Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited (The) (NTB Quick QuoteNTB - Free Report) reached a significant support level, and could be a good pick for investors from a technical perspective. Recently, NTB'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.

There are three stages to a golden cross. First, there must be a downtrend in a stock's price that eventually bottoms out. Then, the stock's shorter moving average crosses over its longer moving average, triggering a positive trend reversal. The third stage is when a stock continues the upward momentum 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.

NTB has rallied 5.2% over the past four weeks, and the company is a #2 (Buy) on the Zacks Rank at the moment. This combination indicates NTB could be poised for a breakout.

The bullish case solidifies once investors consider NTB's positive earnings outlook. For the current quarter, no earnings estimate has been cut compared to 2 revisions higher in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased too.

Investors should think about putting NTB on their watchlist given the ultra-important technical indicator and positive move in earnings estimates.