Buy This Top Investment Bank Stock as Q3 Results Approach: STT

Up a very respectable +20% this year, State Street STT stock will be one to watch as its Q3 results approach on Friday, October 17.

The Boston-based financial holding company looks poised to join a few of its top investment management peers that exceeded quarterly expectations this week and have hit peaks in assets under management (AUM), including BlackRock BLK and Goldman Sachs GS.

Holding the fourth spot among global asset managers behind BlackRock, Vanguard, and Fidelity, State Street most recently reported its all-time high AUM of more than $5 trillion last quarter.

Attributed to its strategic expansion and operational efficiency, State Street stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with STT seeing a positive trend of earnings estimate revisions.

Strategic Expansion & AI Boost

Adding fuel to State Street’s expansion has been its recent strategic acquisition of Mizuho Financial Group’s offshore custody business earlier in the month. Referring to the safekeeping and administration of financial assets like stocks and bonds, among other securities, this offshore custody business includes Mizuho’s global operations outside of Japan, such as those in the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Luxembourg, and the U.S.

While the exact price of the acquisition has not been disclosed, the deal added approximately $580 billion in assets under custody and $24 billion in assets under administration, significantly expanding State Street’s global footprint in securities services.

Additionally, it’s noteworthy that State Street has confirmed that it achieved a 500 basis point improvement in operational efficiency through AI and automation during Q3 despite a $100 million increase in workforce costs. Supported by AI-enhanced servicing and reporting capabilities, State Street has stated its fee income expanded 11% during Q3 amid ETF servicing expansion and competitively strategic fee reductions.

State Street’s Q3 Expectations

State Street’s Q3 sales are thought to have increased 4% to $3.47 billion, with quarterly earnings expected to spike 16% to $2.62 per share. 

As illustrated by the green arrorws in the price, consensus, and surprise chart at the beginning of this article, State Street has surpassed the Zacks EPS Consensus for nine consecutive quarters. Over the last four quarters, State Street has posted an average EPS surprise of 6.58% as shown below.

Positive EPS Revisions

Most conclusive to a strong buy rating, State Street’s fiscal year 2025 and FY26 EPS revisions have continued to trend higher over the last 90 days and are nicely up in the last week leading up to its Q3 report.

Better still, State Street's annual earnings are now expected to increase 15% in FY25 to $9.99 per share, with FY26 EPS projected to rise another 13% to $11.26.

STT P/E Valuation Comparison

What may serve as the cherry on top for many investors who want exposure to some of the top investment banks is that at 11X forward earnings, STT has a reasonable price tag of $116 a share. In comparison, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs stock trade well over $500 with forward P/E multiples of 25X and 16X, respectively.

State Street’s Enticing Dividend

With the strong buy proposition more than setting in, STT also offers a very generous annual dividend yield of 2.91%. This towers over the S&P 500’s average of 1.11% and the broader Zacks Finance sector's 1.88% while also topping the yields of BlackRock and Goldman Sachs.

Plus, in the last five years, STT has a respectable annualized dividend growth rate of 9.11% and its 32% payout ratio leaves room for plenty of dividend hikes in the future.    

Bottom Line

Now appears to be an ideal time to buy State Street stock as its Q3 results approach, especially with EPS revisions rising in the last seven days. Furthermore, State Street’s strategic expansion and AI boost are very compelling, considering the company is known for its operational efficiency and is among the elite global asset managers.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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