Earnings Preview for Otter Tail

Otter Tail OTTR releases its next round of earnings this Monday, February 15. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's Q4 earnings report.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and EPS are useful metrics of profitability. Total earnings also known as net income is equal to total revenue minus total expenses. Dividing net income by the total number of shares outstanding yields EPS.

Earnings And Revenue

Analysts expect Otter Tail earnings of $0.45 per share. Revenue will likely be around $226.59 million, according to the consensus estimate. In the same quarter last year, Otter Tail reported earnings per share of $0.51 on sales of $215.68 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

Analysts who cover this company will publish forward-looking estimates of its revenue and EPS each quarter. Averaging together every EPS and revenue prediction that each analyst makes about a company in a quarter yields the "consensus estimates." A company posting earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate is known as an "earnings surprise" and may move the stock by a considerable margin.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 11.76% decrease for the company. Revenue would be up 5.06% from the year-ago period. Here is how the Otter Tail's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Otter Tail were trading at $42.19 as of February 11. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 22.74%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Otter Tail is scheduled to hold the call at 11:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.