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

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.1667.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SHBI. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th.

Shore Bancshares Trading Down 2.2%

Shore Bancshares stock opened at $18.07 on Friday. Shore Bancshares has a one year low of $11.47 and a one year high of $20.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.76 and its 200 day moving average is $17.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $603.90 million, a PE ratio of 10.15 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 0.95.

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

Shore Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insider Activity at Shore Bancshares

In other Shore Bancshares news, Director William E. Esham III acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,950.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,144.90. This trade represents a 980.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 8.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Shore Bancshares by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,691 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 4,958 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Shore Bancshares by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 154,617 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after purchasing an additional 14,850 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 96.9% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 19,878 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Shore Bancshares by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,150,208 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,336,000 after buying an additional 84,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 152.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 187,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,323,000 after buying an additional 113,446 shares during the period. 59.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.