Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) released its earnings report for the three months ended June 30 this morning before the market opened on Wall Street. The company showed earnings of $0.38 per share for the period on revenue totaling $670.4 billion. On Wednesday’s market, stock in Legg Mason Inc (NYSE:LM) closed the day at $34.03 per share.
In the run up to the announcement of this earnings report, analysts following the asset manager were looking for earnings per share of 35 cents per share. Revenue in the quarter, which Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) records as the first of its fiscal year, was expected to come in at $653 million.
In the same quarter of 2013 Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) showed earnings per share of 64 cents per share on revenue of $631 million.
Legg Mason surge
So far 2013 stock in Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) has increased in value by more than 30%, putting its performance well beyond that of the S&P 500, since January 1. Investors have seen something in the company since the start of the year, though some are beginning to pull back on the company’s growing valuation.
At the beginning of June, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) released a report that downgraded its outlook for Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM). The report put a sell rating on the investor a month ago, when it was suggested that the problem was Legg Mason outlook, if that changed the company would look a lot better for the year ahead.
Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) shares, like many in the same industry had bitter problems in 2011 and 2012, and the firm’s increased value in 2013 may have more to do with it being released from a depression than from actual performance. After all, the company has not seen any significant change in revenue since last year, and cost savings are not a path to growth in the investing world.
Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) will host an earnings call at 8 am this morning to discuss this morning’s release.
