Baird Pulls Back The Jowls Of Patterson's Q1

The comments come on the heels of the company delivering in-line results for the first quarter. In the last three quarters, the company's EPS has come in line or above the estimates.

While pointing out that the company presented a picture of improving trends in dental, the brokerage checks are not pointing out the same kind of improvements throughout the country. That led the analysts to reach a conclusion that the group remained range-bound. The analysts will wait for a clear picture to emerge on the kind of impact the seasonality versus other factors are having on end markets.

Positives

Baird thinks companion animal revenue remained strong, with more than 8 percent growth on an adjusted basis. Its dental equipment sales witnessed 5.4 percent organic growth. The company retained its EPS forecast of $2.60–$2.70 for the fiscal year 2017.

Related Link: Todd Marshall Joins Patterson Companies As Chief Marketing And Digital Officer

Baird said, "But peeling the onion back, there were several areas of concern yesterday too: — North American dental demand remains uncertain — while management pointed to modestly improved August demand, June and July trends were both soft and NA dental consumables growth for both HSIC and PDCO in C'2Q fell to levels not seen in more than two years."

At time of writing, Patterson was up 0.36 percent on the day, trading at $46.15 with less than 10 minutes left in Friday's regular trading session.

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