Ferrellgas Partners Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Ferrellgas Partners (NYS: FGP) reported earnings on June 6. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins increased across the board.

Revenue details
 Ferrellgas Partners chalked up revenue of $603.0 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $564.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

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 $0.57. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.45 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.57 for Q3 were 111% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.27 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.56 for Q3 were 115% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.26 per share.

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 37.0%, 860 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 12.0%, 460 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.4%, 410 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $358.6 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.27.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.97 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.83.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 128 members out of 183 rating the stock outperform, and 55 members rating it underperform. Among 51 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 30 give Ferrellgas Partners a green thumbs-up, and 21 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 $15.42.

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The article Ferrellgas Partners Crushes Earnings Estimates originally appeared on Fool.com.

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. TMFDisclosureHere

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