Fair Isaac Corp.
New York symbol FIC, provides products and services that help businesses make better decisions on customer creditworthiness around the world.
FAIR ISAAC CORP. $87.87 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average)(415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.1 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) makes FICO Scores, the program that dominates the market for software businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness. Fair Isaac also profits by selling programs that help credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns.
In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended June 30, 2015, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 5.9%, to $209.3 million from $197.6 million a year earlier. Sales at its applications division (61% of the total) fell 2.1% on weaker demand for marketing and fraud-detection software. However, sales of credit-scoring programs (27%) jumped 23.0%, while sales of analytics software (12%) gained 18.1%.
The company earned $32.3 million, up 10.3% from $29.2 million. Earnings per share jumped 20.5%, to $1.00 from $0.83, on fewer shares outstanding. Fair Isaac spends around 12% of its revenue on research, which lets it produce innovative products that keep it ahead of the competition.
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In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended June 30, 2015, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 5.9%, to $209.3 million from $197.6 million a year earlier. Sales at its applications division (61% of the total) fell 2.1% on weaker demand for marketing and fraud-detection software. However, sales of credit-scoring programs (27%) jumped 23.0%, while sales of analytics software (12%) gained 18.1%.
The company earned $32.3 million, up 10.3% from $29.2 million. Earnings per share jumped 20.5%, to $1.00 from $0.83, on fewer shares outstanding. Fair Isaac spends around 12% of its revenue on research, which lets it produce innovative products that keep it ahead of the competition.
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PFIZER INC., $36.07, New York symbol PFE, rose 5% this week after reporting better-than-expected results. It also raised its revenue and earnings forecast for all of 2015. Before unusual items, the company earned $3.5 billion in the three months ended June 30, 2015, down 6.5% from $3.8 billion a year earlier. Pfizer spent $6.0 billion on share buybacks during the first half of 2015. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share fell 3.4%, to $0.56 from $0.58, though that still beat the consensus forecast of $0.52. Revenue declined 7.2%, to $11.9 billion from $12.8 billion, but that was also ahead of the consensus forecast of $11.4 billion. Without the negative impact of currency rates, revenue rose 1%....
INTACT FINANCIAL CORP., $90.20, symbol IFC on Toronto, is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty insurance, based on premiums. Its brands include Intact Insurance, Canada BrokerLink and belairdirect. In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Intact’s revenue rose 6.0%, to $2.34 billion from $2.21 billion a year earlier. Revenue improved across all of the company’s insurance lines and geographic regions. The early 2015 acquisition of Canadian Direct Insurance for $197 million also added to sales. Canadian Direct offers home, auto and travel insurance, mainly in Alberta and B.C. Earnings rose 1.9%, to $210 million, or $1.56 a share, from $206 million, or $1.53. Intact continues to write more profitable insurance policies and cut its operating costs....
These three companies are trading near their alltime highs. That’s partly because the improving economy is giving their main clients— banks and financial services firms— more to spend on their hard-toreplace services. As well, all three are tapping into the “big data” trend, helping businesses capture and analyze a lot of information about their operations. We like the long-term outlook for all three, but we see only two as buys right now. DUN & BRADSTREET CORP. $128 (New York symbol DNB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 36.0 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dnb.com) provides credit reports on over 230 million companies. Its clients use this information to make lending and buying decisions....
BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $55.54 New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 120.9 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; Dividend yield: 2.0%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada. Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $58.8 million, or $0.47 a share, in its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended March 31, 2015. That’s up 6.7% from $55.1 million, or $0.44 a share, a year earlier. The company continues to add new clients and is doing a good job of holding on to existing ones. Broadridge typically makes about half of its profits in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ends June 30. That’s the busiest period for processing proxies and annual reports for its clients....
FAIR ISAAC CORP. $88.07 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average)(415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.1 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) makes FICO Scores, the program that dominates the market for software businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness. Fair Isaac also profits by selling programs that help credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns.
In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended March 31, 2015, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 11.7%, to $207.1 million from $185.5 million a year earlier. The company saw higher sales at its applications division (65% of total revenue) on increased licensing revenue from software that detects bank fraud. Sales of credit scoring software and programs for analyzing large amounts of a business’s data were up 4%.
The company earned $18.9 million, down 9.1% from $20.8 million. It spent more on research and marketing, and that hurt its profits. Earnings per share were unchanged at $0.60 on fewer shares outstanding.
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In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended March 31, 2015, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 11.7%, to $207.1 million from $185.5 million a year earlier. The company saw higher sales at its applications division (65% of total revenue) on increased licensing revenue from software that detects bank fraud. Sales of credit scoring software and programs for analyzing large amounts of a business’s data were up 4%.
The company earned $18.9 million, down 9.1% from $20.8 million. It spent more on research and marketing, and that hurt its profits. Earnings per share were unchanged at $0.60 on fewer shares outstanding.
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TOROMONT INDUSTRIES LTD., $32.47, symbol TIH on Toronto, distributes a wide range of industrial equipment, including machinery made by Caterpillar Inc. It also makes refrigeration systems through its CIMCO division. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Toromont’s revenue rose 9.1%, to $340.2 million from $311.7 million a year earlier. Earnings gained 8.1%, to $20.1 million, or $0.26 a share, from $18.6 million or $0.24. The first quarter is typically the company’s slowest because of winter shutdowns in the construction industry. Toromont saw stronger demand from customers in construction and agriculture, which offset continued weak mining sales. It also cut costs....
All three of the companies we analyze below provide vital services to banks, credit card issuers and other financial services firms. They’re also benefiting as the improving economy spurs loan demand, prompting their clients to buy more of their products. What’s more, they all dominate their niche businesses, which makes it harder for new competitors to steal their customers. Thanks to these factors, all three are trading near their all-time highs. But only two are buys right now....
FAIR ISAAC CORP. $81.96 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.4 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) makes FICO Scores, a computer program that helps businesses make better decisions about customer creditworthiness. Fair Isaac also sells software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns. In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended December 31, 2014, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 2.8%, to $189.6 million from $184.3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 6.8%, to $0.68 from $0.73. Fair Isaac spent more on research and marketing, and that hurt profits....
FAIR ISAAC CORP. $84 (New York symbol FICO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 31.4 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 0.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.fico.com) makes FICO Scores, a computer program that helps businesses make better decisions about customer creditworthiness. FICO Scores dominates this niche market. Fair Isaac also sells software that helps credit card issuers cut fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns.
In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended December 31, 2014, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 2.8%, to $189.6 million from $184.3 million a year earlier.
The company saw higher sales at its applications division (66% of revenue) on increased licensing revenue from software that detects bank fraud. Sales of credit-scoring software and programs for analyzing large amounts of a business’s data were lower, mostly due to a big order in the year-ago quarter.
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In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended December 31, 2014, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 2.8%, to $189.6 million from $184.3 million a year earlier.
The company saw higher sales at its applications division (66% of revenue) on increased licensing revenue from software that detects bank fraud. Sales of credit-scoring software and programs for analyzing large amounts of a business’s data were lower, mostly due to a big order in the year-ago quarter.
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