Denbury shares ended the last trading session 6.1% higher at $41.60. 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 2.6% gain over the past four weeks.

Increased optimism on strong commodity prices primarily drove the Denbury stock higher. The shares have also been buoyed by an earlier-than-expected pickup in oil demand on the back of successful deployment of COVID-19 vaccines. The recovery in crude prices to more than $60 a barrel has pushed exploration activity higher and contributed to the strength in Denbury, a Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions focused energy producer.

Price and Consensus

This independent oil and gas company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.53 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +783.3%. Revenues are expected to be $199.9 million, down 17.5% 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 Denbury, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 19.7% 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 DEN going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>