Investors braced for a bumpy ride ahead of Central Vermont Public Service's (NYSE: CV) earnings announcement as the company has wavered between beating and falling short of analyst predictions during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings Tuesday. Central Vermont Public Service is an electric utility in Vermont that engages mainly in the purchase, production, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity.

What analysts say:

  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $86.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 8.5% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.25 per share. Estimates range from $0.19 to $0.31.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 100% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 96.5% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Central Vermont Public Service, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 16 posts in the past 30 days. Central Vermont Public Service's bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Central Vermont Public Service's profit has risen year over year by an average of 58%. The company increased its gross margin by 3.9 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 6.7% while cost of sales rose 1.7% to $78.2 million from a year earlier.

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 and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

19.5%

17.3%

25.7%

11.4%

Net Margin

8.7%

6.2%

11.7%

1.8%

For all our Central Vermont Public Service-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add Central Vermont Public Service 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.