B&G Foods (NYSE: BGS) only managed to meet estimates last quarter, but investors hope that it will surpass expectations this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Feb. 16. B&G Foods manufactures, sells, and distributes a diverse portfolio of branded and shelf-stable food products.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on B&G Foods with analysts unanimously rating it hold. Analysts don't like B&G Foods as much as competitor Hain Celestial Group overall. Seven out of 10 analysts rate Hain Celestial Group a buy compared to zero of four for B&G Foods. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained steady in their opinion of the stock.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $151.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 7.1% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.31 per share. Estimates range from $0.29 to $0.33.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly supporting the stock, with 97.5% assigning it an "outperform" rating. Most of the community agrees with the All-Stars, with 96.9% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on B&G Foods, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 72 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, B&G Foods' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
B&G Foods' profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 1256.7% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Margins are a representation of how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. The company's net margins have been increasing year-over-year for the last four quarters. Net margins reflect what percentage of revenue becomes profit. Here is how B&G Foods has been doing for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

31.2%

32.6%

34.1%

33.2%

Operating Margin

20.4%

20.3%

22.1%

20.4%

Net Margin

9.1%

9.7%

10.1%

10.1%

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