Brookline Bancorp Earnings Preview

While Brookline Bancorp (Nasdaq: BRKL  ) missed estimates last quarter, investors hope that it will bounce back and outpace Wall Street expectations this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Brookline Bancorp is a holding company for Brookline Bank, which is engaged in accepting consumer and commercial deposits, originating loans to individuals and commercial businesses, and providing cash management and investment advisory services.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Brookline Bancorp, with three of five analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Brookline Bancorp as much as competitor Berkshire Hills Bancorp overall. Four out of four analysts rate Berkshire Hills Bancorp a buy compared to two out of five for Brookline Bancorp. Analysts' rating of Brookline Bancorp has stayed constant from three months' prior.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $26.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 16.3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.12 per share. Estimates range from $0.11 to $0.13.

What our community says:
Most CAPS All-Stars are skeptical of Brookline Bancorp's prospects, with 57.9% giving it an underperform rating. While the All-Stars do not like Brookline Bancorp, the community likes it, with 63.8% assigning it an overperform rating The Fool community, on the other hand, is more skeptical, with 37.9% granting it an underperform rating. Fools are bearish on Brookline Bancorp, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 25 posts in the past 30 days. Brookline Bancorp's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Brookline Bancorp's profit has risen year over year by an average of 3% over the past five quarters. 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	Q3	Q2	Q1	Q4
Net Margin	17.2%	18.9%	21%	19.3%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.