As it moves forward with its plans to be the sole online broker, E*Trade (NYSE:ET) continues to perform well for its investors. As Rick Munarriz wrote last month, the company is in the process of acquiring BrownCo and has since announced that it has completed its acquisition of Harrisdirect. Altogether, E*Trade appears to be taking on 630,000 new customer accounts, assuming the customers stick with their new broker.
In addition to increasing its customer base through acquisitions, the company also announced its plans to acquire Kobren Insight Management, which will enable it to offer personalized wealth management to its retail customers.
E*Trade is also upgrading its stock performance by eclipsing a 52-week high as of this writing. Investors were no doubt pleased with the company's third-quarter performance released last week. In its report, the company announced earnings of $107.5 million, or $0.28 per diluted share. That's an increase of 35.6% over last year's earnings of $79.3 million.
Its earnings were boosted by record revenue of $422.8 million -- a 26% increase from last year. It also managed a 240-basis-point increase in operating margin to 35.7%.
E*Trade seems to be confident that its acquisitions will progress nicely and its new customers will be satisfied with its services. As a result, it increased its full-year guidance to a range of $1.04 to $1.09 per share. That leaves it with a reasonable forward P/E of between 16.7 and 17.5, slightly lower than competitors such as Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCH), which has a forward P/E of about 21, or Ameritrade (NASDAQ:AMTD), with its forward P/E of 24.
The online brokerage game has certainly undergone a plethora of changes, and it's unlikely we've seen the end. I like how E*Trade is positioning itself, both with a new base of clientele and through improved services. Although its price is climbing, it's thus far been able to grow its results, making it an appealing option for those who want to invest through an online broker and to invest in an online broker, as well.
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Fool contributor Mike Cianciolo welcomes feedback. He doesn't own shares of E*Trade or any other company mentioned in this article.
