Earnings Preview: Exelon Reports August 1

Exelon Corporation (EXC) is scheduled to report its Q2 2012 results on August 1, 2012, before the market opens. The street expects EPS and revenue of $0.63 and $6.04B, respectively.

In this article I will recap the historical results of the company, its latest EPS estimates vs. surprises, the latest news from EXC and the news from its closest competitors.

Recent EPS Actuals vs. Estimates

In the last quarter it reported $0.85 EPS, beating analyst estimates of $0.81.

The consensus EPS estimate is $0.63 based on 12 analysts' estimates, down from $1.05 a year ago. Revenue estimates are $6.04B, up from $4.58B a year ago. The median target price by analysts for the stock is $39.00.

Average recommendation: Overweight

Source: Marketwatch

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

• On June 15, 2012, Atlantic Equities downgraded the company from Overweight to Neutral.
• On June 1, 2012, Wunderlich reiterated Buy rating for the company.

Latest News

• On July 25, 2012, Exelon Corp announced that it has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share on Exelon's common stock. The dividend is payable on Sept.
• On July 12, 2012, Exelon Corp's Constellation announced it has renewed and extended for two years an agreement to supply competitively priced electricity to the state of New Jersey.
• On June 14, 2012, Exelon Corp announced that Marshall County and Toluca, Ill. have chosen Constellation, a longtime competitive energy provider in Illinois with 1 million customers nationwide, to supply residents with low-cost hydroelectric energy following a competitive bidding process under the state`s electricity choice aggregation program.
• On March 23, 2012, Exelon Corp's Constellation Energy announced that it has been awarded a new General Services Administration (GSA) electricity supply contract for 17 federal buildings in California, including the Court of Appeals building in San Francisco.
• On March 12, 2012, Exelon Corp and Constellation Energy announced that they have completed their merger, effective immediately. Upon the closing of the merger, Christopher M. Crane became president and Chief Executive Officer of the combined company, and Mayo A. Shattuck III became executive chairman.

Competitors

Ameren Corporation (AEE), CenterPoint Energy (CNP), NextEra Energy (NEE), Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG), and PPL Corporation (PPL) are considered major competitors for Exelon and the table below provides the key metrics for these companies and the industry.

The chart below compares the stock price changes as a percentage for the selected companies for the last one year period.

EXC data by YCharts

Competitors' Latest Development

• On July 17, 2012, Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. announced that it has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.355 per share of common stock for the third quarter of 2012.
• On June 19, 2012, Martin Midstream Partners LP announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its East Texas and Northwest Louisiana natural gas gathering and processing assets owned by Prism Gas Systems I, L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of MMLP, and certain other natural gas gathering and processing assets also owned by the Partnership to CenterPoint Energy Field Services, LLC (CEFS), an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy Inc for $275 million subject.
• On May 10, 2012, The consultant group representing 51 Central and Southern Illinois communities announced that Homefield Energy has been selected to serve as the new residential electric supplier.
• On May 4, 2012, Ameren Corporation reaffirmed fiscal 2012 core (non-GAAP) earnings to a range of $2.20 to $2.50 per share. GAAP fiscal 2012 earnings are now expected to be in the range of $0.65 to $0.95 per share, compared to the prior range of $2.20 to $2.50 per share, as a result of the first quarter 2012 asset impairment charge.
• On May 3, 2012, CenterPoint Energy Inc reaffirmed its estimate for fiscal 2012 earnings and expects earnings on a guidance basis to be in the range of $1.08 to $1.20 per diluted share (EPS).
• On May 2, 2012, Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. announced that it continue to forecast operating earnings for fiscal 2012 of $2.25-$2.50 per share. According to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts on an average are expecting the Company to report EPS of $2.34 for fiscal 2012.
• On April 27, 2012, CenterPoint Energy Inc announced that the Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.2025 per share of common stock payable on June 8, 2012, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 16, 2012.
• On April 25, 2012, NextEra Energy, Inc. announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $4.35 to $4.65. It also continues to expect that adjusted EPS in fiscal 2014 will be in the range of $5.05 to $5.65. According to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts are expecting the Company to report EPS of $4.52 for fiscal 2012, and EPS of $4.94 for fiscal 2014.
• On April 24, 2012, Ameren Corporation announced that the Board of Directors of the Company declared a quarterly dividend on its common stock of $0.4 per share. The common share dividend is payable June 29, 2012, to shareholders of record on June 13, 2012.
• On April 17, 2012, Public Service Enterprise Group Inc announced that board of directors of Public Service Enterprise Group has declared a quarterly dividend of 35.50 cents per share of common stock for the second quarter of 2012.
• On April 9, 2012, PPL Corp announced that it plans to make a registered underwritten public offering of 9,900,000 shares of its common stock. In conjunction with this offering, the underwriters will be granted an option to purchase up to an additional 1,485,000 shares of the Company's common stock solely to cover over-allotments, if any. Subject to certain conditions, all shares will be offered in connection with the execution by the Company of the forward sale agreements described below.
• On March 28, 2012, PPL Corp announced that the Board of Directors has elected William H. Spence chairman of the Company, effective April 1, 2012. The Company had previously announced that James H. Miller would retire as chairman and a member of the board on March 31, 2012.
• On March 16, 2012, Lewis "Lew" Hay, III, 56, announced that he intends to retire from NextEra Energy, Inc., at the end of 2013 as part of a planned leadership succession process.
• On March 12, 2012, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the competitive energy subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. and First Solar, Inc. announced the completion of NextEra Energy Resources' acquisition of two solar photovoltaic (PV) projects totaling 40 megawatts (AC) in Ontario, Canada from First Solar.
• On February 27, 2012, PPL Corp announced that it is maintaining the existing fiscal 2012 earnings guidance range of $2.15 per share to $2.45 per share, with a midpoint of $2.30 per share.
• On February 27, 2012, PPL Corp announced that on February 23, 2012, PPL Generation, LLC, its competitive generation subsidiary, agreed to acquire AES Ironwood, L.L.C. and AES Prescott, L.L.C., which together own and operate the 705-megawatt AES Ironwood combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Lebanon, Pa., from a subsidiary of The AES Corporation.
• On February 23, 2012, Ameren Corporation announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects GAAP and core earnings guidance of $2.20 to $2.50 per share. Any net unrealized mark-to-market gains or losses will affect the Company's GAAP earnings but are excluded from the Company's GAAP earnings guidance because the Company is unable to reasonably estimate the impact of any such gains or losses.
• On February 23, 2012, Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects operating earnings per share to be in the range of $2.25-$2.50. According to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts on an average are expecting the Company to report EPS of $2.43 for fiscal 2012.
• On February 21, 2012, Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. announced that the Board increased the quarterly dividend to $0.355 per share, a 3.6% increase over the company's existing quarterly dividend rate of $0.3425 per share.
• On February 10, 2012, PPL Corp announced its fiscal 2012 earnings forecast range of $2.15 per share to $2.45 per share , with a midpoint of $2.30 per share. According to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts were expecting the Company to report EPS of $2.41 for fiscal 2012.

Technical Overview

The stock has a market capitalization of $32.78B and is currently trading at $38.50 with a 52 week range of $36.27 - $45.45. The stock's year-to-date performance has been -9.16%. It is currently trading above 20 and 50 SMA, but below 200 SMA.

Sources: Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Marketwatch, Finviz, Reuters.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.