Hill-Rom Holdings Misses Where it Counts

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Hill-Rom Holdings (NYS: HRC) reported earnings on Jan. 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q1), Hill-Rom Holdings met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased slightly and earnings per share shrank.

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Hill-Rom Holdings booked revenue of $381.1 million. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $382.7 million. Sales were 1.8% higher than the prior-year quarter's $374.2 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.53. The eight earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.53 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.53 for Q1 were 3.6% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.55 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 48.6%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 13.0%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.6%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $408.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.58.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.64 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.47.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 70 members out of 84 rating the stock outperform, and 14 members rating it underperform. Among 25 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 24 give Hill-Rom Holdings a green thumbs-up, and one gives it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Hill-Rom Holdings is outperform, with an average price target of $41.43.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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