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City Holding (CHCO) Moves 4.5% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

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City Holding (CHCO - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 4.5% higher at $119.77. 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 11.6% gain over the past four weeks.

Shares of City Holding rallied for the seventh straight trading session and hit a 52-week high of $119.99 per share. Encouraging inflation numbers and cooling employment data have increased the chances of the Federal Reserve cutting the rates as early as during the September FOMC meeting. This is a positive development for banks that are 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 CHCO higher.

This bank holding company for City National Bank of West Virginia is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.88 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -13%. Revenues are expected to be $73.2 million, down 3.8% 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 City Holding, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.5% 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 CHCO 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 >>>>

City Holding is part of the Zacks Banks - Southeast industry. First National Corp. (FXNC - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 1.7% higher at $16. FXNC has returned 1.4% in the past month.

First National's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.44. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -21.4%. First National currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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