A quarterly dividend has been announced by Legg Mason (LM, Financial). Investors of Legg Mason will receive a dividend of 0.20 per share on Monday, July 13. This is a part of $0.80 dividend on an annual basis and a yield in dividend terms of 1.46%. Legg Mason also reported earnings of $82 million in the first three months of 2015. This is a 20 percent rise from the same period last year. Legg Mason Q1 profit beat the estimates by reporting better than expected earnings.
On Friday shares prices of Legg Mason started the day at $54.89. With a year low of $45.51 and a onw-year high of $59.19, Legg Mason has a 50-day moving average of $55 as well as a 200-day moving average of $54. The company also has a market cap of $6.18 billion and a P/E ratio of 28.86.
Across the board analysts were expecting the company to show an EPS of 99 cents on revenue of $699 million. As a result of the profitable quarter, the company raised its quarterly dividend payout by 25% to 20 cents a share.
Highlights
Legg Mason’s net operating cash flow increased to $249.43 million. The Baltimore-based money management company reported its assets under management were $703 billion at the end of the period, a rise from $701.8 billion 12 months ago but then dropped from $709.1 billion in the last quarter. This decline was attributed to liquidity outflows exceeding $15 billion according to the company.
The company’s operating income rose 8.1% to hit $573.4 million. Legg Mason further iterated $6.2 billion in net inflows and $2.7 billion in market performance. This helped counter the liquidity outflows over the quarter.
According to Chief Executive Joseph Sullivan this environment was an extremely challenging one for active managers. Legg Mason reduced operating expenses by 4% from the past quarter.
Management view
Joseph Sullivan was further quoted saying "Legg Mason reported another quarter of solid operating performance despite a challenging environment for active managers. Long-term inflows of $6.2 billion were driven by positive flows at Western, Brandywine, ClearBridge and Martin Currie. We continued to integrate and commercialize the strategies of QS Investors and Martin Currie, bringing their new capabilities and products to our clients."
Notable key developments
- Legg Mason reported an increase of 25% in its quarterly cash dividend to 20 cents a share.
- Adjusted income rose 13.9% Y-o-Y to touch $117.9 million in the fiscal fourth quarter.
- Under management assets stood at $702.7 billion, a slight increase Y-o-Y.
Company profile
Legg Mason Inc. is a Baltimore based asset Management Company founded in 1899. The company is publicly owned and provides investment management solutions and services relating to institutional and individual clients through its 100% owned subsidiaries.
Analysis
Based on recent stock market performances, analysts are giving Legg Mason a buy rating. Based on positive investment measures, analysts arrive at the BUY rating by observing the company’s strengths such as good operational cash flow as well as solid stock price performance. This should outweigh the weakness in the company that is its subpar growth in net income.
