Niche finance stocks with gains ahead

Article Excerpt

A good way to diversify your Finance holdings is with smaller firms that are leaders in their niche markets, such as these two. Their well-established brands should keep fuelling their growth, which will give them more cash for dividends. (Note: We include Fair Isaac- — see page 5— in the Manufacturing and Industry sector because it serves a wide range of clients besides banks and other lenders.) T. ROWE PRICE GROUP INC. $66 (Nasdaq symbol TROW; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 254.9 million; Market cap: $16.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.troweprice.com) sells mutual funds and wealth management services. On September 30, 2012, the company had a record $574.4 billion of assets under management, up 17.3% from $489.5 billion at the end of 2011. The company continues to see strong demand for its “Retirement…