ACNB (ACNB) shares soared 5.6% in the last trading session to close at $43.26. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 0.3% loss over the past four weeks.

Shares of ACNB surged yesterday after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral. Analyst Justin Crowley also raised the price target to $50 from $37, citing the successful acquisition of Traditions Bancorp, Inc. last month. Crowley highlighted ACNB's strong funding base and solid credit track record as key factors supporting the upgrade. The positive outlook fueled investor confidence, pushing the stock higher.

This bank is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.19 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -76.3%. Revenues are expected to be $31.3 million, up 19.2% 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 ACNB, 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 ACNB 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 >>>>

ACNB is a member of the Zacks Banks - Southwest industry. One other stock in the same industry, Red River Bancshares (RRBI), finished the last trading session 2.5% lower at $55.02. RRBI has returned 1.2% over the past month.

For Red River Bancshares , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed +9.2% over the past month to $1.30. This represents a change of +12.1% from what the company reported a year ago. Red River Bancshares currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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