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American Vanguard (AVD) Soars 6.6%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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American Vanguard (AVD - Free Report) shares soared 6.6% in the last trading session to close at $21.92. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 16.9% loss over the past four weeks.

Optimism over strong demand for the company’s crop protection solutions driven by a spike in commodity prices is driving the stock higher. It is seeing healthy demand in mosquito control, horticulture and pest control markets. The company is also benefiting from its pricing measures to offset cost inflation.

This agricultural products company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.23 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +35.3%. Revenues are expected to be $148.5 million, up 10.3% 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 American Vanguard, 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 AVD 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 >>>>

American Vanguard is part of the Zacks Chemical - Specialty industry. AgroFresh Solutions , another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 3.1% higher at $1.69. AGFS has returned -8.4% in the past month.

AgroFresh's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.40. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +13%. AgroFresh currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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