Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) saw a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,300 shares, a growth of 11.6% from the December 15th total of 16,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 20,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other Eagle Bancorp Montana news, Director Kenneth M. Walsh sold 6,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.97, for a total value of $84,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 57,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,510.86. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,795 shares of company stock valued at $213,610. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,567 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 45,699 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 7,382 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.66% of the company’s stock.

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 Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBMT opened at $15.25 on Monday. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a 1 year low of $12.32 and a 1 year high of $17.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $122.31 million, a PE ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.44.

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

Eagle Bancorp Montana Company Profile

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.