T. Rowe Price Group shares rise on 1Q earnings growth

T. Rowe Price shares rose $6.8, or 13 percent, to $60.68 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $43 and $65.46 during the past year.

The Baltimore-based investment manager earned 151.5 million, or 55 cents per share, during the first quarter, a penny short of analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Financial.

But, analysts were encouraged by strong inflows of cash from investors during the quarter. T. Rowe Price posted stronger-than-expected inflows of new cash from customers. Clients poured $9.7 billion into T. Rowe Price during the first quarter.

"Quarter one was one of the worst on record for performance and industry flows in a long time," Wachovia Capital Markets LLC analyst Douglas Sipkin wrote in a research note. "Despite the weakness, T. Rowe Price reported its best flows ever."

Sipkin affirmed his 2008 earnings estimate of $2.50 per share for the company despite it falling short of his first-quarter estimate of 58 cents per share. He rates the stock "Outperform."

Sipkin increased his 2009 estimate by 3 cents to $2.93 per share.