Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shore Bancshares shares crossed above their 200-day moving average, reaching $24.26 and recently trading near $23.94, compared with a 200-day average of $20.55.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $26.00; recent targets range from $25.00 to $26.50, although Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• The bank exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.60 in EPS and $61.75 million in revenue, while increasing its dividend to $0.14 per quarter and authorizing a $30 million share-repurchase program.

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $20.55 and traded as high as $24.26. Shore Bancshares shares last traded at $23.94, with a volume of 163,100 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $798.93 million, a P/E ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.81.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.10. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 19.15% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The company had revenue of $61.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.42 million. On average, research analysts predict that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Shore Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. Shore Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 28.28%.

Shore Bancshares announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $73,784,000. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in Shore Bancshares by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 918,202 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,234,000 after purchasing an additional 350,012 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 578.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 380,283 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,104,000 after buying an additional 324,208 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 168.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 495,965 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,769,000 after buying an additional 311,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $5,017,000. 59.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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