Nash Finch Company (NAFC) is scheduled to report its second quarter 2012 financial results before the opening bell on Thursday, July 19, 2012.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second quarter earnings is pegged at 59 cents a share on revenues of $1,081.0 million.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate projects earnings for fiscal 2012 to be $2.72 per share on revenues of $4,786 million.
First Quarter Recap
Nash Finch Company’s first-quarter 2012 earnings (excluding one-time items) of 47 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 55 cents by 14.5%. Additionally, it plunged 33.8% from prior-year quarter’s earnings of 71 cents per share. The ongoing macro-economic headwinds and increasing competition negatively affected the earnings.
Total sales in first quarter 2012 were $1.06 billion, down 3.7% from $1.10 billion in the prior-year quarter.
For further details please read: Poor 1Q for Nash Finch
Agreement of Estimate Revisions
Over the past 30 days, no movement was noticed in the three estimates either for the second quarter or for the full year.
The last revision in estimates took place in April, after the company announced its first quarter results.
Recently, on July 17, 2012, the company declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents per share of common stock payable on September 7, 2012 to shareholders of record as on August 24, 2012.
Magnitude of Estimate Revisions
Given the limited estimate revisions, the consensus estimate for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 has remained static over the last 7 as well as 30 days at 59 cents. The consensus estimate for fiscal 2012 has also remained static at $2.72 over the last 7 as well 30 days.
Earnings Surprise History
With respect to earnings surprises, Nash Finch has topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the preceding four quarters. Over the last four quarters, its earnings surprise ranged from a negative 14.55% to a positive 18.29%, with the average earnings surprise being a negative 7.85%.
Recommendation
Though Nash Finch has been performing below expectation since the past few quarters, we prefer to remain on the sidelines due to the company’s long-term prospects. The company continues with its acquisition activities and it recently bought a number of supermarkets.
Currently, we have a long-term Neutral recommendation on Nash Finch, which carries a Zacks #3 Rank (short term Hold rating).
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