Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Hits New 12-Month High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) hit a new 52-week high on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $23.72 and last traded at $23.72, with a volume of 55869 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.90.

The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.10. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 19.15%.The firm had revenue of $61.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.42 million.

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 was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 presently 29.79%.

Shore Bancshares announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fourthstone LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 918,202 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,234,000 after buying an additional 350,012 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Shore Bancshares by 578.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 380,283 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,104,000 after acquiring an additional 324,208 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Shore Bancshares by 168.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 495,965 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,769,000 after acquiring an additional 311,266 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,065,910 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,492,000 after acquiring an additional 175,282 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 143.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,109 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,293,000 after acquiring an additional 160,850 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 3.1%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $789.99 million, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.82.

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.