Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Eagle Bancorp Montana had a net margin of 12.16% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The firm had revenue of $24.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.55 million.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Price Performance

NASDAQ:EBMT opened at $23.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $187.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.16. Eagle Bancorp Montana has a 1-year low of $15.50 and a 1-year high of $24.66.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.1475 per share. This is a positive change from Eagle Bancorp Montana’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Eagle Bancorp Montana’s payout ratio is presently 29.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth M. Walsh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.83, for a total transaction of $228,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 82,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,877,995.80. This represents a 10.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,732 shares of the bank’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 70,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 32,796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 9,708 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 225.3% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 3,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,772 shares of the bank’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Company Profile

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Helena, Montana, that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Eagle Bank & Trust. The company offers a range of community banking services to individuals, small businesses and governmental entities. Its core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage financing and treasury management.

Through Eagle Bank & Trust, the company provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, online and mobile banking platforms, ATM access and cash management solutions designed to meet the needs of local customers.