Strength Seen in First Commonwealth Financial (FCF): Can Its 5.5% Jump Turn into More Strength?
First Commonwealth Financial (FCF) shares rallied 5.5% in the last trading session to close at $14.99. This move can be attributable to notable volume with a higher number of shares being traded than in a typical session. This compares to the stock's 6.1% 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 Commonwealth Financial stock moved higher.
This financial holding company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.39 per share in its upcoming report, which represents no change from the year-ago quarter. Revenues are expected to be $122.73 million, up 9.3% 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 First Commonwealth Financial, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.6% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. And a negative trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't usually translate into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on FCF 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 >>>>
First Commonwealth Financial belongs to the Zacks Banks - Northeast industry. Another stock from the same industry, Citizens & Northern (CZNC), closed the last trading session 2.7% higher at $21.24. Over the past month, CZNC has returned -0.4%.
Citizens & Northern's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.39. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -22%. Citizens & Northern currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (FCF) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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