KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 5.3% higher at $53.18. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 8.4% gain over the past four weeks.

The performance of finance stocks has been improving since the last couple of quarters as the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates to counter inflation. In 2022, the Fed raised interest rates many times, with more such hikes expected to come in the near term (although the pace of the rate hikes is expected to slow down). Along with higher interest rates, growth in loan demand and impressive trading business performance has led to the bullish investor sentiments, which drove KKR stock higher. Moreover, the company has closed its previously announced investment in Clinisupplies, which is a market leader in continence care products in the U.K., from Healthium.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.83 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -47.8%. Revenues are expected to be $884.37 million, down 8.2% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For KKR & Co. Inc., 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 KKR 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). 

KKR & Co. Inc. is a member of the Zacks Financial - Investment Management industry. One other stock in the same industry, PennantPark (PFLT- Free Report) , finished the last trading session 0.3% higher at $11.73. PFLT has returned 8.4% over the past month.

PennantPark's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.30. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -9.1%. PennantPark currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

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