Niche finance leaders: 3 buys and 1 hold

These four firms provide vital services to banks, credit card companies and other financial clients. They’re also market leaders with well-established brands, which makes it hard for competitors to lure away their customers. Even so, not all of them are buys right now.

STATE STREET… Read More

STATE STREET CORP. $68 – New York symbol STT

STATE STREET CORP. $68 (New York symbol STT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 423.5 million; Market cap: $28.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.statestreet.com) sells accounting and administrative services to large institutional investors, like mutual funds and… Read More

STATE STREET CORP. $72 – New York symbol STT

STATE STREET CORP. $72 (New York symbol STT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 425.0 million; Market cap: $30.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. statestreet.com) sells accounting and administrative services to large institutional investors, such as mutual funds… Read More

STATE STREET CORP. $73 – New York symbol STT

STATE STREET CORP. $73 (New York symbol STT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 415.2 million; Market cap: $30.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.statestreet.com) sells accounting and administrative services to large investors, like mutual funds and pension… Read More

STATE STREET CORP. $71 – New York symbol STT

STATE STREET CORP. $71 (New York symbol STT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 439.0 million; Market cap: $31.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www. statestreet.com) sells accounting and administrative services to large institutional investors, such as mutual… Read More

Updating STATE STREET CORP. and DIEBOLD INC.

STATE STREET CORP. $70 (www.statestreet.com) sells accounting, custodial and administrative services to large institutional investors, such as mutual funds and pension plans. The company earned $1.24 a share in the second quarter of 2013, up 22.8% from $1.01 a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.9%, to… Read More