People's United Financial Earnings Preview

People's United Financial (Nasdaq: PBCT  ) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Oct. 20. People's United Financial is a savings and loan holding company for People's United Bank, a diversified financial services firm. The company provides consumer and commercial banking as well as wealth management services to individuals and corporate customers.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on People's United Financial with 10 of 16 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like People's United Financial as much as competitor Brookline Bancorp overall. Two out of five analysts rate Brookline Bancorp a buy compared to six of 16 for People's United Financial. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $322.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 28.3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.17 per share. Estimates range from $0.10 to $0.20.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 92.8% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 90.9% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on People's United Financial, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 96 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of People's United Financial, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
People's United Financial's profit has risen year over year by an average of more than twofold over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter	Q2	Q1	Q4	Q3
Net Margin	15.5%	15.8%	10.8%	8.5%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on People's United Financial movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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