From a technical perspective, Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NIC) is looking like an interesting pick, as it just reached a key level of support. NIC's 50-day simple moving average crossed above its 200-day simple moving average, which is known as a "golden cross" in the trading world.
A golden cross is a technical chart pattern that can signify a potential bullish breakout. It's formed from a crossover involving a security's short-term moving average breaking above a longer-term moving average, with the most common moving averages being the 50-day and the 200-day, since bigger time periods tend to form stronger breakouts.
There are three stages to a golden cross. First, there must be a downtrend in a stock's price that eventually bottoms out. Then, the stock's shorter moving average crosses over its longer moving average, triggering a positive trend reversal. The third stage is when a stock continues the upward momentum to higher prices.
A golden cross is the opposite of a death cross, another technical event that indicates bearish price movement may be on the horizon.
Shares of NIC have been moving higher over the past four weeks, up 16.7%. Plus, the company is currently a #1 (Strong Buy) on the Zacks Rank, suggesting that NIC could be poised for a breakout.
Looking at NIC's earnings expectations, investors will be even more convinced of the bullish uptrend. For the current quarter, there have been 1 change higher compared to none lower over the past 60 days, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has moved up as well.
With a winning combination of earnings estimate revisions and hitting a key technical level, investors should keep their eye on NIC for more gains in the near future.
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Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NIC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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