Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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.

The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share (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 upgraded Shore Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity at Shore Bancshares

In related news, Director Konrad Wayson purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.94 per share, with a total value of $50,820.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 53,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $902,326.04. This trade represents a 5.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in Shore Bancshares by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 3,329,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,586,000 after purchasing an additional 54,679 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Shore Bancshares by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,208,740 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,839,000 after purchasing an additional 77,961 shares during the period. 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 worth $9,976,000 after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Shore Bancshares by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 537,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,515,000 after purchasing an additional 41,971 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Shore Bancshares by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 269,375 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 59.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shore Bancshares Trading Up 3.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $544.95 million, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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.