Investors are bracing for the worst and waiting to see if Getty Realty (NYSE: GTY) will fall short of Wall Street forecasts for the third consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Oct. 24. Getty Realty is a real estate investment trust in the United States specializing in the ownership and leasing of retail motor fuel and convenience store properties and petroleum distribution terminals.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts don't like Getty Realty as much as competitor American Assets Trust overall. Six out of seven analysts rate American Assets Trust a buy compared to zero of two for Getty Realty. Analysts haven't adjusted their rating of Getty Realty for the past three months.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $27.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 25.7% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.60  per share. Estimates range from $0.58 to $0.62.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 89.3% awarding it an outperform rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 89.7% assigning it a rating of outperform. Fools are keen on Getty Realty, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 30 posts in the past 30 days. Though still bullish, the CAPS rating of four out of five stars for Getty Realty is a bit more pessimistic than the community assessment.

Management:
Getty Realty's profit has risen year over year by an average of 6.1% over the past five quarters. The company's revenue has now risen for two straight 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

54.6%

44.8%

56.1%

60.6%

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