Plumas Bancorp (PLBC) Soars 7.3%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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Plumas Bancorp PLBC shares soared 7.3% in the last trading session to close at $37.32. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 0.9% loss over the past four weeks.

Shares of Plumas Bancorp rallied for the second consecutive trading session. With the Federal Reserve keeping an eye on employment reports and cooling inflation numbers, market participants are projecting interest rate cuts as early as September. Thus, for banks reeling under aggressive monetary tightening, this is a positive development. As the rates come down, so will banks’ funding costs. Moreover, given the soft landing of the U.S. economy, the lending scenario is expected to improve further. These positive developments have turned investors bullish on the banking sector stocks, driving PLBC higher.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.09 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -2.7%. Revenues are expected to be $20 million, up 3.2% 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 Plumas 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 PLBC 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 >>>>

Plumas Bancorp belongs to the Zacks Banks - West industry. Another stock from the same industry, Sierra Bancorp BSRR, closed the last trading session 7.2% higher at $23.83. Over the past month, BSRR has returned 5.1%.

Sierra Bancorp's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.61. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -9%. Sierra Bancorp currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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