Brokerages Set Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) Target Price at $20.17

Shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.1667.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SHBI. Weiss Ratings upgraded Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price target on Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Shore Bancshares

In other Shore Bancshares news, Director William E. Esham III purchased 5,000 shares of Shore Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,950.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,144.90. This trade represents a 980.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 8.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 98.9% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 168.7% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 207.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,138 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

Shore Bancshares Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:SHBI opened at $19.63 on Friday. Shore Bancshares has a 1 year low of $12.20 and a 1 year high of $20.68. The company has a market cap of $656.62 million, a PE ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.85. 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’s 50-day moving average is $18.84 and its 200 day moving average is $17.88.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 17.36%.The company had revenue of $59.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.55 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Shore Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

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.