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Strength Seen in South Plains Financial (SPFI): Can Its 6.1% Jump Turn into More Strength?

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South Plains Financial (SPFI - Free Report) shares rallied 6.1% in the last trading session to close at $23.91. 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 2% loss over the past four weeks.

The performance of the banking sector is expected to improve significantly in the quarters ahead on the back of rising interest rates. A couple of days ago, the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 75 basis points, following one hike in May and another in March. More such rate hikes are expected in the year to tame the raging inflation. This has led to the bullish investor sentiments, which drove South Plains Financial stock higher.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -29.7%. Revenues are expected to be $49.2 million, down 5.1% 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 South Plains Financial, 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 SPFI 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 >>>>

South Plains Financial is part of the Zacks Banks - Southeast industry. Home Bancorp (HBCP - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 0.6% higher at $34.04. HBCP has returned 1.2% in the past month.

For Home Bancorp, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $1.01. This represents a change of -24.6% from what the company reported a year ago. Home Bancorp currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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