The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys New Stake in Shore Bancshares Inc $SHBI

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 885,021 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $20,311,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares in the second quarter worth $31,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Shore Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 239.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its position in Shore Bancshares by 150.6% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,682 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 2,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Shore Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $23.50 to $26.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $24.00 to $26.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

Shore Bancshares Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SHBI stock opened at $23.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $769.51 million, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.81. Shore Bancshares Inc has a fifty-two week low of $14.93 and a fifty-two week high of $24.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.10. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 19.15% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The firm had revenue of $61.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.42 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 28.28%.

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