Sterling Bancorp Earnings Preview

Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Sterling Bancorp is a financial holding company. Through its subsidiaries, it provides a full range of financial products and services, including business and consumer loans, commercial and residential mortgage lending and other services.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Sterling Bancorp with four of five analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Sterling Bancorp better than competitor Arrow overall. Zero out of one analysts rate Arrow a buy compared to one of five for Sterling Bancorp. Analysts' rating of Sterling Bancorp has stayed constant from three months prior.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $34 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 4.9% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.15 per share. Estimates range from $0.14 to $0.16.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars are wary about the future of STL, with 57.1% granting it an "underperform" rating. Although the All-Stars have a negative impression of STL, 68.9% of the community award it an "overperform" rating Fools are not convinced, though, with 31.1% awarding it an "underperform" rating. Fools are bearish on Sterling Bancorp, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 29 posts in the past 30 days. Sterling Bancorp's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Revenue has fallen for the past three quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins serve as an illustration of how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. Sterling Bancorp's net margins, which reflect what percentage of revenue becomes profit, have been rising year-over-year for the last four quarters. See how Sterling Bancorp has been doing for the last four quarters:

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