Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shore Bancshares shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $23.61 and finishing near $23.57, up about 2.5% on the day. The move came alongside trading volume of about 57,012 shares.
• Recent analyst sentiment has been mixed, but the overall view remains Moderate Buy. Piper Sandler lifted its price target to $24 and kept an overweight rating, while Zacks downgraded the stock to hold; the average price target is $22.00.
• The company has shown solid fundamentals, with better-than-expected quarterly earnings, a dividend increase to $0.14 per share, and a new $30 million share repurchase program. These actions suggest management sees value in the stock and is returning more capital to shareholders.

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $23.61 and last traded at $23.5710, with a volume of 57012 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHBI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Shore Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Shore Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shore Bancshares has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.00.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 2.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $789.66 million, a PE ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 0.82. 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 moving average of $21.40 and a 200 day moving average of $19.69.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.35 million. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 11.84%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a positive change from Shore Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. Shore Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 29.79%.

Shore Bancshares declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position 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 worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 239.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,500 shares of the bank's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 3,173 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 207.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,138 shares of the bank's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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