Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Hits New 52-Week High Following Insider Buying Activity

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $20.68 and last traded at $20.4950, with a volume of 233755 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.33.

Specifically, Director William E. Esham III bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,144.90. This represents a 980.39% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Shore Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.17.

Shore Bancshares Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.00. The company has a market capitalization of $681.30 million, a P/E ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 17.36% and a return on equity of 11.62%. The business had revenue of $59.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.55 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

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