Lower Costs Aid Waddell & Reed's (WDR) Profits: Time To Buy?

By Zacks Investment ResearchStock MarketsDec 18, 2017 09:48PM ET

www.investing.com/analysis/lower-costs-aid-waddell--reeds-wdr-profits-time-to-buy-200274462

Lower Costs Aid Waddell & Reed's (WDR) Profits: Time To Buy?

By Zacks Investment Research | Dec 18, 2017 09:48PM ET

Saved. See Saved Items.

This article has already been saved in your Saved Items

AMP

-1.70%

Add to/Remove from Watchlist

FHI

+0.76%

Add to/Remove from Watchlist

LAZ

-0.61%

Add to/Remove from Watchlist

WDR

0.00%

Add to/Remove from Watchlist

Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. (NYSE:WDR) is well poised for improvement in profits, considering its continuously declining expenses. Moreover, the company’s capital deployment activities reflect a solid capital and balance sheet position.

The company’s price performance also seems impressive. Its shares have gained 18.6% in the past six months, outperforming the 15.1% rally of its industry.

Also, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings has been revised 4.8% upward in the last 60 days, reflecting analysts’ optimism regarding its earnings growth potential. Thus, the stock currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

However, pressure on revenues and a declining trend in assets under management (AUM) are the major near-term concerns for the company.

Looking at the fundamentals, Waddell & Reed’s expenses have fallen at a CAGR of 5.1% over the last three years (2014-2016). As the company is trying to boost efficiency and optimize operations, expenses are likely to continue declining, driving the bottom line.

Also, the company’s persistent investment in Retail Broker-Dealer channel should help in boosting revenues and inflows.

Further, with a stable capital position and impressive earnings strength, the company is expected to continue enhancing shareholder value through efficient capital deployment activities.

However, the company’s revenues have been witnessing a decline since the past few years due to a tough operating environment and lower sales volume. While the company is taking initiates through Project E to drive the top line, it will take some time to witness a rebound in the same.

A few other top-ranked stocks from the same space are Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE:FII) , Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) and Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) .

Earnings estimates for Federated Investors have been revised 3.4% upward for 2017 over the past 60 days. Its share price has risen 30.5% over the last six months. The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ameriprise Financial’s earnings estimates have been revised upward by 6% for the current year in the past 60 days. In the last six months, the company’s shares have returned 30.1%. It carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Lazard has witnessed an upward earnings estimate revision of 3.8% for the current year in the past 60 days. Also, its shares have gained 13.3% over the last six months. It also carries a Zacks Rank of 2.

Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock

Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report.

Download it free >>

Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. (WDR): Free Stock Analysis Report

AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. (AMP): Free Stock Analysis Report

Federated Investors, Inc. (FII): Free Stock Analysis Report

Lazard Ltd. (LAZ): Free Stock Analysis Report

Original post

Zacks Investment Research

February’s Top 3 Stock Upgrades: What Investors Need to Know By Thomas Hughes - Feb 26, 2025

At the end of February, Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU), DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH), and Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) were among the Most Upgraded Stocks tracked by MarketBeat. Investors should...

NVIDIA Earnings: Can Blackwell Chips Provide Tailwind? By Dave Kovaleski - Feb 25, 2025

The markets have been sluggish this week as investors hope for a jolt later in the week when AI juggernaut NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) reports fourth quarter and year-end...

2 Dividend Power Plays to Cash-In on the Energy Revolution By Brett Owens - Feb 26, 2025

Often as dividend investors we buy stocks that provide us with income now. We take the current yield and happily collect the monthly or quarterly payout. Sometimes, though, it is...

Add a Comment

We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:

Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases. Comments that are written in all caps and contain excessive use of symbols will be removed.
NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and comments containing links will be removed. Phone numbers, email addresses, links to personal or business websites, Skype/Telegram/WhatsApp etc. addresses (including links to groups) will also be removed; self-promotional material or business-related solicitations or PR (ie, contact me for signals/advice etc.), and/or any other comment that contains personal contact specifcs or advertising will be removed as well. In addition, any of the above-mentioned violations may result in suspension of your account.
Doxxing. We do not allow any sharing of private or personal contact or other information about any individual or organization. This will result in immediate suspension of the commentor and his or her account.
Don’t monopolize the conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also strongly believe in giving everyone a chance to air their point of view. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
Only English comments will be allowed.
Any comment you publish, together with your investing.com profile, will be public on investing.com and may be indexed and available through third party search engines, such as Google.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

I have read Investing.com's comments guidelines and agree to the terms described.

I Agree

Write your thoughts here

Are you sure you want to delete this chart?

Delete Cancel

Post

Post also to:

Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?

Replace Cancel

1000

Comment Guidelines

Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.

Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.

Thanks for your comment. Please note that all comments are pending until approved by our moderators. It may therefore take some time before it appears on our website.

<div id="comment">
				<div class="comment js-comment" data-comment-id="{commentID}" id="comment-{commentID}" data-user-id="">
    <div class="mainComment js-content">
       <div class="commentInnerWrapper">
        <a href="{userLink}" class="js-user-link"><img src="{userImage}" width="33" height="33" alt="{usernameAlt}" class="img" onerror="this.src='https://i-invdn-com.investing.com/defaultUserMaleTmp.png';"></a><div class="commentBody">
                					<span class="commentUsername">
                    	<a href="{userLink}" class="js-user-link js-user-name">{username}</a>
					</span>
                                <span class="js-date" comment-date="{dateFormat}" comment-date-formatted="{dateFormatted}" title="{dateTitle}">Just Now</span>
                <div class="commentDropDown js-commentDropDownWrapper " data-user-id="" data-cid="{commentID}">
	<a href="javascript:void(0);" class="threeDotsIconSmall js-thinDropdownArrow"></a>
	<div class="tooltipPopup commentActionsPop noHeader js-commentDropDownOptions displayNone">
		<div class="addRow js-option share">
			<a href="javascript:void(0);" class="js-commentSharePopup" data-cid="{commentID}" data-curl="{commentLink}"><span class="smallShareIcon middle"></span>Share</a>
		</div>

<div class="js-option addRow follow">
            <div class="js-follow-post-button" data-reg_ep="follow comment">
                <span class="alertfollowIcon middle"></span>Follow this post            </div>
            <div class="js-unfollow-post-button displayNoneImp">
                <span class="alertUnfollowIcon middle"></span>Unfollow this post            </div>
        </div>

<div class="addRow js-option save"  data-reg_ep="save comment">
		<a href="javascript:void(0);" class="js-save-item-btn" data-item-type="comments" data-item-id="{commentID}">
			<i class="saveItemBigIcon middle"></i>
			Save		</a>
	</div>
	<div class="addRow saveItemsConfirmation noHover displayNone js-saveItemResult">
		
<div class="content js-saveItemSuccess displayNone">
	<span class="mediumGreenSuccessIcon"></span><span>Saved. See <a href="/members-admin/saved-items" target="_blank">Saved Items</a>.</span>
	<a href="javascript:void(0);" class="bugCloseIcon js-close"></a>
</div>
<div class="content js-saveItemAlreadySaved saveItemAlreadySaved displayNoneImp">
	<span>This comment has already been saved in your <a href="/members-admin/saved-items" target="_blank">Saved Items</a></span>
	<a href="javascript:void(0);" class="bugCloseIcon js-close"></a>
</div>
	</div>

<div class="addRow shareButtons js-sharePopup displayNone">
			<div class="js-shareComment"><span class="js-shareCommentSpan"></span></div>
		</div>
	</div>
</div>
                 <div class="commentAuthor js-comment-by-author"><span class="commentAuthorIcon"></span>Author's response</div>             </div>
		<div id="commentText-{commentID}" class="js-text-wrapper commentText withImage">
							<div id="commentBigChart{commentID}" class="commentBigChart js-comment-chart" onclick="openViewChartPopup('{commentID}')">
					<img src="https://d1-invdn-com.investing.com/comments_images/{commentImage}" alt="{commentAlt}">
					<i class="newMagnifyChartIcon"></i>
				</div>
						<span class="js-text">{commentContent}</span>
			<div class="clear"></div>
							<div class="commentButtons js-not-master-user">
					<a href="javascript:void(0)" class="reply js-reply-btn" data-real-parent-id="{commentID}" data-to-user-name="{username}" data-to-user-id="">Reply</a>
					<div class="inlineblock likeDislikeBox js-like-dislike-box" data-item-id="{commentID}">
	<input class="js-like-checkbox" type="checkbox" name="option" value="Yes" id="like_{commentID}">
	<label for="like_{commentID}" class="like" title="I agree"></label>
	<span class="numOfLikes js-like-count lighterGrayFont">0</span>
	<input class="js-dislike-checkbox" type="checkbox" name="option" value="No" id="dislike_{commentID}">
	<label for="dislike_{commentID}" class="dislike" title="I disagree"></label>
	<span class="numOfDislikes js-dislike-count lighterGrayFont">0</span>
</div>

<div class="reportComment js-flag float_lang_base_2">
                            <a href="javascript:void(0);" id="commentFlag_{commentID}">
                                <span class="reportCommentIcon middle"></span><span class="inlineblock middle">Report</span>
                            </a>
                        </div>
                    				</div>
					</div>
	   </div>
	</div>
	</div>			</div>
			<div id="reply">
				
    <div class="commentReply js-comment js-comment-reply" data-comment-id="{commentID}" id="comment-{commentID}" data-user-id="">
		<div class="commentInnerWrapper"><a href="{userLink}" class="js-user-link"><img src="{userImage}" width="33" height="33" alt="{usernameAlt}" class="img" onerror="this.src='https://i-invdn-com.investing.com/defaultUserMaleTmp.png';"></a><div class="commentBody js-content">
            				<span class="commentUsername">
					<a href="{userLink}" class="commentUsername js-user-link js-user-name" onMouseOver="">{username}</a>
				</span>
                        <span class="js-date" comment-date="{dateFormat}" comment-date-formatted="{dateFormatted}" title="{dateTitle}">Just Now</span>
			 <div class="commentAuthor js-comment-by-author"><span class="commentAuthorIcon"></span>Author's response</div> 			<div class="commentDropDown js-commentDropDownWrapper " data-user-id="" data-cid="{commentID}">
	<a href="javascript:void(0);" class="threeDotsIconSmall js-thinDropdownArrow"></a>
	<div class="tooltipPopup commentActionsPop noHeader js-commentDropDownOptions displayNone">
		<div class="addRow js-option share">
			<a href="javascript:void(0);" class="js-commentSharePopup" data-cid="{commentID}" data-curl="{commentLink}"><span class="smallShareIcon middle"></span>Share</a>
		</div>

</div>
		<div id="commentText-{commentID}" class="js-text-wrapper commentText withImage">
							<div id="commentBigChart{commentID}" class="replyBigChart displayNone js-comment-chart">
					<img src="https://d1-invdn-com.investing.com/comments_images/{commentImage}" alt="{commentAlt}">
					<i class="newMagnifyChartIcon"></i>
				</div>
				<span id="commentSmallChart{commentID}" class="commentSmallChart pointer js-comment-chart" onclick="openViewChartPopup('{commentID}')">
                    <img src="https://d1-invdn-com.investing.com/comments_images/{commentImageSmall}" width="116" height="52" alt="{commentAlt}">
                    <span class="chartMagnifyOverlay displayNone"></span>
                    <span class="searchGlassIcon chartMagnify displayNone"></span>
                </span>
						<span class="js-text">{commentContent}</span>
			<div class="clear"></div>
							<div class="commentButtons js-not-master-user">
					<a href="javascript:void(0)" class="reply js-reply-btn" data-real-parent-id="{commentID}" data-to-user-name="{username}" data-to-user-id="">Reply</a>
					<div class="inlineblock likeDislikeBox js-like-dislike-box" data-item-id="{commentID}">
	<input class="js-like-checkbox" type="checkbox" name="option" value="Yes" id="like_{commentID}">
	<label for="like_{commentID}" class="like" title="I agree"></label>
	<span class="numOfLikes js-like-count lighterGrayFont">0</span>
	<input class="js-dislike-checkbox" type="checkbox" name="option" value="No" id="dislike_{commentID}">
	<label for="dislike_{commentID}" class="dislike" title="I disagree"></label>
	<span class="numOfDislikes js-dislike-count lighterGrayFont">0</span>
</div>

Are you sure you want to delete this chart?

Delete Cancel

Post

Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?

Replace Cancel

1000

Comment Guidelines

Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.

Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.

I feel that this comment is:

Spam

Offensive

Thank You!

Your report has been sent to our moderators for review

Central Banks

Interest Rates

Next Meeting

FED

4.50%

Mar 19, 2025

ECB

2.90%

Mar 06, 2025

BOE

4.50%

Mar 20, 2025

SNB

0.50%

Mar 20, 2025

RBA

4.10%

Apr 01, 2025

BOC

3.00%

Mar 12, 2025

RBNZ

3.75%

Apr 09, 2025

BOJ

0.50%

Mar 19, 2025

CBR

21.00%

Mar 21, 2025

RBI

6.25%

Mar 10, 2025

PBOC

3.10%

BCB

13.25%

Mar 19, 2025

US 30	43,717.5	+96.2	+0.22%
US 500	5,981.6	+26.2	+0.44%
Dow Jones	43,621.16	+159.95	+0.37%
S&P 500	5,955.25	-28.00	-0.47%
Nasdaq	19,026.39	-260.54	-1.35%
S&P 500 VIX	18.93	-0.50	-2.57%
Dollar Index	106.540	+0.312	+0.29%

Crude Oil WTI	68.88	-0.05	-0.07%
Brent Oil	72.41	-0.09	-0.12%
Natural Gas	4.079	-0.051	-1.23%
Gold	2,925.60	+6.80	+0.23%
Silver	32.112	+0.286	+0.90%
Copper	4.6640	+0.1365	+3.01%
US Soybeans	1,027.13	-2.87	-0.28%

U.S. 10Y	4.299	+0.001	+0.02%
U.S. 30Y	4.544	-0.012	-0.26%
U.S. 5Y	4.140	+0.009	+0.22%
U.S. 3M	4.296	+0.005	+0.12%
US 10Y T-Note	110.47	-0.05	-0.04%
Euro Bund	132.78	+0.31	+0.24%
10-2 Yield Spread	19.61	-2.98	-13.19%

Apple	247.04	-0.06	-0.02%
Alphabet A	175.42	-3.83	-2.14%
Tesla	302.80	-27.73	-8.39%
Amazon.com	212.80	+0.09	+0.04%
Netflix	977.24	-11.23	-1.14%
Meta Platforms	657.50	-10.63	-1.59%
Bank of America	43.94	-0.52	-1.17%

Lower Costs Aid Waddell & Reed's (WDR) Profits: Time To Buy?

Related Articles