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Western New England Bancorp (WNEB) Soars 9.0%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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Western New England Bancorp (WNEB) shares ended the last trading session 9% higher at $7.84. 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 13.1% gain over the past four weeks.

Shares of Western New England Bancorp have rallied for the fourth consecutive trading session. Encouraging inflation numbers and a rising unemployment rate are giving confidence to the Federal Reserve that prices will eventually come down toward the 2% target. So, market participants are predicting interest rate cuts as early as during the September FOMC meeting.

This is a positive development for banks that have been reeling under the Fed’s aggressive monetary tightening. As the rates come down, so will banks’ funding costs. Also, demand for loans is expected to improve. Hence, the investors turned bullish on banking sector stocks, driving WNEB higher.

This bank holding company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.11 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -15.4%. Revenues are expected to be $18.22 million, down 1.2% 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 Western New England Bancorp, 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 WNEB 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 >>>>

Western New England Bancorp is part of the Zacks Banks - Foreign industry. BNP Paribas SA (BNPQY), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 0.8% higher at $34.19. BNPQY has returned 8.4% in the past month.

BNP Paribas' consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed +2.4% over the past month to $1.37. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -0.7%. BNP Paribas currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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