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Strength Seen in First Community Bancshares (FCBC): Can Its 5.2% Jump Turn into More Strength?

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First Community Bancshares (FCBC - Free Report) shares rallied 5.2% in the last trading session to close at $29.94. 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 20.3% gain over the past four weeks.

Following the after effects of the banking sector turmoil in the first quarter of this year, investors seem to have been regaining confidence in the sector. Investors seem to have been turning optimistic after the passing of the bill to raise the debt ceiling. Moreover, while consumer spending has been slowing, it is still stronger than what was expected if we headed straight into recession. These developments probably drove the FCBC stock higher in last day’s trading session.

This holding company for First Community Bank is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.70 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +4.5%. Revenues are expected to be $40.85 million, up 12.2% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For First Community Bancshares, 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 FCBC 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 Community Bancshares is part of the Zacks Banks - Southeast industry. Hilltop Holdings (HTH - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 4% higher at $32.22. HTH has returned 0.5% in the past month.

For Hilltop Holdings, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.42. This represents a change of -6.7% from what the company reported a year ago. Hilltop Holdings currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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