Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $23.40 and last traded at $23.0940, with a volume of 19163 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHBI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $779.28 million, a PE ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.51 and its 200-day moving average is $19.28. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.79%.

Shore Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fourthstone LLC lifted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 918,202 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,234,000 after purchasing an additional 350,012 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 578.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 380,283 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,104,000 after buying an additional 324,208 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 168.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 495,965 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,769,000 after buying an additional 311,266 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 19.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,065,910 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,492,000 after buying an additional 175,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 143.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,109 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,293,000 after buying an additional 160,850 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.