Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) Short Interest Up 17.9% in November

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,800 shares, a growth of 17.9% from the October 31st total of 11,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 17,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ EBMT traded up $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $17.48. 9,262 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,097. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.77. The company has a market cap of $140.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 0.51. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a 12 month low of $12.32 and a 12 month high of $17.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. Eagle Bancorp Montana had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 7.03%. The business had revenue of $31.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.60 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eagle Bancorp Montana will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.142 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Eagle Bancorp Montana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.78%.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Bancorp Montana

In related news, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.97, for a total transaction of $84,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 57,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,510.86. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth M. Walsh sold 6,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.44, for a total transaction of $110,230.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 141,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,318,582.52. The trade was a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,795 shares of company stock worth $213,610 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Bancorp Montana

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EBMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,638,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 14.3% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 171,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,254,000 after purchasing an additional 21,441 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 5.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 13.4% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 62,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 7,382 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.66% of the company’s stock.

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.