Analysts expect that Legg Mason Inc (NYSE:LM) will post $757.25 million in sales for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Two analysts have issued estimates for Legg Mason’s earnings. The lowest sales estimate is $756.49 million and the highest is $758.00 million. Legg Mason posted sales of $793.84 million in the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year over year growth rate of 4.6%. The firm is scheduled to report its next quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, July 25th.
On average, analysts expect that Legg Mason will report full year sales of $3.04 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $2.96 billion to $3.09 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the business will post sales of $3.16 billion per share, with estimates ranging from $3.03 billion to $3.23 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research firms that that provide coverage for Legg Mason.
Get Legg Mason alerts:Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.15. Legg Mason had a net margin of 11.21% and a return on equity of 7.86%. The company had revenue of $785.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $755.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis.
LM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Legg Mason from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Legg Mason from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Legg Mason from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 26th. TheStreet lowered shares of Legg Mason from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 7th. Finally, ValuEngine lowered shares of Legg Mason from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.50.
In related news, VP Thomas C. Merchant sold 2,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total value of $98,435.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 65,940 shares in the company, valued at $2,558,472. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patricia Lattin sold 898 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.95, for a total value of $34,977.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,614,282.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,771 shares of company stock worth $1,349,563 in the last 90 days. 4.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LM. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Legg Mason by 269.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,655,666 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $69,505,000 after buying an additional 1,207,280 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Legg Mason by 1,113.7% during the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 809,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,904,000 after purchasing an additional 742,731 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Legg Mason during the first quarter valued at approximately $19,329,000. Mackay Shields LLC acquired a new position in Legg Mason during the first quarter valued at approximately $17,757,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Legg Mason during the first quarter valued at approximately $16,491,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.86% of the company’s stock.
LM stock opened at $33.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Legg Mason has a one year low of $33.35 and a one year high of $47.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.98.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 12th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. This is a positive change from Legg Mason’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 11th. Legg Mason’s dividend payout ratio is 36.56%.
About Legg Mason
Legg Mason, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides investment management and related services to company-sponsored mutual funds and other investment vehicles including pension funds, foundations, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, private banks, family offices, individuals, as well as to global, institutional, and retail clients.
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