Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $21.07 and last traded at $21.0010, with a volume of 44683 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on SHBI shares. Zacks Research raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Shore Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Shore Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 1.5%

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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $705.17 million, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.79%.

Shore Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,226 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Curi Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 14,222 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during 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.