Crawford & Company B (CRD.B) Moves 16.0% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

Crawford & Company B (CRD.B) shares soared 16% in the last trading session to close at $13.1. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 5.8% loss over the past four weeks.

Shares of Crawford & Company appreciated on improving investor confidence in the company’s operating execution and growth prospects. The upward momentum was supported by strength in Broadspire and International Operations, along with healthy new business activity. Market sentiment also remains favorable given Crawford’s expanding pipeline in alternative markets, continued investments in technology and operating efficiency, and focus on organic growth and profitable market-share gains.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.30 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -6.3%. Revenues are expected to be $325.39 million, up 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 Crawford & Company B, 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 CRD.B going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

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

Crawford & Company B is part of the Zacks Building Products - Miscellaneous industry. Arcosa (ACA), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 0.2% higher at $145.45. ACA has returned -0.1% in the past month.

Arcosa's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $1.56. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents no change. Arcosa currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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

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