Gladstone (LAND) Soars 7.1%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

Gladstone Land (LAND) shares rallied 7.1% in the last trading session to close at $10.44. 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 6.6% gain over the past four weeks.

The increased investor optimism in the stock can be attributed to the favorable operating environment.

This real estate investment trust specializing in farmland is expected to post quarterly FFO of $0.32 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +255.6%. Revenues are expected to be $29.99 million, up 42.1% from the year-ago quarter.

FFO and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in FFO estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For Gladstone, the consensus FFO per share 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 FFO estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on LAND 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 >>>>

Gladstone is part of the Zacks REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry. Piedmont Realty Trust (PDM), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 4.1% higher at $8.35. PDM has returned -3.8% in the past month.

For Piedmont Realty Trust, the consensus FFO per share estimate for the upcoming report has changed -1.4% over the past month to $0.35. This represents a change of -5.4% from what the company reported a year ago. Piedmont Realty Trust currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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

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