Cabot Oil & Gas Second Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG) will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. Cabot Oil & Gas is an independent company engaged in the development, exploitation, and exploration of oil and gas properties in North America.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of 7 cents per share, a decline of 58.8% 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 14 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at 7 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 21.8% versus last year to 43 cents.

Past Earnings Performance: The company fell short of estimates last quarter after topping forecasts the quarter prior. In the first quarter, it reported net income of 11 cents per share against a mean estimate of 14 cents. Two quarters ago, it beat expectations by 2 cents with profit of 16 cents.

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A Look Back: In the first quarter, profit rose 42.2% to $18.3 million (9 cents a share) from $12.9 million (6 cents a share) the year earlier, but fell short analyst expectations. Revenue rose 30.2% to $272.1 million from $209 million.

Stock Price Performance: Between April 23, 2012 and July 18, 2012, the stock price rose $9.95 (33.2%), from $29.96 to $39.91. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between April 24, 2012 and May 1, 2012, when shares rose for six straight days, increasing 21.4% (+$6.33) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between May 23, 2012 and June 4, 2012 when shares fell for eight straight days, dropping 14.3% (-$5.21) over that span.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts are projecting a rise of 11.5% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $268.4 million.

Key Stats:

With double-digit revenue growth the past four quarters, this earnings release is a chance to keep that positive trend going. The company has averaged year-over-year revenue growth of 24.1% over the last four quarters.

The company enters this earnings announcement with steady profits recently. Net income has risen year-over-year average of more than twofold for the last four quarters.

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

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 1.05 last quarter. The current ratio is an indication of a firm’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands and generally, for every dollar the company owes in the short term, it has that figure available in assets that can be converted to cash in the short term.

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

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