E*TRADE Financial (ETFC) January DARTs Up 29% From December

E*TRADE Financial (NASDAQ:ETFC) reported a rise in Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) for January 2018. According to its monthly market activity, the company’s DARTs came in at 315,572, up 29% from the prior month and 57% year over year. Notably, derivatives comprised 30% of DARTs in January.

Broker performance is generally measured through DARTs that represent the number of trades from which brokers can expect commission or fees. The rise in DARTs largely reflects investors’ willingness to invest in equity markets.

At the end of the month under review, E*TRADE’s total number of accounts were approximately 5.5 million, comprising about 3.7 million brokerage accounts, 1.5 million stock plan accounts and 0.3 million banking accounts.

For the reported month, E*TRADE’s total brokerage accounts included 64,581 gross new brokerage accounts. Total brokerage accounts highlight the company’s ability to gain and retain customers who trade and invest.

Moreover, E*TRADE’s net new brokerage assets came in at $1.5 billion compared with $1.1 billion recorded in the prior month.

At the end of January 2018, E*TRADE’s customer security holdings were $304.7 billion, up from $287.3 billion reported in December 2017. The company’s brokerage-related cash increased slightly to $53 billion from $52.9 billion in the prior month, with customers being the net buyers of about $1.5 billion in securities. In addition, bank-related cash and deposits for the company totaled $4.9 billion, down from $5 billion in the previous month.

Peer Performance

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:IBKR) Electronic Brokerage segment reported a year-over-year increase in DARTs for January 2018. The segment deals in clearance and settlement of trades for individual and institutional clients globally. Total client DARTs came in at 903,000, surging 40% from January 2017 and 29% from December 2017.

Among others, TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:AMTD) and The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) are expected to release January monthly activity reports later this week.

Our Viewpoint

Growth in DARTs and new brokerage accounts will prove beneficial for the company. We, however, are concerned about the uncertain macroeconomic environment, which might lead to lesser trading activities.

E*TRADE currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The company’s shares have gained 23.9% over the last six months compared with 15.8% growth recorded by the industry.

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