Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 18.20%.The company had revenue of $61.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.42 million.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Shore Bancshares stock traded up $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $22.90. 255,485 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 227,914. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Shore Bancshares has a 12-month low of $14.93 and a 12-month high of $23.68. The company has a market cap of $766.14 million, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.82.

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 paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Shore Bancshares by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,691 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 4,958 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 154,617 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after acquiring an additional 14,850 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 96.9% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 19,878 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,150,208 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,336,000 after purchasing an additional 84,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 152.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 187,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 113,446 shares in the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research cut Shore Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Shore Bancshares announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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.