Eagle Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGBN) Short Interest Up 37.8% in October

Eagle Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGBN) saw a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, an increase of 37.8% from the October 15th total of 1,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 321,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Currently, 5.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Eagle Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EGBN traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.67. The company had a trading volume of 175,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 320,400. Eagle Bancorp has a 12 month low of $15.99 and a 12 month high of $31.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $865.83 million, a P/E ratio of -20.48 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.19.

Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $180.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.31 million. Eagle Bancorp had a positive return on equity of 5.04% and a negative net margin of 5.97%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Eagle Bancorp will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Bancorp Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Eagle Bancorp’s payout ratio is -47.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in Eagle Bancorp by 434.2% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 46,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 37,957 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Eagle Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $591,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Eagle Bancorp by 76.9% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 457,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,756,000 after buying an additional 199,057 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Eagle Bancorp by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 115,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,188,000 after buying an additional 33,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Eagle Bancorp by 52.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 75,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 25,850 shares during the last quarter. 78.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on EGBN. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Eagle Bancorp in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Eagle Bancorp from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Eagle Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

About Eagle Bancorp

Eagle Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for EagleBank that provides commercial and consumer banking services primarily in the United States. The company also offers various commercial and consumer lending products comprising commercial loans for working capital, equipment purchases, real estate lines of credit, and government contract financing; asset based lending and accounts receivable financing; construction and commercial real estate loans; business equipment financing; consumer home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, and term loans; consumer installment loans, such as auto and personal loans; personal credit cards; and residential mortgage loans.