Ferrellgas Partners Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Ferrellgas Partners (NYS: FGP) reported earnings on Friday. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended April 30 (Q3), Ferrellgas Partners missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Margins increased across the board.

Revenue details
Ferrellgas Partners reported revenue of $629.6 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated sales of $694.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 14% lower than the prior-year quarter's $732.4 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 $0.27. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.21 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.26 for Q3 were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.04 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 28.4%, 260 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.4%, 60 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.3%, 290 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $422.3 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.36.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.47 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$0.04.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 124 members rating the stock outperform and 44 members rating it underperform. Among 45 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 30 give Ferrellgas Partners a green thumbs-up, and 15 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Ferrellgas Partners is underperform, with an average price target of $13.00.

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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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