Roper (ROP) Buys American LegalNet, Boosts Product Offerings

Roper Technologies (NYSE:ROP), Inc.’s ROP business unit, Aderant, recently announced that it has acquired American LegalNet. The financial terms of the transaction were kept under wraps.

Roper’s shares declined 0.8% yesterday to eventually close the trading session at $466.53.

Established in 1996, American LegalNet is a leading provider of legal software solutions like Docket Direct, eDockets, Forms WorkFlow, Docket Alerts, Smart Dockets and eFiling Portal. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company has a solid employee base throughout the United States as well as in Hyderabad, India.

Acquisition Rationale

The inclusion of American LegalNet’s expertise in cloud technology, along with its advanced workflow solutions, is expected to enable Aderant to provide comprehensive software solutions to its customers in the legal industry. As noted, Aderant will work on combining the premium features of its CompuLaw solution and American LegalNet’s eDockets solution for developing a cloud calendaring and docketing solution for customers.

American LegalNet will be integrated into Roper's Application Software segment. The segment is engaged in offering application management software, commerce platforms, integrated security solutions and housing management systems to customers across several industries. It contributed 41.2% to total revenues in the third quarter of 2021.

Zacks Rank, Price Performance and Estimate Revisions

Roper, with approximately $49.2-billion market capitalization, currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The company is poised to gain from strength across its businesses, acquired assets and strong operational execution in the quarters ahead. Its ability to generate healthy cash flows adds to its strength. However, escalating costs and expenses, and a high debt level are concerning.

In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s earnings have been stable at $3.66 for fourth-quarter 2021.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In the past three months, its shares have gained 2.9% compared with the industry’s growth of 10%.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked companies from the same space are discussed below.

Helios Technologies (NYSE:HLIO), Inc. HLIO presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Its earnings surprise in the last four quarters was 37.54%, on average.

In the past 60 days, Helios’ earnings estimates have increased 9.6% for 2022. Its shares have gained 12.5% in the past three months.

EnPro Industries, Inc. NPO presently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Its earnings surprise in the last four quarters was 54.81%, on average.

In the past 60 days, EnPro’s earnings estimates have increased 12.8% for 2022. Its shares have gained 24.1% in the past three months.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Inc. KAI presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Its earnings surprise in the last four quarters was 19.21%, on average.

Kadant’s earnings estimates have increased 1% for 2022 in the past 60 days. Its shares have gained8.9% in the past three months.

Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2022

In addition to the investment ideas discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 top picks for the entirety of 2022?

From inception in 2012 through November, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks gained an impressive +962.5% versus the S&P 500’s +329.4%. Now our Director of Research is combing through 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank to handpick the best 10 tickers to buy and hold. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these stocks when they’re released on January 3.