Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) Short Interest Update

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,600 shares, a decrease of 30.4% from the August 31st total of 13,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana in a report on Friday, July 5th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $13.50 price objective for the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana in a research report on Sunday, September 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Bancorp Montana

In related news, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 7,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total value of $105,300.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,064.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 9,079 shares of company stock valued at $129,171 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Bancorp Montana

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBMT. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 7.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 105.1% in the 1st quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 52,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 26,690 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 93,172 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,937 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 171,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,254,000 after purchasing an additional 21,441 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. 35.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Price Performance

Shares of EBMT stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.67. The stock had a trading volume of 9,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,606. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.53. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a one year low of $11.26 and a one year high of $17.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.54.

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.06). Eagle Bancorp Montana had a return on equity of 5.07% and a net margin of 7.06%. The firm had revenue of $30.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.50 million. Equities analysts forecast that Eagle Bancorp Montana will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.142 dividend. This is a boost from Eagle Bancorp Montana’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Eagle Bancorp Montana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.89%.

About Eagle Bancorp Montana

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Opportunity Bank of Montana that provides various retail banking products and services to small businesses and individuals in Montana. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts.