SEI Investments Earnings Preview

Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that SEI Investments (Nasdaq: SEIC  ) will top analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, July 18. SEI Investments is a provider of investment processing, fund processing, and investment management business outsourcing solutions that help corporations, financial institutions, financial advisors, and affluent families create and manage wealth.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back SEI Investments, with three of five rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like SEI Investments better than competitor Morningstar overall. Analysts' rating of SEI Investments has stayed constant from three months prior.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $240.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 5.3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.31 per share. Estimates range from $0.30 to $0.31.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 99.2% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 95.1% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about SEI Investments, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 46 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, SEI Investments' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
SEI Investments' profit has risen year over year by an average of 17.2%.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
Gross Margin	80.8%	50.1%	50.3%	50.1%
Operating Margin	23.5%	22.4%	25.1%	25%
Net Margin	24.8%	27%	25.7%	23.4%

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Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of SEI Investments. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.