Sandy Spring Bank Buys Shares of 119,579 Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI)

Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 119,579 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000. Sandy Spring Bank owned 0.36% of Shore Bancshares as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SHBI. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,249,043 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,999,000 after purchasing an additional 508,881 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,550,504 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,311,000 after purchasing an additional 683,576 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Shore Bancshares by 98.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,103,909 shares of the bank's stock valued at $11,613,000 after buying an additional 546,605 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Shore Bancshares by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 849,222 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,127,000 after buying an additional 30,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Shore Bancshares by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 436,269 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,556,000 after buying an additional 95,332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Shore Bancshares

In other news, Director Dawn M. Willey acquired 10,000 shares of Shore Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.02 per share, for a total transaction of $110,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,500 shares in the company, valued at $192,850. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Dawn M. Willey acquired 10,000 shares of Shore Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.02 per share, for a total transaction of $110,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,500 shares in the company, valued at $192,850. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Jones acquired 8,043 shares of Shore Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $88,553.43. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $387,937.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 19,121 shares of company stock worth $211,067. 11.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Shore Bancshares Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of SHBI stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $10.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 64,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,700. Shore Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.66 and a 52-week high of $14.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $11.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $343.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 0.93.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.47% and a net margin of 5.82%. The firm had revenue of $49.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $51.20 million. Research analysts predict that Shore Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Shore Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Shore Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. TheStreet lowered Shore Bancshares from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

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.