3,215,010 Shares in Shore Bancshares Inc $SHBI Bought by BlackRock Inc.

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 3.22 million Shore Bancshares shares worth approximately $73.8 million, giving it a 9.63% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 59.76% of SHBI.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $26.00 average price target. Recent targets range from $25.00 to $26.50.
• Shore Bancshares exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.60 in EPS versus a $0.50 estimate, while also authorizing a $30 million share buyback and declaring a $0.14 quarterly dividend.

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,215,010 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $73,784,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 9.63% of Shore Bancshares at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,448 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing 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 purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Curi Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 176,046 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,767,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 19,053 shares of the bank's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its stake in Shore Bancshares by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 14,222 shares of the bank's stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. 59.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SHBI. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Shore Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Shore Bancshares from $24.00 to $26.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Shore Bancshares from $23.50 to $26.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Shore Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SHBI opened at $23.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.95. Shore Bancshares Inc has a fifty-two week low of $14.93 and a fifty-two week high of $24.89. The stock has a market cap of $772.18 million, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.34 and a 200-day moving average of $20.86.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $61.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.42 million. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 19.15% and a return on equity of 12.11%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Shore Bancshares declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Shore Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Shore Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.28%.

Shore Bancshares 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source