Piedmont Natural Gas Whiffs on Revenues

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Piedmont Natural Gas (NYS: PNY) reported earnings on June 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended April 30 (Q2), Piedmont Natural Gas whiffed on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly and GAAP earnings per share expanded.


Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
Piedmont Natural Gas tallied revenue of $308.4 million. The two analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $387.6 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 21% lower than the prior-year quarter's $392.6 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.70. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.72 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.70 for Q2 were 6.1% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.66 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 36.1%, 710 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 15.8%, 230 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 16.3%, 420 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $207.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.11.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.18 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.59.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 172 members out of 188 rating the stock outperform, and 16 members rating it underperform. Among 59 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 57 give Piedmont Natural Gas a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Piedmont Natural Gas is hold, with an average price target of $30.71.

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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. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Piedmont Natural Gas. 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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