Colonial Properties Earnings Preview

Investors never know what to expect from Colonial Properties (NYSE: CLP  ) , as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings Thursday. Colonial Properties is a real estate investment trust, which is engaged in the acquisition, development, ownership, management, and leasing of commercial real estate property.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Colonial Properties with seven of 12 analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Colonial Properties better than competitor Washington Real Estate Investment overall. Two out of nine analysts rate Washington Real Estate Investment a buy compared with three of 12 for Colonial Properties. While analysts still rate the stock a Hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared with three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $93.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 1.5% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.29 per share. Estimates range from $0.27 to $0.30.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 87.1% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 78.8% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Colonial Properties, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 52 posts in the past 30 days. Colonial Properties' bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
The company's revenue has now risen for two straight quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
Net Margin	(12.5%)	(9.3%)	(13.1%)	(10.8%)

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