Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Stock Performance

NASDAQ EBMT traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $16.83. 410 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,067. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $16.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.44. The firm has a market cap of $134.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 0.52. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a fifty-two week low of $11.63 and a fifty-two week high of $17.65.

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. Eagle Bancorp Montana had a return on equity of 5.02% and a net margin of 7.03%. The firm had revenue of $31.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.60 million. On average, research analysts expect that Eagle Bancorp Montana will post 1.1 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.142 per share. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Eagle Bancorp Montana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Bancorp Montana news, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 7,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 61,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $873,064.92. The trade was a 10.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kenneth M. Walsh sold 6,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.44, for a total value of $110,230.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 141,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,318,582.52. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,874 shares of company stock valued at $257,931. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Bancorp Montana

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fourthstone LLC grew its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 520,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,221,000 after buying an additional 5,898 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 5.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake 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 worth $2,254,000 after purchasing an additional 21,441 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 93,172 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,937 shares during the last quarter. 35.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.