Lincoln National Corp First Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Lincoln National Corp (NYSE:LNC) will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. Lincoln National offers a range of wealth protection, accumulation, and retirement income products and solutions through its multiple insurance and investment management businesses.

Lincoln National Corp Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for net income of 97 cents per share, a decline of 10.2% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved up from 93 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved up. It has risen from 95 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 2.6% compared to last year’s $4.06.

Past Earnings Performance: The company met estimates last quarter after beating the forecasts in the prior two. In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, the company reported profit of $1 per share versus a mean estimate of net income of $1 per share. In the third quarter of the last fiscal year, the company beat estimates by 7 cents.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts are projecting a rise of 2.6% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $2.78 billion.

Analyst Ratings: nine out of 17 analysts surveyed (52.9%) have a buy rating on Lincoln National. This falls under the mean analyst rating of 10 competitors, which average 69.2% buy ratings.

A Look Back: In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, the company swung to a loss of $514 million ($1.60 a share) from a profit of $195 million (60 cents) a year earlier, meeting analyst expectations. Revenue fell 3.4% to $2.57 billion from $2.66 billion.

Key Stats:

On the top line, the company is hoping to use this earnings announcement to snap a string of two-straight quarters of revenue declines. Revenue fell 2.5% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year and dropped again in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year of the last fiscal year.

Stock Price Performance: Between January 31, 2012 and April 26, 2012, the stock price rose $3.17 (14.8%), from $21.47 to $24.64. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between January 26, 2012 and February 3, 2012, when shares rose for seven straight days, increasing 15.2% (+$3.14) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between September 15, 2011 and September 23, 2011 when shares fell for seven straight days, dropping 22.7% (-$4.44) over that span.

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

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