Zacks Research Downgrades Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) to Hold

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SHBI. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Shore Bancshares from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Shore Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SHBI stock opened at $23.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $782.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.82. Shore Bancshares has a one year low of $14.93 and a one year high of $23.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.72 and its 200 day moving average is $19.39.

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

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

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Shore Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 98.9% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,124 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 239.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 207.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,138 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.