Lincoln National Second Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, August 1, 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 Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for profit of $1 per share, a decline of 8.3% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $1.01. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate was unchanged. It has since dropped over the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 2.4% compared to last year’s $4.07.

Past Earnings Performance: The company topped forecasts last quarter after being in line with estimates the quarter prior. In the first quarter, it reported net income of $1 per share versus a mean estimate of 98 cents. Two quarters ago, it reported profit of $1 per share.

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A Look Back: In the first quarter, profit fell 27.7% to $245 million (83 cents a share) from $339 million ($1.05 a share) the year earlier, but exceeded analyst expectations. Revenue remained steady at $2.71 billion.

Stock Price Performance: Between May 1, 2012 and July 26, 2012, the stock price fell $5.31 (-21.3%), from $24.92 to $19.61. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between April 20, 2012 and May 1, 2012, when shares rose for eight straight days, increasing 5.3% (+$1.26) 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 22.6% (-$4.48) over that span.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $2.86 billion in revenue this quarter, a rise of 2.1% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $11.44 billion for the year, a rise of 3.8% from last year’s revenue of $11.02 billion.

Analyst Ratings: There are nine out of 17 analysts surveyed (52.9%) rating Lincoln National a buy.

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

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