Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Hits New 1-Year High on Insider Buying Activity

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $20.68 and last traded at $20.4950, with a volume of 233755 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.33.

Specifically, Director William E. Esham III bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,950.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 5,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,144.90. This represents a 980.39% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SHBI shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Shore Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $18.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Shore Bancshares from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective on Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.17.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.04. The company has a market capitalization of $681.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.92.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 11.62% and a net margin of 17.36%. Analysts expect that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,027,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $955,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Shore Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,622,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 438,780 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,898,000 after purchasing an additional 109,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HoldCo Asset Management LP bought a new position in Shore Bancshares during the second quarter worth $4,215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

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.