Ruddick Earnings Preview

Ruddick (NYSE: RDK  ) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday. Ruddick, through its subsidiaries Harris Teeter, operates a regional chain of supermarkets, and through American & Efird, manufactures and distributes thread on a global basis.

What analysts say

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Ruddick, with three of four rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Ruddick better than competitor SUPERVALU overall. Analysts still rate the stock a moderate buy, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $1.15 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 4.5% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.63 per share. Estimates range from $0.62 to $0.63.

What our community says
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 81.8% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large backs the All Stars with 81.8% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Ruddick, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 54 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Ruddick, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management
Ruddick's profit has risen year over year by an average of 44.9%. 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 gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter	Q2	Q1	Q4	Q3
Gross Margin	29.8%	29.3%	29.4%	29.5%
Operating Margin	4.8%	4.3%	4.7%	4.5%
Net Margin	2.6%	3.4%	2.7%	2.6%

For all our Ruddick-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add Ruddick to My Watchlist.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.