The number of analysts polled to estimate the company's EPS for a future time period.
Benefits
By looking at this figure, you can see how much attention the company gets from the analyst community.
Origin
This information is provided by Morningstar Consensus Estimates.
For the Pros
Many small companies receive little or no analyst coverage. The way some investors see it, this is just fine. If Wall Street ignores the company, there’s a chance the stock’s a little gem that’s been overlooked. There’s not much chance of finding those when 20 or 30 analysts are pouring over a company’s every move.