SEI Investments Earnings Preview

While SEI Investments Company (Nasdaq: SEIC  ) missed estimates last quarter, investors hope that it will bounce back and outpace Wall Street expectations this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Oct. 17. 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 think investors should stand pat on SEI Investments with three of five analysts rating it hold. Analysts like SEI Investments better than competitor Federated Investors overall. One out of 10 analysts rate Federated Investors a buy compared to two of five for SEI Investments.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $239.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 9.2% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.29 per share. Estimates range from $0.27 to $0.32.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 98.3% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 94.7% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on SEI Investments, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 48 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of SEI Investments, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
SEI Investments' profit has risen by an average of 10.1% over the past five quarters. The company's revenue has now risen for two straight quarters.

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	Q2	Q1	Q4	Q3
Gross Margin	84.1%	80.8%	50.1%	50.3%
Operating Margin	22.7%	23.5%	22.4%	25.1%
Net Margin	22.5%	24.8%	27.0%	25.7%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on SEI Investments Company movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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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 may not 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.