Bailard Inc. Grows Stock Position in Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI)

Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) by 55.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,887 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,500 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. owned about 0.12% of Shore Bancshares worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SHBI. Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Shore Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $53,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Shore Bancshares by 79.6% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 9,235 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 4,094 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Shore Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $122,000. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new stake in Shore Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $124,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Shore Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $134,000. 59.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shore Bancshares

In other news, Director David S. Jones purchased 8,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $88,553.43. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 35,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $387,937.35. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David S. Jones purchased 8,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $88,553.43. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 35,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $387,937.35. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dawn M. Willey purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.02 per share, for a total transaction of $110,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,500 shares in the company, valued at $192,850. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 19,121 shares of company stock valued at $211,067. 8.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Shore Bancshares Stock Down 0.5 %

SHBI opened at $10.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Shore Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $9.66 and a one year high of $14.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $349.70 million, a P/E ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.93.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Shore Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.47% and a net margin of 5.82%. The firm had revenue of $49.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.20 million. Analysts anticipate that Shore Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Shore Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on SHBI shares. TheStreet cut Shore Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Shore Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st.

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.