Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $24.76 and last traded at $24.54, with a volume of 340227 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SHBI. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Shore Bancshares from $24.00 to $26.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Shore Bancshares from $23.50 to $26.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Shore Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Shore Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 0.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $821.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.82.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.10. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 19.15%.The firm had revenue of $61.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.42 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This is a positive change from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.28%.

Shore Bancshares declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SHBI. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Shore Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Shore Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 98.9% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 207.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,138 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 20.1% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shore Bancshares Company Profile

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.