BMO Capital analyst James Fotheringham initiated 11 U.S. asset managers, selecting KKR (KKR), Victory Capital (VCTR), and Apollo Global (APO) as his "top picks" with Outperform ratings and respective price targets of $40, $33, and $52 per share. The analyst believes that investors are undervaluing KKR's performance fees reliability and also have yet to appropriately value its "meaningful" excess capital. Instead, Fotheringham believes that investors are too worried about the risks of recession and KKR's relatively larger balance sheet. For Victory Global, the analyst believes that the market is overly concerned with its balance sheet leverage and believes that the company's organic growth will outperform expectations because of its exposure to to higher-growth segments like ETF products and solutions-seeking investors. For Apollo Global, Fotheringham notes that investors are undervaluing its accelerating Fee Related Earnings growth and expects the stock to benefit from technical support related to "improved liquidity, broadened shareholder engagement, and index inclusions." As part of his research note, the analyst also started the following at Market Perform: Ares Management (ARES) with price target $31, Invesco (IVZ) with price target $18, Blackrock (BLK) with price target $44, AssetMark (AMK) with price target $24, Blackstone (BX) with price target of $44, Carlyle Group (CG) with price target of $23, and T. Rowe Price (TROW) with price target of $101. Fotheringham also initiated Franklin Resources (BEN) at Underperform with price target of $16, saying the market is overvaluing its management-fee related income amid continued outflows and magnified redemption risk as well as operating expense "inflexibility". The analyst warns that Franklin's U.S. and European retail channels are facing ongoing fee pressures and risk from active-to-passive rotation.

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.  1... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Reports Q1 revenue $1.75B, consensus $1.71B.

JPMorgan analyst Michael Cho downgraded AssetMark Financial to Neutral from Overweight with a $37 price target following the company's announcement of a take-private transaction by GTCR for $35.25 per share in cash.

Check out this morning's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.  UP AFTER EARNINGS... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Blackstone announced that private equity funds managed by Blackstone have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a franchisor of fast casual restaurants, from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. This would be the first transaction from Blackstone's most recent vintage of its flagship private equity vehicle, and is intended to help accelerate Tropical Smoothie Cafe's already-rapid expansion through continued investment in menu innovation, operating excellence, and best-in-class marketing. Peter Wallace, a Senior Managing Director in Blackstone's Private Equity business, said, "Tropical Smoothie Cafe has had an impressive growth trajectory consistently building on its loyal customer base as it has scaled nationwide. Blackstone has deep experience helping accelerate the expansion of leading franchise businesses as one of our highest-conviction investment areas. We believe our capital and resources will help position Tropical Smoothie Cafe for continued success and innovation for the benefit of its guests and franchisees." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Barclays served as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel to Blackstone. Baird served as the lead financial advisor, with support from North Point and BofA Securities, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Tropical Smoothie Cafe.

Comcast (CMCSA) is scheduled to announce quarterly results on April 25, while Paramount (PARA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Bedell lowered the firm's price target on Invesco to $15 from $17 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares. The company reported a "difficult" Q1 with pressure on fee rates and margins, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Argus analyst Stephen Biggar raised the firm's price target on Blackstone to $135 from $133 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company's Q1 earnings beat benefited from growth in fee-related earnings, while its management has previously laid out a constructive case for a recovery in the commercial real estate market, noting values are bottoming, new construction has declined substantially, and the cost of capital has peaked, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Argus adds that stable to lower interest rates should also improve transaction activity.

TD Cowen lowered the firm's price target on Invesco to $19.50 from $21 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm said its Q1 report did little to alter the narrative that they can not generate meaningful operating/EPS leverage even as AUM climbs; though Cowen thinks related headwinds should further abate into 2H 2024/2025.