Analyst’s Keeping an Eye on Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI)

Analysts are weighing in on how Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI), might perform in the near term. Wall Street analysts have a much less favorable assessment of the stock, with a mean rating of 2.9. The stock is rated as buy by 5 analysts, with 1 outperform and 16 hold rating. The rating score is on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 stands for strong buy and 5 stands for strong sell.

For the current quarter, the 25.00 analysts offering adjusted EPS forecast have a consensus estimate of $0.09 a share, which would compare with $0.05 in the same quarter last year. They have a high estimate of $0.18 and a low estimate of $0.05. Revenue for the period is expected to total nearly $132.19M from $182.33M the year-ago period.

For the full year, 27.00 Wall Street analysts forecast this company would deliver earnings of 0.38 per share, with a high estimate of $0.73 and a low estimate of $0.20. It had reported earnings per share of $0.23 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Revenue for the period is expected to total nearly $537.05M versus 606.64M in the preceding year.

The analysts project the company to maintain annual growth of around -27.34% percent over the next five years as compared to an average growth rate of 8.97% percent expected for its competitors in the same industry.

Among the 25 analysts Data provided by Thomson/First Call tracks, the 12-month average price target for LPI is $11.65 but some analysts are projecting the price to go as high as $25.00. If the optimistic analysts are correct, that represents a 101 percent upside potential from the recent closing price of $12.41. Some sell-side analysts, particularly the bearish ones, have called for $3.00 price targets on shares of Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI).

In the last reported results, the company reported earnings of $0.05 per share, while analysts were calling for share earnings of $0.05. It was an earnings surprise of 0.00%percent. In the matter of earnings surprises, the term Cockroach Effect is often implied. Cockroach Effect is a market theory that suggests that when a company reveals bad news to the public, there may be many more related negative events that have yet to be revealed. In the case of earnings surprises, if a company is suggesting a negative earnings surprise it means there are more to come.

Laredo Petroleum, Inc. operates as an independent energy company in the United States. It focuses on the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties, as well as the transportation of oil and natural gas primarily in the Permian Basin in West Texas. As of December 31, 2015, it had interests in the 135,408 net acres in the Permian Basin; and had total proved reserves of 125,698 thousand barrels of oil equivalent. The company was formerly known as Laredo Petroleum Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Laredo Petroleum, Inc. in December 2013. Laredo Petroleum, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.