Lindsay Earnings Preview

Investors never know what to expect for Lindsay (NYSE: LNN), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, March 28. Lindsay is a designer and manufacturer of self-propelled center-pivot and lateral-move irrigation systems, which are used in the agricultural industry to increase or stabilize crop production while conserving water, energy, and labor.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Lindsay, with six out of eight analysts rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Lindsay as much as competitor Alamo Group overall. One out of one analysts rates Alamo Group a buy compared to two out of eight for Lindsay. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $129.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 8.1% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.83 per share. Estimates range from $0.62 to $0.99.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are in strong support of the stock, with 92.9% giving it an outperform rating. Most of the community is in line with the All-Stars, with 91.2% assigning it a rating of outperform. Lindsay has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Lindsay's profit has risen year over year by an average of 50.3% over the past five 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. Lindsay's net margins, which reflect what percentage of revenue becomes profit, have dropped year over year in the last two quarters. Here is how Lindsay has been doing for the last four quarters:

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.