Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) Short Interest Down 25.0% in March

Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 114,000 shares, a drop of 25.0% from the March 15th total of 152,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 80,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SHBI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Shore Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. TheStreet downgraded shares of Shore Bancshares from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Activity at Shore Bancshares

In related news, Director Dawn M. Willey bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.02 per share, with a total value of $110,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $192,850. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Shore Bancshares news, Director David S. Jones acquired 8,043 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $88,553.43. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 35,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,937.35. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dawn M. Willey acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.02 per share, for a total transaction of $110,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $192,850. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 19,121 shares of company stock valued at $211,067 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 29.2% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,249,043 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,999,000 after buying an additional 508,881 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,608,061 shares of the bank's stock valued at $22,915,000 after purchasing an additional 57,557 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 98.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,103,909 shares of the bank's stock valued at $11,613,000 after purchasing an additional 546,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,044,671 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,887,000 after purchasing an additional 50,356 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.76% of the company's stock.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SHBI traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.36. The stock had a trading volume of 36,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,078. The company has a market capitalization of $344.06 million, a PE ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Shore Bancshares has a 1 year low of $9.66 and a 1 year high of $14.51.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $49.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.20 million. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 6.47%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Shore Bancshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Shore Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Shore Bancshares Company Profile

Shore Bancshares, Inc operates as a bank holding company for the Shore United Bank, N.A. that provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations. It offers checking, savings, overnight investment sweep, and money market accounts; and regular and IRA certificates of deposit, as well as CDARS programs and cash management services.