Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) Short Interest Up 20.6% in December

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,400 shares, an increase of 20.6% from the November 30th total of 13,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Bancorp Montana news, Director Kenneth M. Walsh sold 6,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 owns 141,033 shares in the company, valued at $2,318,582.52. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 57,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,510.86. This trade represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,795 shares of company stock valued at $213,610. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Bancorp Montana

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 25.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,567 shares of the bank’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,838 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 13.4% during the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 62,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 17.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 77,133 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 11,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.66% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of EBMT traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,821. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a 52 week low of $12.32 and a 52 week high of $17.65. The stock has a market cap of $122.90 million, a PE ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

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

Eagle Bancorp Montana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.142 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Eagle Bancorp Montana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.78%.

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.