Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Given New $26.50 Price Target at Hovde Group

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) had its price objective lifted by Hovde Group from $23.50 to $26.50 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Hovde Group currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SHBI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Shore Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. 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, Shore Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.33.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SHBI opened at $23.90 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.00. 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 company has a market capitalization of $799.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.82. Shore Bancshares has a 52-week low of $14.93 and a 52-week high of $24.12.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.10. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 19.15% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $61.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.42 million. Research analysts predict that Shore Bancshares will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SHBI. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Shore Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Shore Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Shore Bancshares by 239.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Shore Bancshares by 207.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,138 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares during the period. 59.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.