Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

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

Eagle Bancorp Montana Stock Down 1.5 %

EBMT stock opened at $16.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $133.13 million, a P/E ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 0.52. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a 1-year low of $11.63 and a 1-year high of $17.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.47.

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $31.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.60 million. Analysts expect that Eagle Bancorp Montana will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.142 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Eagle Bancorp Montana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kenneth M. Walsh sold 6,705 shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,318,582.52. The trade was a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 7,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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. This represents a 10.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,874 shares of company stock worth $257,931 over the last ninety days. 6.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eagle Bancorp Montana

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fourthstone LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 520,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,221,000 after purchasing an additional 5,898 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,193 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,638,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 171,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,254,000 after acquiring an additional 21,441 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 93,172 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,937 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 77,133 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,218,000 after acquiring an additional 11,490 shares in the last quarter. 35.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.