Yahoo Finance Reasons to Retain FactSet (FDS) Stock in Your Portfolio Now
FactSet Research Systems’ FDS buyouts over the past years have resulted in expediting the availability of important data sets that support advanced future workflowsand strengthen the company’s position in the global capital markets.
The company’s revenues for 2024 and 2025 are expected to increase 5% and 4.7%, respectively, year over year. Earnings are anticipated to grow 12% in 2024 and 7.3% in 2025. The company has an expected long-term (three to five years) earnings per share growth rate of 10.3%.
Factors That Auger Well
FactSet has been engaged in delivering extensive data, sophisticated analytics and flexible technology to global financial professionals for more than 40 years. It is benefiting from a growing client base and a strong global presence.
In fiscal 2023, organic revenues amounted to $1.99 billion, marking an 8.2% year-over-year increment. The company added 383 clients, taking the total number to 7,921. Annual Subscription Value (ASV) of $2.2 billion gained 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Region-wise, FactSet’s ASV generated $1.38 billion in revenues from the United States, increasing 7% year over year. Organic ASV from the EMEA and the Asia Pacific regions amounted to $559.6 million and $215.4 million, up 7.7% and 8.1% year over year, respectively.
Over the years, the company has made multiple acquisitions to drive growth. The 2023 acquisition of idaciti supports FactSet’s ongoing initiative to revamp its content collection infrastructure digitally while also accelerating the availability of essential data sets that support advanced future workflows. CUSIP Global Services, acquired in 2022, has strengthened the global capital market position of the company.
In fiscal 2023, 2022 and 2021, the company repurchased shares worth $18.64 million, 199.6 million and $264.7 million, respectively. FactSet paid out dividends of $125.9 million, 110.4 million and $117.9 million in fiscal 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Such actions point toward FactSet’s commitment to creating shareholders' value and underline its confidence in its business. It will instill investors’ confidence and positively impact the bottom line and share price.
Risk
FactSet’s third-quarter fiscal 2024 current ratio (a measure of liquidity) stood at 1.28, lower than the preceding quarter’s 1.79 and the year-ago quarter's 2.11. A decreasing current ratio does not bode well.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
FactSet currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A couple of better-ranked stocks from the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Parsons PSN and Paysafe Limited PSFE.
Parsons presently has a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
PSN has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 12.9%. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 16.5%, on average.
Paysafe currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 18.7%.
PSFE delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.3%, on average.
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FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Parsons Corporation (PSN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Paysafe Limited (PSFE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
