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Strength Seen in First Bancorp (FBP): Can Its 6.8% Jump Turn into More Strength?

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First Bancorp (FBP - Free Report) shares rallied 6.8% in the last trading session to close at $14.23. 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 5.6% loss over the past four weeks.

The performance of the banking sector, which has been decent in the first quarter of 2022, is expected to improve further, given the increased interest rates and solid economic growth. The Federal Reserve has already hiked interest rates once earlier this month and signaled six more hikes this year. Investors' optimism on this sector has driven the shares of First Bancorp.

This holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.33 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +6.5%. Revenues are expected to be $215.01 million, up 3.8% 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 First 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 FBP 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 >>>>

First Bancorp belongs to the Zacks Banks - Southeast industry. Another stock from the same industry, Triumph Bancorp , closed the last trading session 3.9% higher at $99.74. Over the past month, TBK has returned -4.3%.

For Triumph Bancorp, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed +1% over the past month to $1. This represents a change of -24.2% from what the company reported a year ago. Triumph Bancorp currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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