Buy Broadridge, hold on to Adobe

Article Excerpt

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $113.25 (New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares o/s: 115.7 million; Market cap: $13.0 billion; Dividend yield: 1.7%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. In its fiscal 2019 second quarter, ended December 31, 2018, revenue fell 5.9%, to $953.4 million from $1.01 billion a year earlier. That missed the consensus forecast of $968.1 million. Revenue in the year-earlier quarter was unusually high due to increased mutual fund proxy activity and equity proxy contests associated with several one-time projects. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $67.2 million, or $0.56 a share, in the latest quarter. That too missed the consensus estimate of $0.71. The latest earnings are down 29.0% from $94.7 million, or $0.79 a year earlier. However, Broadridge continues to win new contracts. In the latest quarter, it signed $106 million in new deals compared to $39 million a year earlier. Meanwhile, the company has lots of room to expand its businesses. That…