Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.10, Zacks reports. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The business had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.35 million.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 1.3%

SHBI opened at $19.95 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $667.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.40. Shore Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $20.68.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.53%.

Shore Bancshares announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fourthstone LLC grew its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 918,202 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,234,000 after purchasing an additional 350,012 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 19.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,065,910 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,492,000 after buying an additional 175,282 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 143.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,109 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,293,000 after buying an additional 160,850 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 386,889 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,349,000 after buying an additional 148,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SHBI shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Shore Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

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.