Will Soft CNA Financial Results Hurt Loews (L) Q3 Earnings?

Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) is slated to report third-quarter 2017 results on Oct 30, before the market opens. Last quarter, the company’s earnings came in line with the estimates.

Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to be Considered This Quarter

Consecutive catastrophes likely have been a drag on CNA Financial’s (NYSE:CNA) third-quarter results. However, an intensified focus on underwriting standards might have limited this downside.

Last quarter, the Diamond Offshore (NYSE:DO) segment benefited from higher contract drilling revenues and cost containment. The yet-to-be reported quarter likely has witnessed these favorable factors leading to higher contribution from Diamond Offshore.

Results at Loews Hotels are expected to have improved this yet-to-be-reported quarter.

Expenses likely have increased, weighing on the desired margin expansion.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Loews Corp. is likely to beat estimates 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. But that is not the case here, as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: Loews Corp. has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at 2 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Loews Corp. carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), which lowers the predictive power of ESP. We caution against the Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

A Stock to Consider

Some stocks worth considering from the finance sector with the right combination of elements to come up with an earnings beat this quarter are as follows:

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) is set to report third-quarter earnings on Nov 1 with an Earnings ESP of +0.07% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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