Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (WASH Quick QuoteWASH - Free Report) reached a significant support level, and could be a good pick for investors from a technical perspective. Recently, WASH's 50-day simple moving average broke out above its 200-day moving average; this is known as a "golden cross."

Considered an important signifier for a bullish breakout, a golden cross is a technical chart pattern that's formed when a stock's short-term moving average breaks above a longer-term moving average; the most common crossover involves the 50-day and the 200-day, since bigger time periods tend to form stronger breakouts.

Golden crosses have three key stages that investors look out for. It starts with a downtrend in a stock's price that eventually bottoms out, followed by the stock's shorter moving average crossing over its longer moving average and triggering a trend reversal. The final stage is when a stock continues the upward climb to higher prices.

A golden cross contrasts with a death cross, another widely-followed chart pattern that suggests bearish momentum could be on the horizon.

WASH has rallied 19% over the past four weeks, and the company is a #1 (Strong Buy) on the Zacks Rank at the moment. This combination indicates WASH could be poised for a breakout.

The bullish case solidifies once investors consider WASH's positive earnings outlook. For the current quarter, no earnings estimate has been cut compared to 1 revisions higher in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased too.

Given this move in earnings estimates and the positive technical factor, investors may want to keep their eye on WASH for more gains in the near future.