Earnings Preview: SJW Gr

SJW Gr SJW announces its next round of earnings this Thursday, February 18. Here is Benzinga's look at SJW Gr'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 covering SJW Gr modeled for quarterly EPS of $0.35 on revenue of $130.00 million. SJW Gr EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.34. Sales were $125.84 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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate, earnings would be up 2.94%. Revenue would be up 3.31% from the year-ago period. Here is how the SJW Gr's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of SJW Gr were trading at $68.83 as of February 16. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 3.93%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely a little upset going into this earnings release.

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