Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $21.07 and last traded at $21.0010, with a volume of 44683 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SHBI shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Shore Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a market cap of $702.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.72.

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

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This is a positive change from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.79%.

Shore Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,781,501 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,234,000 after purchasing an additional 48,390 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,683,403 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,445,000 after buying an additional 53,381 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,150,208 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,336,000 after buying an additional 84,298 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 918,202 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,234,000 after buying an additional 350,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $8,769,000 after buying an additional 311,266 shares during the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.