have been consistent attempts to weaken the program. And it's sparking concern for the future. While PSLF remains on the books, these administrative actions and policy changes are slowly narrowing the scope of the program. Parent PLUS Borrowers Lose Access After 2026 One of the most significant changes to PSLF is the treatment of Parent PLUS Loans. Under current rules, parent borrowers can qualify for PSLF if they consolidate their Parent PLUS Loan into a Direct Consolidation Loan and enroll in the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR). However, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) ends this path in 2026. New parent PLUS Loans taken out after July 1, 2026 can only repay their loans under the Standard Repayment Plan - cutting off access to a qualifying repayment plan for PSLF. Existing Parent PLUS Loan borrowers may still qualify if they take certain actions before June 30, 2026. They must consolidate their loans and have the consolidation completed before June 30, 2026. They must also enroll in (and make at least one payment under) an income driven repayment plan prior to July 1, 2028. There's also a big catch: parents cannot take out a new Parent PLUS Loan again after July 1, 2026 or else all their existing loans will lose access. This puts roughly 3.5 million parent PLUS loan borrowers at risk of losing access to PSLF, according to the most recent Federal Student Aid data. Negotiated Rulemaking Could Change Qualifying Employers While the changes to Parent PLUS Loans are already in effect, there's also a potential change coming to the definition of a qualifying employer. The Department of Education recently released their final rule to add a new qualification to qualifying employers: they cannot engage in "substantially illegal purposes". While the headline sounds fair, the actual scope of the rule is creating a lot of concern. The term "substantial illegal purpose" is defined to include: The end arbiter of which employers fall into these categories is the Department of Education. There could also be collateral damage from these definitions. As the Department noted in their final rule, some employers use the same EIN for a variety of organizations - all of which would be subject to losing access to PSLF if one employer is found in violation. As such, many worry that PSLF could become a political tool. New Policy Memo For The Future Finally, a think tank is advocating that Republicans take up a new budget reconciliation process and finish what the OBBBA started. One of 'asks' in the memo is the dismantling of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. It's important to note that this memo isn't law, and it doesn't appear to have any official support yet in Congress, but it's clear that there are some organizations that are looking to end the PSLF program. Bigger Picture: Will Public Service Loan Forgiveness Exist In Name Only? Since PSLF was created by law, it cannot be dismantled overnight by executive orders, rulemaking, or budget reconciliation bills. However, the continual addition of exclusions and pending changes raise an uncomfortable question: what does Public Service Loan Forgiveness mean if borrowers can't actually qualify? For public service employees like teachers, police officers, firefighters, and members of the armed forces, PSLF was designed as an incentive to remain in lower-paying but socially valuable jobs. By narrowing the scope of eligibility, policymakers are weakening that incentive and potentially discouraging participation in fields that are already facing shortages. It's important to remember that Public Service Loan Forgiveness is not gone. It's also not going anywhere in the near term. Congress would have to repeal the statute to eliminate it completely. But the slow march of administrative changes suggests a different kind of ending: one where the program exists on paper but serves fewer borrowers each year.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
M&T Bank Corporation (MTB) Could Be a Great Choice
All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus. Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and, of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns. Headquartered in Buffalo, M&T Bank Corporation (MTB) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 1.25% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $1.35 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.84%. In comparison, the Banks - Major Regional industry's yield is 3.4%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.49%. Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $5.40 is up 0.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, M&T Bank Corporation has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.36%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. M&T Bank's current payout ratio is 34%, meaning it paid out 34% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend. Earnings growth looks solid for MTB for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $16.53 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 11.09%. Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout. For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers its shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, MTB is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report M&T Bank Corporation (MTB) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Why Dycom (DY) Shares Are Falling Today
What Happened? Shares of telecommunications company Dycom (NYSE:DY) fell 8.5% in the afternoon session after the company reported mixed second-quarter 2025 results where revenues and forward guidance fell short of market expectations. The telecommunications infrastructure company posted second-quarter contract revenues of $1.38 billion. While this represented a 14.5% increase compared to the same period last year, it fell short of analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Despite the revenue miss, Dycom delivered strong profitability. Its adjusted EBITDA of $205.5 million beat the consensus estimate of $191.9 million, and its earnings per share of $3.33 was a notable increase from $2.32 in the prior-year quarter. However, the company's revenue guidance for the upcoming third quarter of $1.41 billion also underwhelmed investors, coming in below Wall Street's forecast of $1.46 billion, overshadowing the profit beat. The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Dycom? Access our full analysis report here, it's free. What Is The Market Telling Us Dycom's shares are somewhat volatile and have had 14 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today's move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business. The previous big move we wrote about was 29 days ago when the stock dropped 3.4% as investors appeared to take profits after the stock reached a new all-time high in the previous trading session. The specialty contracting services company had reached a new 52-week and all-time high the previous day, trading as high as $260.84. The stock's move lower on Tuesday came amid a broader market retreat, as major indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq pulled back from their own record highs in early trading. The decline for Dycom followed a significant run-up in its share price, which had gained over 47% year-to-date as of Monday's close, supported by strong quarterly results in May and a series of positive analyst ratings. Dycom is up 41.7% since the beginning of the year, but at $250.46 per share, it is still trading 10.5% below its 52-week high of $279.99 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Dycom's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $5,397. Today's young investors likely haven't read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data