ASX small-cap stock Praemium Ltd (ASX: PPS) has enjoyed a strong turnaround over the past 12 months.
How strong?
Well, this time last year, you could have bought shares in the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) investment platform provider for 39 cents. Today, those same shares are changing hands for 83 cents apiece.
That sees the ASX small-cap stock up a blistering 112.8% in a year.
For some context, the All Ords has gained 11.6% over this same period.
And Praemium shares also trade on a 1.2% fully franked trailing dividend yield.
Yet despite the past year's outperformance, the fund managers at Forager still see a lot of untapped value in the stock.
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ASX small-cap stock back on the growth path
Praemium counts as the Forager Australian Shares Fund's fourth biggest holding.
In Forager's January update, the fund managers noted that a few of the fund's investments provided quarterly updates late in January.
"The first of these was wealth management platform Praemium (PPS). The smallest of the three listed platform providers, alongside HUB24 Ltd (ASX: HUB) and Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL)," Forager said.
As for the longer-term performance of the ASX small-cap stock, the fund managers said:
Praemium has not had a clean run over the last few years. A cost-driven earnings downgrade in late 2023, paired with advisor departures from one of its key clients, caused investors to largely dismiss the business.
But the past six months have seen key improvements. Higher pricing and cost control led to better earnings in the second half of the 2024 financial year. In the last quarter, fund net flows were the highest in two years.
And even after the 113% 12-month increase in the Praemium share price, Forager noted the ASX small-cap stock continues to trade at a steep discount to its larger rivals.
"Still trading at less than half of the earnings multiple of the industry leaders, Praemium's high-quality and growing earnings base should continue to attract investor interest," the fund managers said.
What did Praemium report for the December quarter?
The ASX small-cap stock announced its 2Q FY 2025 results on 23 January.
Highlights included a 29% year on year increase in total funds under administration (FUA) of $62.1 billion, marking a record high. And platform FUA increased by 32% to $30.2 billion.
Praemium also reported that its next generation IDPS Spectrum achieved quarterly gross and net inflows of $69 million. Almost all of those inflows came in December.
Commenting on the strong quarter, Praemium CEO Anthony Wamsteker said:
The December quarter was noteworthy for the very well received launch of Spectrum, our next generation IDPS where we have a strong pipeline, and further improvement across most growth metrics from the previous quarter.
The ASX small-cap stock closed up 11.8% on the day it reported.
