Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of National Financial Partners (NYSE: NFP), an advisory and brokerage firm to high net-worth individuals, jumped as much as 18% after reporting its fourth-quarter earnings results.
So what: For the quarter, National Financial Partners recorded cash earnings from its businesses of $0.85. Wall Street had only been expecting the company to report a profit of $0.70. National Finance pegged a dramatic drop in its effective tax rate, from 40% in the year-ago quarter to 9% this quarter, because of the disposition of certain life insurance businesses as one of the big drivers of its EPS jump. Revenue for the quarter advanced 3.8% to $300.1 million with organic growth of 2.7%.
Now what: Yes, high net-worth individuals can be very fickle with their investing activities, but National Finance Partners appears to be making all the right moves. The company is intent on repurchasing shares as necessary and making earnings accretive acquisitions going forward. With taxes on upper income earners rising in the U.S., I'd expect National Financial Partners' business will grow even more robust as high income earners seek assistance in their wealth building plans. Needless to say, the stock could have more room to run from here.
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