Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) Upgraded to Buy 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 released on Wednesday.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Price Performance

NASDAQ EBMT opened at $15.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $120.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.53. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a 12 month low of $12.32 and a 12 month high of $17.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.15. Eagle Bancorp Montana had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 4.96%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eagle Bancorp Montana will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.1425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a boost from Eagle Bancorp Montana’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.44, for a total transaction of $110,230.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 141,033 shares in the company, valued at $2,318,582.52. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 57,838 shares in the company, valued at $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 three months, insiders have sold 12,795 shares of company stock valued at $213,610. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Bancorp Montana

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBMT. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,567 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 2,165 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,838 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted 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 valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 45,699 shares of the bank’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 13.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.66% of the company’s stock.

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.