Investing
6 Key Earnings Previews This Week: GE, Kinder Morgan, Honeywell, UnitedHealth, Schlumberger, J&J
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Corporate earnings season has just kicked off and 24/7 Wall St. has put together a preview of some of the larger companies reporting their financial results in the week ahead. Of these six, four are Dow Jones Industrial Average components. We have already given a separate set of previews for eight top banking stocks reporting the week ahead, as wells as the five key technology earnings previews in the week ahead. Consensus earnings estimates have been taken from Thomson Reuters, and recent trading history, price targets and news around each company has been added for color.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) will release its most recent quarterly results Tuesday morning. The consensus estimates are earnings per share (EPS) of $1.53 on $17.34 billion in revenue. The company was building up some momentum as it closed out its fourth quarter from 2014, but it never really came through. Shares are down about 1.7% year to date. Johnson & Johnson might have to look to its pharmaceutical business on this earnings report and hope those tailwinds can pull it through. As we noted in our Johnson & Johnson Bull and Bear 2015 Outlook, this company usually beats earnings estimates.
As Friday’s trading session came to a close, shares were at $102.06. The consensus price target is higher at $109.22, and the post-IPO trading range is $95.10 to $109.49.
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Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday after the close. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.24 and $4.58 billion in revenue. The rapid fall of oil from $100 to under $50 has caught many investors, economists, analysts and workers in the oil patch by surprise. There is good news though, as crude oil closed over $50 for the entire past week, potentially signaling a positive turn for the oil patch. Kinder Morgan is now a post-MLP corporation, and it is still a widely held stock by MLP funds. It also was featured in the prior week as one of the top oil and gas stocks to buy in a recent analyst report.
Kinder Morgan shares ended the week at $42.93. The consensus price target is $47.31, and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $32.10 to $43.18.
Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) is set to report its earnings on Thursday. The consensus estimates are for EPS of $0.92 and revenue of $10.47 billion. Schlumberger has bounced off the lows printed in January, but shares are still down around 25% from the highs of last summer. It remains the largest oilfield services company in the world for now, with far-reaching operations all around the globe, and it could be poised for years of solid growth despite the huge turn down in oil pricing. UBS and a host of other Wall Street analysts think the company will continue to drive margins on execution, technologies and efficiencies. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and China are expected to be the strongest markets, if geopolitical concerns remain somewhat in check.
Shares ended the week at $89.11. The stock has a consensus price target of $92.37. Shares have traded between $75.60 and $118.76 in the past year. Oppenheimer has recently been positive on Schlumberger, despite the woes of the oil patch.
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General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) will report its first-quarter earnings Friday in the very early morning hours. Analysts are looking for EPS of $0.30 on $34.27 billion in revenue. The initial reports that GE was in talks to sell up to $30 billion in its real estate assets was the sort of news that you might not expect to happen immediately. Well, it turns out that GE has announced the exit of most GE Capital assets and a structure that will accommodate huge buybacks of up to $50 billion, higher dividends and a focus on being an industrial conglomerate.
GE shares were changing hands at $28.51 at Friday’s close, after hitting a 52-week high earlier in the day. The stock has a consensus price target of $28.43 and a 52-week trading range of $23.41 to $28.68.
Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings Friday morning. The consensus estimates are for $1.39 in EPS and revenue of $9.49 billion. The conglomerate’s run has been very strong over the past two years. The stock price is up more than 55%, but most of that growth came in the 12 months ending in December of 2013. So far this year, shares are up just 5%.
Honeywell’s share price was at $104.70 at Friday’s close. The consensus analyst price target is $113.11, and the 52-week trading range is $82.89 to $106.15.
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UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) is set to report its first-quarter earnings on Thursday. Analysts are looking for EPS of $1.34 on $34.63 billion in revenue. In late March, UnitedHealth announced that it is making a $12.8 billion acquisition. Investors are used to seeing an acquirers’ shares fall when they announce mergers, but this deal is quite different. UnitedHealth shares recently hit all-time highs on the news.
UnitedHealth shares were changing hands at $119.00 on Friday’s close. The stock has a consensus price target of $131.20 and a 52-week trading range of $73.61 to $123.76.
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