Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) Short Interest Up 34.3% in March

Key Points

• Short interest rose 34.3% in March to 749,605 shares (about 2.5% of the stock), giving a short-interest ratio of 2.7 days based on average daily volume.
• Analysts have grown more positive—Hovde raised its target to $22 with an "outperform" and Weiss upgraded to "buy"—leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy with a $20.17 target.
• Recent fundamentals include an EPS beat ($0.52 vs. $0.48), a $650M market cap with a P/E of 10.92, a $0.12 quarterly dividend (2.5% yield), and an insider purchase of 5,000 shares at about $19.99.

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 749,605 shares, a growth of 34.3% from the March 15th total of 557,990 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 272,656 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Shore Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.17.

Shore Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ SHBI traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $19.45. 142,820 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 238,410. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.79. Shore Bancshares has a 1 year low of $12.19 and a 1 year high of $20.68. The company has a market cap of $650.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.85.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $59.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $57.55 million. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 17.36%. On average, analysts predict that Shore Bancshares will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Shore Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Shore Bancshares news, Director William E. Esham III bought 5,000 shares of Shore Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,510 shares in the company, valued at $110,144.90. This represents a 980.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 8.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Shore Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Shore Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 98.9% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,124 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 168.7% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $71,000. 59.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shore Bancshares Company 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.

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