It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the stock market has been on fire the last few years. After hitting a devilish low of 666 on March 9, 2009, the S&P 500 has more than tripled off the lows. For the longest time the individual investor still sat on the sidelines, reluctant to put their hard earned money back in a risk position. Rather, the majority of investors slowly crept back into the market, very cautiously.

As asset prices have risen, so have the profits for the investment management firms and mutual fund companies. Mutual funds were particularly appealing for individual investors looking to spread their risk around several stocks in the market versus just banking on one. Well one of these very company’s stocks is one you should feel good about throwing some money at. It’s our Bull of the Day, Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) AllianceBernstein (AB).

AllianceBernstein provides diversified investment management services, primarily to pension funds, endowments, foreign financial institutions and individual investors. Their investment services encompass equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives. AB also provides independent investment research, trading, and brokerage-related services to institutional clients through Bernstein Research Services. Total client assets under management are estimated to be approximately $474 billion.

The business must be good for AB as analysts around the street are upping their earnings estimates for the company. Over the last 60 days, four analysts have revised their numbers to the upside while two have followed suit for next year. The bullish revisions have taken consensus up from $1.97 for the current year all the way to $2.06. The same attitude has pushed consensus for next year up from $2.24 to $2.27.

That’s part of the reason for the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The other part is the recent earnings surprises. Over the last three quarters, AllianceBernstein has surprised two of the last three quarters. The move impressive of which was last quarter’s 6 cent beat with the number coming in at 57 cents per share versus the 51 cent Zacks Consensus Estimate.

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The bullish sentiment and the recent surprises have spelled some great price momentum as of late. AB was trading at a relative low down near $16.50 in the beginning of July 2013. A fierce rally throughout the start of 2014 took the stock up to resistance near $27. The stock failed at that level six times before finally getting the bids to push through in February 2015. The latest run in the stock has it pushing near fresh 52-week highs here at $30.83.

The technical aspects of the chart remain very bullish even as the stock pauses near the highs. The 21 day moving average is sitting down at $30 and providing short term support as well as confirming the bullish trend. The commodity channel index has come down from extreme oversold territory but is still confirming the positive trend at 56.19. Should the CCI break down below the zero line is could spell some short term weakness in the stock. Support would be down at $27.50. 

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