LTC Properties (NYSE: LTC) only managed to meet estimates last quarter, but investors hope that it will surpass expectations this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings Monday. LTC Properties is a self-administered health-care real estate investment trust that invests mainly in long-term care and related properties through mortgage loans, property lease transactions, and other investments.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back LTC Properties, with five of seven rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like LTC Properties better than competitor Universal Health Realty Income overall. Analysts still rate the stock a moderate buy, but they are a bit more wary about it compared with three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $20.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 12.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.53 per share. Estimates range from $0.51 to $0.55.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 88.9% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 92.3% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on LTC Properties, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 19 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of LTC Properties, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
LTC Properties' profit has risen year over year by an average of 9.2%. Revenue has now gone up for three 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

59.8%

61.3%

62.2%

63.7%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on LTC Properties movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your watchlist.

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