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

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.1667.

SHBI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Shore Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of SHBI opened at $18.14 on Tuesday. Shore Bancshares has a 1-year low of $11.47 and a 1-year high of $20.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.78 and a 200 day moving average of $17.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $606.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

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

Shore Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William E. Esham III bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,950.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,144.90. This represents a 980.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 8.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Shore Bancshares by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,226 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Curi Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 0.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 19,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 8.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.