Despite a rocky environment, the T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW) ram butted its way through 2007. For the fourth quarter, the company pumped out $0.68 per share, topping analysts' estimates of $0.63. For the full year, revenue grew 23%, while net income was up 27%.
It's unlikely that the numbers caught anybody by surprise, after Janus (NYSE: JNS) and Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN), also known as Franklin Templeton, reported strong numbers last week. Investors are probably noting this trend when considering what Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) will report tomorrow, or what Eaton Vance (NYSE: EV) will say later this week.
T. Rowe's assets under management, the lifeblood for any asset manager, grew 19.5% for the year to $400 billion. The growth was split between net inflows, which accounted for $33.8 billion of the increase, and appreciation, which added $31.5 billion. At the end of the year, the mix of assets under management was $201 billion from stock and blended asset portfolios, $45 billion in bond and money market funds, and $154 billion in other managed portfolios.
T. Rowe's funds also remain top-notch. The company reported that 61% of its funds are above the comparable one-year Lipper averages, while 72% are beating the three-, five-, and 10-year averages. A hair more than 58% of the company's funds are rated either four or five stars by Morningstar (Nasdaq: MORN), versus 32.5% for the rest of the mutual fund industry.
There are moderate expectations for 2008, though. Not surprisingly, the company tempered investors' expectations, noting that global economies would grow more moderately this year versus the previous five. T. Rowe's CEO, James Kennedy, underscored this point by saying, "As always, we would caution investors to be patient as the market goes through a period of transition and adjustment, and to have modest market return expectations and an awareness of risk and uncertainty."
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