Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $19.08 and traded as high as $22.24. Shore Bancshares shares last traded at $21.96, with a volume of 289,180 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SHBI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research raised Shore Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Shore Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shore Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $734.78 million, a PE ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.10.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.10. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.35 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shore Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a boost from Shore Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 29.79%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SHBI. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 4,154 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 599.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 112,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 96,204 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Shore Bancshares by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,226 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Shore Bancshares by 18.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 219,494 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 34,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Shore Bancshares by 126.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 43,613 shares in the last quarter. 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.