Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $20.69 and last traded at $20.40, with a volume of 126577 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.33.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $682.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.10. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The business had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.35 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is an increase from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.53%.

Shore Bancshares declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 2.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,781,501 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,234,000 after buying an additional 48,390 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 3.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,683,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,445,000 after buying an additional 53,381 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,150,208 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,336,000 after buying an additional 84,298 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 918,202 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,234,000 after buying an additional 350,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 168.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 495,965 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,769,000 after buying an additional 311,266 shares in the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.