T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) issued a very strong second quarter financial report, signaling that the already-thriving Dividend Aristocrat is kicking things into high gear in the face of passive investing headwinds: total assets under management reached record levels in the second quarter ($903.6 billion), growing 4.9% sequentially and 16.4% year-over-year. This was supported through solid organic growth ($3.7 billion in inflows) and strong investment performance. Target-date retirement vehicles also continued their positive trending recovery from their $63 million decline in 4Q16 by achieving $3.1 billion in inflows during the second quarter, building off of their $2.3 billion during the first quarter.
Revenue grew 12.5% year-over-year during the quarter, exceeding expectations by $10 million, while margins were 70 basis points higher than 2016 levels. Most importantly, adjusted-diluted earnings per share grew an incredible 15.3% year-over-year, beating expectations by $0.20 and well above the 10% annual pace projected over the next 5 years in my pre-earnings report DCF valuation model for the company:
