Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $23.40 and last traded at $23.0940, with a volume of 19163 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shore Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 1.0%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.43 and a 200 day moving average of $19.25. 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 has a market cap of $770.55 million, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is 29.79%.

Shore Bancshares announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SHBI. Fourthstone LLC raised its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 918,202 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,234,000 after acquiring an additional 350,012 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 578.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 380,283 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,104,000 after purchasing an additional 324,208 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 168.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 495,965 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,769,000 after purchasing an additional 311,266 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Shore Bancshares by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,065,910 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,492,000 after purchasing an additional 175,282 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Shore Bancshares by 143.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,109 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,293,000 after purchasing an additional 160,850 shares during the period. 59.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.