Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Shore Bancshares Inc $SHBI

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 105,623 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.32% of Shore Bancshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Shore Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 98.9% in the third 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. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 168.7% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 207.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,138 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares during the period. 59.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ SHBI opened at $20.64 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $690.61 million, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.83. Shore Bancshares Inc has a 1 year low of $14.25 and a 1 year high of $20.69. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.23 and its 200 day moving average is $18.56.

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

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.53%.

Shore Bancshares announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.