Topic: Growth Stocks

Growth stocks: Broadridge Financial Solutions grows its business through acquisitions and new services for the investment industry

Broadridge Financial Solutions We report on fast-growing Broadridge Financial Solutions. Acquisitions have boosted earnings for this service provider—focused on investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. New services to help clients with complex regulations should also bump up growth. We view Broadridge Financial Solutions as a buy for aggressive investors.

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS INC. (New York symbol BR; www.broadridge.com) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada.

Broadridge was a subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing until April 2007, when ADP spun it off as a separate firm.

Revenue rose 24.3%, from $2.2 billion in 2011 to $2.7 billion in 2015 (fiscal years end June 30). Acquisition costs and writedowns cut Broadridge’s earnings by 26.9%, from $1.34 a share (or a total of $171.8 million) in 2011 to $0.98 a share (or $125.0 million) in 2012. Earnings improved to $1.69 a share (or $212.1 million) in 2013 and $2.32 a share (or $287.1 million) in 2015. If you exclude unusual items, earnings per share rose 9.8%, to $2.47 in 2015 from $2.25 in 2014.


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Part of Broadridge’s growth comes from acquisitions. It mostly targets smaller, profitable firms that fit with its existing operations. That strategy cuts the risk of unpleasant surprises.

For example, it recently paid $34.5 million for Direxxis, which sells cloud-based data analytics services to wealth management firms. That helps Broadridge because many of its clients are shifting toward marketing campaigns that target specific groups with custom products.

The company also enhanced its cloud-computing expertise when it bought the fiduciary services business of Thomson Reuters’ Lipper division for $77.0 million. This will make it easier for mutual fund and ETF providers to analyze cash inflows and outflows and comply with various regulations.

Growth stocks: Savvy acquisitions fuel growth

Broadridge is also helping businesses switch from paper-based investor communication products to digital versions. This helps speed up proxy votes, increase shareholder participation rates and cut mailing and printing costs.

The company is in a strong position to keep expanding: as of September 30, 2015, its long-term debt was $734.7 million, or a low 11% of its market cap; it also held cash of $286.3 million.

The stock has gained 168% since Broadridge became a public company in 2007. It now trades at 19.5 times the $2.77 a share it will likely earn in fiscal 2016. That’s reasonable for a company that dominates its niche industry. Broadridge should also continue to gain from increasingly complex securities regulations in the U.S. and other countries. Moreover, it gets more than 60% of its revenue from recurring fees.

The company has increased its dividend each year for the past eight years. The current annual rate of $1.20 a share yields 2.2%.

Recommendation in Wall Street Stock Forecaster: BUY

For a recent report on how to choose the right growth stocks for your portfolio, read How to make better growth stock picks.

For another report on how to judge growth stocks that aim to grow by acquisition, read What does growth by acquisition mean and what are the risks?

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