Salisbury Bancorp (SAL) Soars 6.6%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

Salisbury Bancorp SAL shares soared 6.6% in the last trading session to close at $49.90. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 11% loss over the past four weeks.

The performance of the banking sector is expected to improve significantly in the quarters ahead on the back of rising interest rates. A few days ago, the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 75 basis points, following one hike in May and another in March. More such rate hikes are expected in the year to tame the raging inflation. This has led to the bullish investor sentiments, which drove Salisbury Bancorp stock higher.

This bank holding company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.43 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -5.9%. Revenues are expected to be $13.8 million, up 10.1% 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 Salisbury 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 SAL 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 >>>>

Salisbury Bancorp is a member of the Zacks Banks - Northeast industry. One other stock in the same industry, First Internet Bancorp INBK, finished the last trading session 0.5% higher at $37.37. INBK has returned -0.6% over the past month.

For First Internet , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $1.07. This represents a change of -3.6% from what the company reported a year ago. First Internet currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

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