SB Financial Group, Inc. (SBFG) shares rallied 8.7% in the last trading session to close at $20.40. 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 22.5% gain over the past four weeks.

Shares of SB Financial Group touched a new 52-week high of $20.53 on Friday. The banking industry is in the spotlight on the back of the recent 50 basis points interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. As of June 30, 2024, the company had a huge exposure to commercial, and commercial and residential real estate loans (almost 75% of total loans).

It set aside huge amounts to cushion against potential defaults among borrowers, particularly in its commercial real estate (CRE) portfolios. Now, investors are bullish on the company’s prospects driven by the expected reduction in some of its credit risk and increased profitability in the near term. These factors drove the SBFG stock higher.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +5%. Revenues are expected to be $14.2 million, up 3.7% 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 SB Financial Group, 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 SBFG going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

SB Financial Group is part of the Zacks Banks - Northeast industry. Mid Penn Bancorp (MPB), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 2.3% lower at $30.04. MPB has returned 9.7% in the past month.

Mid Penn Bancorp's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.73. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +28.1%. Mid Penn Bancorp currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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