Eagle Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGBN) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Eagle Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGBN) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the September 30th total of 1,300,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 330,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Eagle Bancorp Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ EGBN traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $26.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 178,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,249. Eagle Bancorp has a 52-week low of $15.99 and a 52-week high of $31.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $791.28 million, a P/E ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 1.09.

Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $180.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.31 million. Eagle Bancorp had a negative net margin of 5.28% and a positive return on equity of 5.50%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Eagle Bancorp will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Bancorp Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Eagle Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.29%.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EGBN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,362,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,351,000 after purchasing an additional 126,085 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp by 19.4% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 2,173 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp by 14.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,184,000 after buying an additional 22,172 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp by 16.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 61,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 8,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Eagle Bancorp by 130.5% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 47,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 26,962 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EGBN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Eagle Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Eagle Bancorp from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eagle Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

About Eagle Bancorp

Eagle Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for EagleBank that provides commercial and consumer banking services primarily in the United States. The company also offers various commercial and consumer lending products comprising commercial loans for working capital, equipment purchases, real estate lines of credit, and government contract financing; asset based lending and accounts receivable financing; construction and commercial real estate loans; business equipment financing; consumer home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, and term loans; consumer installment loans, such as auto and personal loans; personal credit cards; and residential mortgage loans.