Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) Short Interest Up 55.6% in March

Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 294,100 shares, a growth of 55.6% from the February 28th total of 189,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 186,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Shore Bancshares Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of SHBI traded down $0.01 on Monday, reaching $13.53. The stock had a trading volume of 60,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 113,825. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.94. Shore Bancshares has a 12-month low of $10.06 and a 12-month high of $17.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $451.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.22.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.09. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 13.44%. Sell-side analysts predict that Shore Bancshares will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Shore Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,346,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,340,000 after purchasing an additional 57,115 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 1.9% during the third 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 last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 41,971 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Shore Bancshares by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 469,182 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,437,000 after buying an additional 147,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Shore Bancshares by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 278,425 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,413,000 after acquiring an additional 6,335 shares during the period. 59.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SHBI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Shore Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Shore Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company.

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.