Waddell & Reed Financial Earnings Preview

Investors braced for a bumpy ride ahead of Waddell & Reed Financial's (NYSE: WDR  ) earnings announcement, because during the past fiscal year the company has wavered between beating and falling short of analyst predictions. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, July 26. Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. is a mutual fund and asset management firm, with expertise in a range of investment styles and across a variety of market environments.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Waddell & Reed Financial, with six of 11 rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Waddell & Reed Financial better than competitor Federated Investors overall. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from hold to moderate buy.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $311.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 21.3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.57 per share. Estimates range from $0.56 to $0.60.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 100% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All Stars, with 92.5% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Waddell & Reed Financial, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 32 posts in the past 30 days. Waddell & Reed Financial has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Waddell & Reed Financial's profit has risen year over year by an average of 33.5%.

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 net margins over the past four quarters:

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
Net Margin	15.3%	16.2%	15.7%	13.4%

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