-=Legg Mason (LM) to be acquired by Franklin Resources (BEN) for $50.00/share

• Legg Mason (LM) has been driven by the increasingly challenging business prospects for actively-managed funds, which is an issue for many other companies in the space.

Legg Mason to be acquired by Franklin Resources (BEN) for $50.00/share in all-cash transaction

BEN states, "The acquisition of Legg Mason and its multiple investment affiliates, which collectively manage over $806 billion in assets as of January 31, 2020, will establish Franklin Templeton as one of the world's largest independent, specialized global investment managers with a combined $1.5 trillion in assets under management (AUM) across one of the broadest ranges of high-quality investment teams in the industry."

• This transaction is expected to generate upper twenties percentage GAAP EPS accretion in Fiscal 2021 (based on street consensus earnings estimates for each company), excluding one-time charges, non-recurring and acquisition related expenses.
• BEN will also assume approximately $2 billion of Legg Mason's outstanding debt.
• This transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and approval by Legg Mason's shareholders, and is expected to close no later than the third calendar quarter of 2020.

=Legg Mason (LM) reported earnings on Mon 4 Feb 2019 (a/h)

Legg Mason Inc. reported a $217 million loss in its fiscal third quarter due to clients pulling money out of mutual funds during the stock market's tumble in December.

The Baltimore money manager's results equates to a loss of $2.55 per share in the quarter ending Dec. 31. The numbers reported late Monday were a significant fall from a year ago when Legg Mason reported a profit of $149.2 million, or $1.58 per share in the quarter.

Analysts polled by the Thomson Financial Networked projected earnings of 68 cents per share. Legg Mason's (NYSE: LM) stock price was down 5.3 percent in after-market trading to $28.

The downfall was driven by lower average long-term assets under management and a decline in non-pass through performance fees. Overall operating revenue was down 11.2 percent to $704.3 million in the quarter, compared to $793.1 million in the year-ago period. Non-pass through performance fees were down $43.8 million.

"These are certainly turbulent times," CEO Joseph A. Sullivan said during a conference call with analysts.

Sullivan said the quarterly results were negatively impacted by the industry’s record net outflows from actively managed U.S. mutual funds, as well as double-digit equity market losses.

But he said the diversification of the company's assets under management helped mitigate equity market declines, with Legg Mason’s total assets under management down 4 percent.

Assets under management as of Dec. 31 were $727.2 billion, down 5.1 percent from $767.2 billion at the end of the year-ago quarter. Sullivan's use of the 4 percent decline was referring to how much assets declined from the end of the second quarter.

Average assets under management during the third quarter were $793.3 billion, down 2.7 percent from $759.9 billion during the same quarter last year.


Legg Mason's assets experienced $30 billion in negative market performance and saw $8.5 billion in long-term outflows.

The financial industry was hit hard during December, when the Dow Jones industrial average experienced its worst December since the Great Depression. The Dow and S&P 500 ended up having their worst years since the last recession and the Nasdaq composite reached a bear market.

Legg's results were also impacted by a $365.2 million non-cash charge related to combining fund management contracts at EnTrustPermal and RARE Infrastructure.

Sullivan also announced that Legg Mason is implementing a new global operating platform to make it easier for clients to manage their investments across all of the company's various affiliates. The implementation will cost between $130 million and $150 million while eventually resulting in annual expense savings of $90 million to $110 million.

Earnings this week : Feb. 4 - 8, 2019 (wk 6)

Earnings expected this week:

Monday (Feb 4)

• Morning: ALXN CLX ON SYY
• Afternoon: AVB FN GILD GOOG GLUU HIG LM STX

Tuesday (Feb 5)

• Morning: ADM AME ARMK BDX CHD CNC EL EMR ENR INGR IT LII LITE RL 
• Afternoon: ALL APC APU CB CERN DATA DIS DOX  EA MANH  MCHP MODN  MTSI MYGN MXL OI  PAA  PAYC SAVE SCSC  SFLY   SNAP SWKS TCS  TENB ULTI USNA VNOM VRTX ZEN

Wednesday (Feb 6)

• Morning:  ABG BSX BCO CSTE CPRI CTSH CMI ELAN FDC FDV GM HUM LLY  NYT REGN  SPOT TRVG  TTWO 
• Afternoon: ACLS AEL AHL AINV AOSL BLKB CCK CCMP CDAY CENT CINF CMG CSGS CUB CUZ DHT ECHO EGP ELY ENS ENSG FEYE FLO FLT FORM FTNT GBDC GPRO HQY ICHR IRBT KNL LCI LNC MC MET MTCH MTRX NEWR NOV NTGR NTR NXPI ORLY OSUR PAHC PCTY PRU PSDO PSEC RGLD RYN SONO TRMB TTGT TTMI TWO UHAL VVV WERN ZNGA

Wed pm/Thur am (vol) https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=211&t=ACLS,AEL,AHL,AINV,AOSL,BLKB,CCK,CCMP,CDAY,CENT,CINF,CMG,CSGS,CUB,CUZ,DHT,ECHO,EGP,ELY,ENS,ENSG,FEYE,FLO,FLT,FORM,FTNT,GBDC,GPRO,HQY,ICHR,IRBT,KNL,LCI,LNC,MC,MET,MTCH,MTRX,NEWR,NOV,NTGR,NTR,NXPI,ORLY,OSUR,PAHC,PCTY,PRU,PSDO,PSEC,RGLD,RYN,SONO,TRMB,TTGT,TTMI,TWO,UHAL,VVV,WERN,ZNGA,ADNT,ADS,AMAG,ANDX,ARW,BCE,BR,BSIG,BV,CAH,CDW,CEIX,CNHI,COR,DNKN,DTE,EIGI,EPC,FCAU,GRA,GRUB,HAIN,HBI,ICE,K,LABL,LCII,LH,MAC,MAS,MD,MMS,MPC,MPLX,MPW,ODFL,PAG,PBH,PENN,PM,PRLB,PTEN,SEE,SNA,SNY,SPB,SPGI,TGI,TKR,TMUS,TPR,TSN,TWTR,VIRT,VSTO,WLTW,WMS,WWE,YUM&ta=0&o=-volume

Thursday (Feb 7)

• Morning: ADNT ADS AMAG ANDX ARW BCE BR BSIG BV CAH CDW CEIX CNHI COR DNKN DTE EIGI EPC FCAU GRA GRUB HAIN HBI ICE K LABL LCII LH MAC MAS MD MMS MPC MPLX MPW ODFL PAG PBH PENN PM PRLB PTEN SEE SNA SNY SPB SPGI TGI TKR TMUS TPR TSN TWTR VIRT VSTO WLTW WMS WWE YUM
• Afternoon: ATEN ATGE ALNY ASYS ANGI MT ATHN BECN BHE BKH CARB CSL CBL CCS COLM OFC DXC EGAN EHC ESE EEFT EXPE FISV FSCT FTV FET FWRD G HUBG IAC KN LGND MTW MCFT MAT MTD MOBL MHK MSI NCR UEPS NR NWSA NUAN OMCL CNXN PMT POWI PRI PRO QRVO QNST RPD RSG SGEN SKX SWI SYNA TDC TBI USX VRSN VVI VSAT VRTU VCRA WTS WU ZAYO 

Friday (Feb 8)

• Morning: ARNC AVA BPL CAE CBOE CLF COTY ESNT EXC GT GRC EAF HAS IMGN PCG PSX  PSXP RDN UNVR VTR 

-=Legg Mason (LM) reported earnings on Wed 25 July 2018 (a/h)

Legg Mason misses by $0.04, reports revs in-line

• Reports Q1 (Jun) earnings of $0.75 per share, $0.04 worse thanthe Capital IQ Consensus of $0.79; revenues fell 5.8% year/year to $747.91 mln vs the $748.72 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co says in a challenging environment for the industry, its equity outflows and breakeven alternative flows were partially offset by fixed income inflows. Importantly, co concluded the quarter with a record level of unfunded wins and committed but uncalled capital along with a robust pipeline of new opportunities across asset classes, strategies and affiliates.
• Assets Under Management were $744.6 billion at June 30, 2018 compared with $754.1 billion at March 31, 2018.

Earnings this week : July 23 - 27, 2018 (wk 30)

This week marks the first of three very heavy weeks of earnings reports -- roughly 1/3 of the S&P 500 will report quarterly results.

Monday (July 23)

• Morning: ITW HAL PHG HAS LII
• Afternoon: GOOG GOOGL AMTD CDNS STLD ZION WHR

Tuesday (July 24)

• Morning: VZ MMM UTX LLY LMT BIIB SHW KMB CNC PCAR IQV DGX WAT EDU TRU WAB
• Afternoon: T TXN SYK CB EQR AMP WCN TSS CSGP IEX WRB RHI TER CSL MKSI  USNA

Wednesday (July 25)

• Morning: UMC BA KO UPS TMO NEE ANTM GD NOC GM BSX NSC HCA WM AEP TEL SIRI SRE TROW APH FCAU HLT GLW FCX IR ROK DTE HES LH STM CHKP S GRUB USG SIX TRVG IMAX  OC  TUP

• Afternoon: FB V PYPL GILD QCOM MDLZ LVS VRTX F SU NOW ALGN ORLY XLNX MHK AMD EFX CTXS FTI RJF PKG UHS VAR AEM FFIV SNBR ECHO

  DRE TMK AGNC GGG SUI MEOH KRC EHC DLB KNX MPWR MAT CW TRN KEX CHE CLB AXS LSTR CLGX ASGN STAY FR CUZ MSA NGVT CVRR JBT CCMP ESV LM QEP ESRT PEB OII DDR ARI ALGT DRQ ROIC QTS FOE MTH FWRD BEAT FCPT CDE KRA WPG EIG TILE FARO ETH ANIK SFS SB AXTI BPI ABX GG CCJ

Thursday (July 26)

• Morning: RDS.A MA CMCSA MCD AUO MO BMY COP AZN CELG AGN RTN CME SPGI PX VLO MMC BAX KDP APD MPC SPOT LUV ALXN ROP MPLX MCK AAL CVE DHI LLL YNDX MLCO NLSN UAA PHM ALK ALKS RS HP XRX WWE DNKN B SAVE ALLY OAK CPG  AAN    NGD   

     XEL TAL IP PCG NEM HSY ABMD TECK AAL  EQT KKR CNHI MLM CMS YNDX LEA ODFL IVZ  LKQ LDOS TSCO BWA UAA PHM ALLE ICLR AXTA WST CFR  KIM EQM LAZ NOK NRZ ORI FAF BC UTHR CRI ENTG GRA EME VLY ADNT FCFS PAG SPB ARD BMS UBSI COR RDN VC PRLB PTEN SYNT NVCR  PENN COLB DLX TREE AB TPX VLP  FCN GWB NTCT AXE TSEM MNRO MINI CWT THRM PATK 

• Afternoon: LOGM  AUY  AMZN INTC AMGN SBUX EA AFL EW LRCX FTV DFS DLR WDC EIX EXPE HIG VRSN MXIM NOV TEAM CMG JNPR COLM PFPT FSLR BYD RARE FHB SAM NCR ISBC ELLI DECK SKYW BOFI EGHT IMPV ABAX MATW FIX MSTR 

Friday (July 27)

• Morning: GT  VIRT   XOM CVX MRK ABBV CL PSX AON MCO TWTR WY SYF ZBH

=Legg Mason (LM) reported earnings on Wed 26 July 2017 (a/h)

Legg Mason reports EPS in-line, beats on revs :

• Reports Q1 (Jun) earnings of $0.52 per share, in-line with the two analyst estimate of $0.52; revenues rose 13.4% year/year to $793.8 mln vs the $766.6 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Operating margin was 13.5% compared to 15.2% in the prior quarter. Operating margin, as adjusted, was 22.5%, as compared to 20.6% with the increase primarily due to increased operating revenues.
• Assets Under Management ("AUM") were $741.2 billion at June 30, 2017 compared with $728.4 billion at March 31, 2017, resulting from the reclass of $16.0 billion of separately managed account assets previously classified as Assets Under Advisement, $8.4 billion in positive market performance and other, $0.7 billion in positive foreign exchange and long-term net inflows of $0.5 billion, partially offset by liquidity outflows of $11.5 billion.

-=Legg Mason (LM) reported Q1 earnings on Fri 29 Apr 2016 (b/o)

Legg Mason misses by $0.85, misses on revs  :

• Reports Q4 (Mar) loss of $0.15 per share, $0.85 worse than the two analyst estimate of $0.70; revenues fell 11.8% year/year to $619.5 mln vs the $635.03 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• "Macro headwinds negatively impacted operating results for the quarter, which were disappointing in terms of long-term flows and financial performance. At the same time, it is very clear that we must continue to position Legg Mason longer-term to deliver greater choice to our clients across investment strategy, product, vehicle and distribution access. During the fourth quarter we made significant progress in this regard, as we announced three transactions that continue Legg Mason's affiliate portfolio transformation that began three years ago. With these additions, we have greater flexibility to invest in segments where client preferences are moving and establish new products and solutions in areas where we see the potential for substantial growth long-term. Combined with our strong cash generation and an ongoing commitment to returning capital to shareholders, we remain confident in our ability to create long-term value."
• Quarterly dividend was increased by 10% to $0.22.

LM — is it a buy?

• Apr 13: Is LM a buy?

• 2 weeks later:

Legg Mason (LM) reported 4Q earnings on Fri 22 Jan 16 (b/o)

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

 

** 5 days later  **

Legg Mason beats by $0.43, misses on revs :

• Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $1.45 per share, $0.43 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.02; revenues fell 8.3% year/year to $659.6 mln vs the $676.67 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Assets Under Management were $671.5 billion as of December 31, 2015, compared to $672.1 billion as of September 30, 2015, and down 5% from $709.1 billion as of December 31, 2014.
• "Our operating results for the quarter reflected a challenging period for asset management firms, and included a negative impact from a significant non-cash impairment charge. While quarterly long-term flows were negative in the aggregate, we generated another quarter of positive fixed income flows despite industry net outflows in active taxable fixed income. Equity flows remained challenged, consistent with industry trends, exacerbated by capital gains distributions and year-end tax selling."
• "The uncertain outlook for markets, and our client's needs for a broad suite of investment solutions, makes it clear that we cannot risk standing still. Consequently, we have taken important steps to execute upon our strategy of becoming an increasingly diversified asset management firm in terms of investment expertise, products, vehicles and distribution channels to service evolving and diverse client needs. With the acquisition of Clarion Partners, we have added a private real estate capability with strong performance through market cycles, differentiated and diverse product offerings and broad growth opportunities in new geographies and products. By bringing EnTrust together with Permal, we create one of the largest alternative asset managers with complementary investment capabilities, global client relationships and business mix. Our investment in Precidian Investments gives us access to a proven innovator that will help us continue to drive product and vehicle diversification."