IGM FINANCIAL INC. $38 - Toronto symbol IGM

IGM FINANCIAL INC. $38 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 245.8 million; Market cap: $9.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.1; Dividend yield: 5.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. igmfinancial.com) is Canada’s largest independent mutual fund provider. Power Financial owns 59.8% of IGM. The company has two main divisions. Investors Group offers mutual funds and other services, such as portfolio management, through 5,200 affiliated advisors. This business forms close relationships with clients, which helps it retain them. In the past year, its redemption rate for long-term funds was 8.4%, well below the industry average of 15.6%. The other division, Mackenzie Financial, sells funds through independent brokers. In the third quarter of 2015, IGM’s earnings fell 9.4%, to $199.0 million from $219.7 million a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 6.9%, to $0.81 from $0.87, on fewer shares outstanding. However, revenue rose 0.2%, to $751.7 million from $750.2 million. That’s because Investors Group launched a new class of funds that are less volatile than the broader stock markets. The company had $134.2 billion of assets under management as of October 31, 2015, down 4.2% from $140.1 billion a year earlier. IGM’s fee income rises and falls with the value of the mutual funds and other securities it manages, so its revenue and earnings suffer when the value of these assets declines. The stock trades at just 11.9 times the $3.18 a share IGM will likely earn in 2015. The $2.25 dividend yields 5.9%. IGM Financial is a buy.

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