Why BGC Partners Shares Jumped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of wholesale financial brokerage BGC Partners rose as much as 10% after reporting its fourth-quarter results.

So what: For the quarter, BGC Partners reported a 19% increase in revenue to $436.3 million and a 262% increase in GAAP income to $27.4 million. The company's recent real estate acquisitions spurred its rapid bottom line growth, and management noted that volume levels in its financial services industry have begun to rebound in the first quarter. Based on estimates found at Yahoo! Finance, BGC's GAAP EPS actually fell short of Wall Street's expectations, but the company stood pat on its quarterly dividend, keeping it at a robust $0.12 per quarter for an annualized yield of better than 10%.

Now what: With BGC's financial services segment finally showing signs of life, and its real estate acquisitions paying handsome dividends, I'd say that with a single-digit forward P/E, there's still quite a bit of value to be squeezed out of its share price. As long as BGC remains prudent with its acquisition strategy and pays out sustainable dividends, there's no reason it couldn't head higher.

Craving more input? Start by adding BGC Partners to your free and personalized Watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

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The article Why BGC Partners Shares Jumped originally appeared on Fool.com.

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