Earnings Preview: Health Care Property Investors' EPS, Revenue Expected to Rise

Health Care Property Investors HCP unveils its next round of earnings this Monday, October 31, 2011. Here's Benzinga's advanced look at Health Care Property Investors' third quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue:

Wall Street expects an EPS of 67 cents/share and revenues of $437.2 million. Health Care Property Investors' latest numbers will no doubt be compared with the company's year-ago quarter, when it reported a profit of 54 cents/share on revenues of $266.4 million. We'll have to wait for Monday to see if the company falls in line with analyst expectations and reports an estimated increase in both EPS and revenue from the year-ago quarter.

Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter	Q2	Q1	Q4	Q3
EPS Estimate	$0.76	$0.46	$0.59	$0.54
EPS Actual	$0.77	$0.56	$0.64	$0.54

Stock Performance:

As of October 25, 2011, Health Care Property Investors' current share price was $37.77. Shares are up 6.8% year to date. For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 10.4%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

• Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement

Average Stock Rating:

The average rating by analysts is a Hold. The strength of this rating has declined slightly over the past three months.

Competitors:

Want to check out the performance of Health Care Property Investors closest competitors? Take a look at some of the company's peers in the financials sector.

• Health Care REIT HCN: Moderate Buy with a $0.80 recent quarter EPS
• Healthcare Realty Trust HR: Hold with a $0.31 recent quarter EPS
• LTC Properties LTC: Moderate Buy with a $0.53 recent quarter EPS
• Medical Properties Trust MPW: Moderate Sell with a $0.16 recent quarter EPS

The REIT-equity trust/other company's industry has seen price/earnings growth of 2.3% during the current fiscal year.

Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: HCP is a real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, leases, manages healthcare real estate and offers financing to healthcare providers.

Take Action:

There is your peek into Health Care Property Investors' upcoming earnings numbers, including some competitors to watch around the time of the announcement. Check back in with us after the announcement for a full recap. In the meantime, here are some links to explore today.

• To see up-to-date news on Health Care Property Investors, click here
• To see other trading ideas, click here
• To see other company earnings recaps, click here