SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Raised to Outperform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) was upgraded by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Finviz reports. The brokerage currently has a $97.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.31% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on SEIC. Zacks Research downgraded SEI Investments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on SEI Investments from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on SEI Investments from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of SEI Investments in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SEI Investments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.20.

SEI Investments Price Performance

Shares of SEIC stock opened at $81.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.63. The company has a quick ratio of 5.62, a current ratio of 5.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07 and a beta of 0.98. SEI Investments has a 12 month low of $64.66 and a 12 month high of $93.96.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. SEI Investments had a net margin of 31.09% and a return on equity of 30.21%. The company had revenue of $578.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that SEI Investments will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

SEI Investments announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, October 24th that permits the company to repurchase $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SEI Investments

In other news, Director Carl Guarino sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.41, for a total transaction of $864,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,386,189.22. This trade represents a 38.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathryn Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of SEI Investments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.66, for a total transaction of $856,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,641 shares in the company, valued at $6,479,408.06. This trade represents a 11.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 44,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,723,850 over the last three months. Company insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in SEI Investments during the 2nd quarter worth about $55,685,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in SEI Investments by 339.3% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 783,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,832,000 after acquiring an additional 605,252 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in SEI Investments by 228.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 782,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $57,472,000 after purchasing an additional 543,753 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in SEI Investments in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,490,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP grew its stake in SEI Investments by 109.3% in the second quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 777,952 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $69,907,000 after purchasing an additional 406,287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

About SEI Investments

SEI Investments Company is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides wealth management, retirement and investment solutions, asset management, asset administration, investment processing outsourcing solutions, financial services, and investment advisory services to its clients.