Insider Buying: Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Director Acquires 5,000 Shares of Stock

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) Director William Esham III acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.99 per share, for a total transaction of $99,950.00. Following the transaction, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of SHBI traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $20.49. 280,975 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 232,695. The stock has a market cap of $684.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $18.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Shore Bancshares Inc has a twelve month low of $11.47 and a twelve month high of $20.68.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 17.36% and a return on equity of 11.62%. The business had revenue of $59.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 31,320.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,571 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Shore Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 108.4% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,020 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 168.7% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.