Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Hits New 1-Year High Following Insider Buying Activity

Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $20.68 and last traded at $20.4950, with a volume of 233755 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.33.

Specifically, Director William E. Esham III bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.99 per share, with a total value of $99,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,144.90. This trade represents a 980.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $681.30 million, a PE ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.31 and a 200-day moving average of $17.00.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $59.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.55 million. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.62% and a net margin of 17.36%. Research analysts forecast that Shore Bancshares Inc will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Shore Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,622,000. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares in the second quarter worth $4,215,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 175,282 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Shore Bancshares by 143.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 273,109 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,293,000 after purchasing an additional 160,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Shore Bancshares by 62.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 386,889 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,349,000 after purchasing an additional 148,995 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.