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

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.1667.

Several brokerages have issued reports on SHBI. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Shore Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ SHBI opened at $18.10 on Tuesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.61. The company has a market cap of $604.90 million, a PE ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.90. Shore Bancshares has a 1-year low of $11.47 and a 1-year high of $20.68.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 17.36%.The firm had revenue of $59.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.55 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William E. Esham III purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.99 per share, with a total value of $99,950.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,510 shares in the company, valued at $110,144.90. The trade was a 980.39% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 8.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SHBI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,226 shares of the bank’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Curi Capital LLC lifted its position in Shore Bancshares by 0.5% in the second quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 176,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,767,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its position in Shore Bancshares by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 19,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 14,222 shares of the bank’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 29.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

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.