Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Hits New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $20.69 and last traded at $20.31, with a volume of 27200 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.95.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This is a positive change from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 25.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHBI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Shore Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Shore Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 2.4%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $683.55 million, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.83.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.35 million. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 18.20%. On average, analysts forecast that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Shore Bancshares declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHBI. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 21.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,168 shares of the bank’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 4,154 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 599.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 112,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 96,204 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Shore Bancshares by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,226 shares of the bank’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Shore Bancshares by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 219,494 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 34,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 126.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,095 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 43,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

About Shore Bancshares

Shore Bancshares, Inc (NASDAQ: SHBI) is the bank holding company for Shore Community Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Mount Holly, New Jersey. The company provides a full suite of banking and financial services to individuals and businesses, including deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage financing, and cash management solutions. Through its branch network, Shore Bancshares focuses on delivering community-oriented banking services with an emphasis on personalized customer relationships.

Shore Community Bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate, construction loans, agricultural loans, small business loans under government-sponsored programs, and conventional residential mortgages.