LPL hits report advisor headcount, goals for whole FA market

The {industry}’s top independent broker-dealer now has 22,404 advisors, a record-high headcount.

Regardless of a small slide in earnings, LPL Monetary had one other wholesome quarter in advisor recruitments and natural asset development, and is looking forward to domination of the complete advisor {industry}. 

“This quarter we continued to see the attraction of our mannequin develop because of the mixture of our robust and feature-rich platform, the soundness and scale of our industry-leading mannequin, and our capability and dedication to take a position again into the platform,” stated Dan Arnold, the CEO and president of LPL, in an earnings name Thursday with analysts. He added that the agency’s objective is to ultimately “compete for all 300,000 advisors within the market.” 

READ MORE: LPL eyes succession deals for more wirehouse teams, independent RIAs

Arnold stated the firm’s strategy includes “horizontal growth, the place we glance to broaden the ways in which advisors and enterprises can affiliate with us, and vertical integration, the place we give attention to offering capabilities that remedy for a broader spectrum of advisor wants.” 

The agency repurchased $250 million in shares in the course of the quarter and beat Wall Road expectations with adjusted earnings per share of $3.74, which was 5% above the analyst consensus of $3.57.

“We stay fairly inspired by the sturdy natural development the corporate continues to reveal,” analysts at JMP Securities stated of LPL in a word on Friday. LPL seems considerably undervalued out there, the analysts stated, noting that it confirmed potential for “quicker development and better capital return than the common S&P 500 firm however a notable low cost to the S&P’s ahead P/E of 17.4x.” 

“LPL is benefiting from its elevated income in a interval of above-normal rates of interest to take a position again into the enterprise the place it could transfer the needle on development, but in addition ship respectable outcomes for shareholders,” the analysts stated, ranking LPL “market outperform.”

The analysts maintained that LPL may “proceed increasing the natural development fee from upper-single digits at present into the double digits over the subsequent couple of years, which might put the agency on the high of the {industry}.” 

To see the primary takeaways from LPL’s third-quarter earnings, scroll down the slideshow. For protection of the agency’s second-quarter earnings, click here. For a take a look at the outcomes from the primary quarter, click here.