UniSource Energy (NYSE: UNS) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Feb. 27. UniSource Energy is a holding company, which provides electricity and gas utility services through its subsidiaries.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on UniSource Energy with two of three analysts rating it hold. Analysts like UniSource Energy better than competitor El Paso Electric Company overall. One out of five analysts rate El Paso Electric Company a buy compared to one of three for UniSource Energy. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $338.8 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 5.7% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.25 per share. Estimates range from $0.25 to $0.26.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 100% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The greater community backs the All-Stars, as 96.8% give it a rating of "outperform." UniSource Energy has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
UniSource Energy'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 get some insight into how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins serve as an illustration of how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. The company's gross margin has been decreasing year over year for the last four quarters. Gross margin reflects the total sales revenue retained after costs. Here is how UniSource Energy has been doing for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

39.3%

33.6%

28.2%

27.5%

Net Margin

13.2%

7.7%

4.9%

3.1%

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

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.