Head-To-Head Comparison: West Shore Bank (OTCMKTS:WSSH) and Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI)

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) and West Shore Bank (OTCMKTS:WSSH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Dividends

Shore Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. West Shore Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Shore Bancshares pays out 29.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Shore Bancshares and West Shore Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shore Bancshares	0	2	3	0	2.60
West Shore Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Shore Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential downside of 4.47%. Given Shore Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Shore Bancshares is more favorable than West Shore Bank.

Profitability

This table compares Shore Bancshares and West Shore Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shore Bancshares	18.20%	11.84%	1.12%
West Shore Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Shore Bancshares has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Shore Bank has a beta of 0.01, indicating that its stock price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Shore Bancshares and West Shore Bank”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shore Bancshares	$342.72 million	2.25	$59.51 million	$1.88	12.25
West Shore Bank	$48.89 million	1.08	$6.25 million	N/A	N/A

Shore Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than West Shore Bank.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.8% of Shore Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Shore Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Shore Bancshares beats West Shore Bank on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shore Bancshares

Shore Bancshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for the Shore United Bank, N.A. that provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations. It offers checking, savings, overnight investment sweep, and money market accounts; and regular and IRA certificates of deposit, as well as CDARS programs and cash management services. The company also provides commercial loans, such as secured and unsecured loans, working capital loans, lines of credit, term loans, accounts receivable financing, real estate acquisition and development loans, construction loans, and letters of credit; residential real estate construction loans; residential mortgage loans; and loans to consumers, including home equity, automobile, installment, home improvement, and personal lines of credit, as well as other consumer financing products. In addition, it offers trust, asset management, and financial planning services; treasury management services, such as merchant card processing, remote deposit capture, and ACH origination, as well as telephone, mobile, and Internet banking services; safe deposit boxes; debit and credit cards; and automatic teller machine services. Shore Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in Easton, Maryland.

About West Shore Bank

West Shore Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for West Shore Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses. The company accepts checking, saving, money market, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan products include auto, recreational, personal term, commercial real estate, small business administration, municipal, business term, and home mortgage and equity loans; business lines of credit; and letters of credit. The company also offers ATM/debit, credit, and gift and travel cards; wealth planning process, investment management, trusts and estates, retirement planning, west shore investment services; savings bonds; and direct deposit, overdraft, safe deposit boxes, wire transfer, remote deposit capture, merchant card, ACH and wire, sweep accounts, positive pay, bill pay, and online and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1898 and is based in Ludington, Michigan.