State Street Corporation (STT) is gearing up to report fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens on Friday, January 16, and Wall Street is expecting a solid performance from the Boston-based financial services giant.
Analysts are forecasting quarterly earnings of $2.84 per share, representing a healthy jump from the $2.60 per share the company posted in the same quarter last year. Revenue is also expected to climb, with the consensus estimate sitting at $3.62 billion compared to $3.41 billion a year earlier.
The company recently announced a quarterly cash dividend of 84 cents per share, continuing its pattern of returning capital to shareholders. State Street shares closed Wednesday at $134.72, up 1.4% for the session.
What the Most Accurate Analysts Are Saying
The lead-up to earnings has been busy on the analyst front, with several highly-rated analysts adjusting their views on State Street:
TD Cowen's Steven Alexopoulos, who maintains a 67% accuracy rate, kept his Buy rating intact while bumping his price target from $135 to $155 on January 7. That's a notably bullish call just days before the earnings release.
Truist Securities analyst David Smith took a more cautious approach, downgrading the stock from Buy to Hold on January 7 while still raising his price target from $131 to $138. With an 81% accuracy rate, Smith's move suggests the stock may have already captured much of its near-term upside.
Barclays' Jason Goldberg made a similar move, downgrading State Street from Overweight to Equal-Weight on January 5, though he pushed his price target substantially higher from $120 to $152. His accuracy rate stands at 62%.
On the bullish side, Citigroup's Emily Ericksen maintained her Buy rating and raised her target from $136 to $150 on December 30. Her accuracy rate is 63%.
Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo, sporting a 73% accuracy track record, kept his Overweight rating and increased his price target from $121 to $129 back in October.
The pattern here is interesting: even analysts who are downgrading the stock are raising their price targets, which tells you something about how the company's fundamentals are improving even as the valuation gets stretched. Friday's earnings report should clarify whether there's more room to run or if the cautious analysts have it right.
