Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.00.

SHBI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Shore Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 2.0%

SHBI opened at $23.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $782.96 million, a P/E ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.82. Shore Bancshares has a 12 month low of $14.93 and a 12 month high of $23.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last released its 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $58.35 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

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

Shore Bancshares declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHBI. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 20.1% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,226 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Curi Capital LLC raised its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 0.5% during the second quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 176,046 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,767,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 19,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 14,222 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is 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.