Sandy Spring Bancorp (SASR) shares ended the last trading session 8.7% higher at $27. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 8.7% gain over the past four weeks.

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp rallied for the fourth straight trading session. With the Federal Reserve keeping an eye on unemployment reports and cooling inflation numbers, market participants are projecting interest rate cuts as early as during the September FOMC meeting. Thus, this is a positive development for banks that are already reeling under the Fed’s aggressive monetary tightening. As the rates come down, so will banks’ funding costs. Hence, the investors turned bullish on banking sector stocks, driving SASR higher.

This holding company for Sandy Spring Bank is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.45 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -25%. Revenues are expected to be $99.6 million, down 7.5% 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 Sandy Spring Bancorp, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on SASR 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 >>>>

Sandy Spring Bancorp belongs to the Zacks Banks - Northeast industry. Another stock from the same industry, CB Financial Services (CBFV), closed the last trading session 2.2% higher at $22.64. Over the past month, CBFV has returned -2.4%.

CB Financial Services' consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.52. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -3.7%. CB Financial Services currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (SASR) : Free Stock Analysis Report

CB Financial Services, Inc. (CBFV) : Free Stock Analysis Report