Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $22.23 and last traded at $22.13, with a volume of 254786 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on SHBI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock 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 objective on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shore Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 2.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $763.22 million, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.94.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.35 million. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 11.84%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 29.79%.

Shore Bancshares announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to buy up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SHBI. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Shore Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 98.9% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 239.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 207.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,138 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

About Shore Bancshares

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.