Can Principal Financial (PFG) Q2 Earnings Pull A Surprise?

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) is set to report second-quarter 2017 results on Jul 27 after the market closes. Last quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 8.55%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to be Considered this Past Quarter

Principal Financial’s revenues should have improved on the back of its fee-based model. Investment income, a major contributor to the top line, is likely to have increased owing to the gradually improving rate environment.

Premium and fee are estimated to have increased in Individual Life and Specialty Benefits in the soon-to-be reported quarter.

Solid performances at asset management and asset accumulation segments likely have fueled improvement in assets under management.

Share buybacks should have boosted the bottom line.

However, escalating expenses might have weighed on margin expansion.

With respect to the surprise trend, Principal Financial delivered positive surprises in the last four quarters with an average beat of 7.54%.

The stock price has been fluctuating over the last few days. We wait to see how the stock fares post second-quarter earnings release.

Principal Financial Group Inc Price and EPS Surprise

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Principal Financial is likely to beat on earnings this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: Principal Financial has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at $1.22. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Principal Financial carries a Zacks Rank #3. However, an Earnings ESP of 0.00% makes surprise prediction difficult.

We caution against the Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some better-ranked companies from the investment management industry that you may want to consider as these have the right combination of elements to come up with an earnings beat this quarter.

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has an Earnings ESP of +1.37% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is set to report its second-quarter earnings on Jul 28. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

OM Asset Management plc (NYSE:OMAM) has an Earnings ESP of +2.63% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is set to report its second-quarter earnings on Aug 3.

Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC. (NYSE:OZM) has an Earnings ESP of +50.00% and a Zacks Rank #1. The company is set to report its second-quarter earnings on Aug 2.

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