Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 13.8% in March to 156,796 shares (about 2.1% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.8, indicating reduced short interest in EBMT.
• Insiders sold stock—directors Samuel Waters and Kenneth M. Walsh among others—totaling 19,647 shares worth $446,110 over the last quarter, while insiders retain 5.80% ownership.
• Fundamentals and shareholder return: the company reported an earnings beat ($0.60 EPS vs. $0.47 est.), recently paid a $0.145 quarterly dividend (2.6% yield), and trades near $22.53 with a P/E of 11.98.

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 156,796 shares, a decline of 13.8% from the March 15th total of 181,799 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 85,095 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity at Eagle Bancorp Montana

In related news, Director Samuel Waters sold 2,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total value of $47,208.00. Following the sale, the director owned 31,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $708,884.32. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth M. Walsh sold 10,000 shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.47, for a total transaction of $224,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 92,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,073,082.20. This trade represents a 9.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 19,647 shares of company stock worth $446,110 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eagle Bancorp Montana

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Eagle Bancorp Montana in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 60.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,757 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 355.3% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,263 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Eagle Bancorp Montana during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.66% of the company's stock.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBMT traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.53. 24,407 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,839. The company's 50 day moving average price is $21.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.49. The firm has a market cap of $179.52 million, a PE ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.30. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a 52 week low of $15.10 and a 52 week high of $23.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $24.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 million. Eagle Bancorp Montana had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 8.06%. On average, equities analysts expect that Eagle Bancorp Montana will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Eagle Bancorp Montana's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana in a report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eagle Bancorp Montana presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.00.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Company Profile

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Helena, Montana, that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Eagle Bank & Trust. The company offers a range of community banking services to individuals, small businesses and governmental entities. Its core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage financing and treasury management.

Through Eagle Bank & Trust, the company provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, online and mobile banking platforms, ATM access and cash management solutions designed to meet the needs of local customers.

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