Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $15.79, but opened at $17.24. Shore Bancshares shares last traded at $16.13, with a volume of 12,452 shares changing hands.

The bank reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.09. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.11% and a net margin of 12.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Shore Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Transactions at Shore Bancshares

In other Shore Bancshares news, Director Konrad Wayson bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.94 per share, for a total transaction of $50,820.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 53,266 shares in the company, valued at $902,326.04. This trade represents a 5.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Shore Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $763,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Shore Bancshares by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 712,895 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,976,000 after buying an additional 13,445 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Shore Bancshares by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 537,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,515,000 after buying an additional 41,971 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Shore Bancshares by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 84,942 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 27,627 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 53.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 25,370 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.76% of the company’s stock.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 2.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $538.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

About Shore Bancshares

Shore Bancshares, Inc operates as a bank holding company for the Shore United Bank, N.A. that provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations. It offers checking, savings, overnight investment sweep, and money market accounts; and regular and IRA certificates of deposit, as well as CDARS programs and cash management services.