Brandes Investment Partners LP Buys 21,441 Shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT)

Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT) by 14.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 171,174 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,441 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 2.14% of Eagle Bancorp Montana worth $2,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 105.1% during the first quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 52,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 26,690 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 3.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eagle Bancorp Montana by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter Joseph Johnson sold 7,374 shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.28, for a total transaction of $105,300.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,064.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,079 shares of company stock valued at $129,171. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Stock Performance

Shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana stock opened at $15.79 on Tuesday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.59. Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.26 and a 1 year high of $17.65. The company has a market capitalization of $126.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.53.

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.06). Eagle Bancorp Montana had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 5.07%. The company had revenue of $30.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.50 million. Research analysts forecast that Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Bancorp Montana Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.142 per share. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Eagle Bancorp Montana’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Eagle Bancorp Montana’s payout ratio is currently 50.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana in a report on Friday, July 5th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $13.50 target price on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on Eagle Bancorp Montana in a research note on Sunday, September 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the 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.