The First of Long Island (FLIC) Soars 6.3%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?
The First of Long Island (FLIC) shares ended the last trading session 6.3% higher at $13.02. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 5.3% gain over the past four weeks.
The Federal Reserve signaled the end of the current rate hike cycle and kept the interest rates unchanged at a 22-year high of 5.25-5.5% at the end of the two-day FOMC meeting. Further, the central bank indicated three interest rate cuts by 2024 end. These developments turned investor sentiments bullish on bank stocks as high funding costs will somewhat come down next year, thus supporting spread income and margin. Also, going forward, such monetary easing is likely to propel consumer spending. Hence, the First of Long Island stock moved higher.
This holding company for The First National Bank of Long Island is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.27 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -38.6%. Revenues are expected to be $23.2 million, down 24.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.
For The First of Long Island, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on FLIC going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
The First of Long Island is a member of the Zacks Banks - Northeast industry. One other stock in the same industry, Valley National (VLY), finished the last trading session 5.8% higher at $10.38. VLY has returned 13.3% over the past month.
For Valley National , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.25. This represents a change of -28.6% from what the company reported a year ago. Valley National currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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