Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) Short Interest Up 41.7% in September

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) saw a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,600 shares, a growth of 41.7% from the September 15th total of 9,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Trading Up 1.2 %

Eagle Bancorp Montana stock opened at $16.53 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.81. The company has a market cap of $132.52 million, a P/E ratio of 14.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a 52-week low of $11.26 and a 52-week high of $17.65.

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $30.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.50 million. Eagle Bancorp Montana had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 5.07%. Analysts predict that Eagle Bancorp Montana will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.142 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase 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 3.44%. Eagle Bancorp Montana’s payout ratio is 50.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on EBMT. StockNews.com began coverage on Eagle Bancorp Montana in a research note on Sunday, September 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Hovde Group began coverage on Eagle Bancorp Montana in a research note on Friday, July 5th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $13.50 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 7,374 shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total value of $105,300.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $873,064.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,079 shares of company stock worth $129,171. 6.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EBMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,193 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 93,172 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,937 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 26,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. 35.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.