Transatlantic Holdings Earnings Preview

Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that Transatlantic Holdings (NYSE: TRH) will top analyst expectations for the third consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, July 27. Transatlantic Holdings, through its operating subsidiaries, offers reinsurance capacity for a full range of property and casualty products to insurers and reinsures on a treaty and facultative basis.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Transatlantic Holdings, with eight of nine analysts rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Transatlantic Holdings as much as competitor RenaissanceRe Holdings overall. Six out of 14 analysts rate RenaissanceRe Holdings a buy, compared with one of nine for Transatlantic Holdings. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared with three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $961.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 1.4% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.40 per share. Estimates range from $1.11 to $1.75.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 88.9% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 80.8% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Transatlantic Holdings, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 17 posts in the past 30 days. Transatlantic Holdings has a bullish CAPS rating of four out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community's assessment.

Management:
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.