Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $19.39 and last traded at $19.2880, with a volume of 40863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Shore Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Shore Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Shore Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.75.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 2.1%

The company has a market cap of $645.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $17.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.79.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $56.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.70 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.24%.

Insider Activity at Shore Bancshares

In other Shore Bancshares news, EVP Aaron Michael Kaslow purchased 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.56 per share, for a total transaction of $101,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,140. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have purchased 7,700 shares of company stock worth $121,994 over the last quarter. 8.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHBI. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,622,000. HoldCo Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Shore Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $4,215,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Shore Bancshares by 19.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,065,910 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,492,000 after purchasing an additional 175,282 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Shore Bancshares by 143.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,109 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,293,000 after buying an additional 160,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 386,889 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,349,000 after buying an additional 148,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.