Short Interest in Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) Declines By 14.2%

Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 167,000 shares, a drop of 14.2% from the December 31st total of 194,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 99,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Shore Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ:SHBI traded up $0.56 on Friday, hitting $16.35. 185,552 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 93,839. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $544.95 million, a PE ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.06 and a 200-day moving average of $14.84. Shore Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $10.06 and a fifty-two week high of $17.61.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.09. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 10.11%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Shore Bancshares will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Konrad Wayson bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.94 per share, with a total value of $50,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $902,326.04. This represents a 5.97 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Shore Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $147,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares in the third quarter worth $156,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,078 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 7,994 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,741 shares of the bank’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Shore Bancshares by 30.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 37,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 8,831 shares during the period. 59.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Shore Bancshares Company Profile

Shore Bancshares, Inc operates as a bank holding company for the Shore United Bank, N.A. that provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations. It offers checking, savings, overnight investment sweep, and money market accounts; and regular and IRA certificates of deposit, as well as CDARS programs and cash management services.