Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) met its estimates last quarter, but investors hope that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, March 12. Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company whose principal business is the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and power generation customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Piedmont Natural Gas with five of eight analysts rating it hold.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $692.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 6.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.19 per share. Estimates range from $1.17 to $1.22.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are enthusiastically backing the stock, with 94.4% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 91.4% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Even with a robust four out of five stars, Piedmont Natural Gas' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
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 gross and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q4

Q3

Q2

Q1

Gross Margin

13.9%

14.5%

29.0%

27.4%

Net Margin

(5.0%)

(4.4%)

12.1%

12.9%

For all our Piedmont Natural Gas-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add Piedmont Natural Gas to My Watchlist.

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.