Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 159,100 shares, a drop of 20.3% from the July 15th total of 199,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 94,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on SHBI shares. Janney Montgomery Scott cut Shore Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Shore Bancshares from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SHBI. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Shore Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $147,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Shore Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $200,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Shore Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $216,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 30,028 shares of the bank’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 428.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,829 shares of the bank’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 34,717 shares during the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shore Bancshares Stock Up 1.7 %

SHBI traded up $0.23 on Friday, hitting $13.40. The company had a trading volume of 223,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 104,368. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Shore Bancshares has a 52-week low of $9.66 and a 52-week high of $14.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.49 million, a P/E ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 0.97.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.06. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The firm had revenue of $50.66 million during the quarter.

Shore Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is 82.76%.

Shore Bancshares Company Profile

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.