Investors never know what to expect for TCF Financial (NYSE: TCB), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Oct. 20. TCF is a financial holding company that provides branch banking, retail lending, commercial banking, leasing, equipment finance, and inventory finance.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are bullish on TCF as eight analysts rate it as a buy and only two analysts rate it as a sell. Analysts like TCF better than competitor Associated Banc-Corp overall. 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 $177.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 2.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.21 per share. Estimates range from $0.14 to $0.23.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 81.8% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars with 79.9% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on TCF, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 56 posts in the past 30 days. TCF's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
TCF's profit has risen year over year by an average of 30.8% over the past five quarters. Revenue has fallen for the past three 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

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Net Margin

8.5%

8.5%

8.0%

9.7%

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

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