Aon Second Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Aon (NYSE:AON) will unveil its latest earnings on Friday, July 27, 2012. Aon provides risk management and human capital consulting services, including insurance and reinsurance brokerage and workforce productivity solutions.

Aon Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of $1.01 per share, a rise of 21.7% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $1.10. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It also has dropped from $1.02 during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 24.6% compared to last year’s $4.10.

Past Earnings Performance: Last quarter, the company fell short of estimates by one cent, coming in at net income of 98 cents per share against a mean estimate of profit of $1.06. The company topped expectations in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

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Stock Price Performance: Between April 26, 2012 and July 23, 2012, the stock price fell $5.30 (-10.2%), from $51.97 to $46.67. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between March 6, 2012 and March 15, 2012, when shares rose for eight straight days, increasing 4% (+$1.90) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between November 11, 2011 and November 23, 2011 when shares fell for nine straight days, dropping 9.2% (-$4.41) over that span.

A Look Back: In the first quarter, profit fell 3.3% to $238 million (71 cents a share) from $246 million (71 cents a share) the year earlier, missing analyst expectations. Revenue rose 2.3% to $2.84 billion from $2.78 billion.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $2.89 billion in revenue this quarter, a rise of 2.8% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $11.64 billion for the year, a rise of 3.1% from last year’s revenue of $11.29 billion.

Key Stats:

The company is looking to get back on track with this earnings announcement after a profit drop last quarter snapped a positive string of results. Net income rose 68.6% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year, 37.5% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year and 19.9% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year before declining in the first quarter.

On the top line, the company is looking to build on four-straight revenue increases heading into this earnings announcement. Revenue rose 46.5% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year, 52.3% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year and 3.2% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year before increasing again in the first quarter.

Analyst Ratings: With nine analysts rating the stock a buy, none rating it a sell and eight rating the stock a hold, there are indications of a bullish stance by analysts.

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(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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