E*TRADE's (ETFC) February 2020 DARTs Rise 27% From January

E*TRADE Financial (NASDAQ:ETFC) has reported a rise in Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) for February. According to its monthly-market activity, the company’s DARTs came in at 587,122, up 27% from the previous month and more than 100% year over year. Notably, derivatives comprised 32% of DARTs in February.

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 primarily reflects investors’ willingness to invest in equity markets.

At the end of the reported month, E*TRADE’s total number of accounts were approximately 7.3 million, comprising about 5.2 million retail accounts, 1.9 million corporate services accounts, and 0.2 million advisor services accounts.

E*TRADE’s total accounts included 50,707 net new accounts for February. Total number of brokerage accounts highlights the company’s ability to gain and retain customers who trade and invest.

Moreover, E*TRADE’s net new retail assets came in at $4.7 billion compared with the $2.6 billion reported in the last month. There were no net new advisor service assets.

At the end of February, E*TRADE’s customer security holdings were $294 billion, down from the $315.1 billion in January. The company’s brokerage-related cash came in at $76 billion compared with the previous month’s $72.3 billion. Additionally, bank-related cash and deposits for the company totaled $4.2 billion, up from the $2.2 billion in January 2020.

Peer Performance

Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ:IBKR) released Electronic Brokerage segment’s performance metrics for February 2020. The segment reported an increase in DARTs. Total client DARTs were 1,346,000, rising 32% from January 2020 and 63% from February 2019.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc.’s (NASDAQ:LPLA) total brokerage and advisory assets of $736.6 billion at the end of February 2020 declined 4% from the prior month but improved 9% year over year. Of the total brokerage and advisory assets, brokerage assets were $380.9 billion, while advisory assets totaled $355.7 billion.

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) has released the monthly activity report for February 2020, which shows decent results compared with the prior month. Net new assets of $24.4 billion climbed 17% from the previous month and 33% year over year. Total client assets came in at $3.9 trillion, down 5% from the prior month but up 9% from the year-ago month.

Our Viewpoint

Though the uncertain macroeconomic environment might result in lesser trading activities, growth in DARTs and new brokerage accounts will prove beneficial for the company.

E*TRADE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The company’s shares have lost around 21% in the last three months, compared with the industry’s decline of 23.6%.

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