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Essa Bancorp (ESSA) Soars 7.1%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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Essa Bancorp (ESSA - Free Report) shares rallied 7.1% in the last trading session to close at $17.21. 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 12.8% loss over the past four weeks.

With the U.S. economy showing no signs of slowing down and the Federal Reserve still expected to cut rates this year, banking sector is in the spotlight. Hence, investors are showing optimistic stance on the sector and this is likely to have driven ESSA stock higher.

This bank is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -27.1%. Revenues are expected to be $16.29 million, down 5.2% 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 Essa 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 ESSA 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 >>>>

Essa Bancorp is a member of the Zacks Financial - Savings and Loan industry. One other stock in the same industry, West Bancorp (WTBA - Free Report) , finished the last trading session 0.1% lower at $16.07. WTBA has returned -7.6% over the past month.

West Bancorp's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.27. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -42.6%. West Bancorp currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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