Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS) came in under analyst's estimates last quarter, but now have a chance to fix things this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday. Lender Processing Services provides integrated technology and outsourced services to the mortgage lending industry in the United States. It operates in two segments: Technology, Data and Analytics; and Loan Transaction Services.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold? Analysts think investors should stand pat on Lender Processing Services with six of eight analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Lender Processing Services as much as competitor CoreLogic overall. Four out of seven analysts rate CoreLogic a buy compared with two of eight for Lender Processing Services.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $516.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 13.8% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 55 cents per share. Estimates range from 54 cents to 56 cents.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All Stars see LPS as a good bet, with 73% granting it an "outperform" rating. The majority of the Fools are in agreement with the All Stars as 80.4% give it an "outperform" rating. Fools have embraced Lender Processing Services, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 55 posts in the past 30 days. Lender Processing Services' bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Lender Processing Services' income has fallen year over year by an average of 4.4%.

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

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

33.4%

31.4%

33.4%

34.8%

Operating Margin

18.7%

20.1%

23%

24.8%

Net Margin

10.1%

11.1%

12.6%

13.4%

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

The Fool has opened a short position on Lender Processing Services. 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.