Short Interest in Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) Expands By 23.7%

Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 148,400 shares, an increase of 23.7% from the June 15th total of 120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 81,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Clyde V. Kelly III bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.19 per share, with a total value of $55,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,888 shares in the company, valued at $267,306.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shore Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHBI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Shore Bancshares by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,619,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,625,000 after acquiring an additional 11,544 shares during the period. Gendell Jeffrey L raised its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 3.7% in the first quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 283,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,951,000. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 6.9% in the first quarter. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD now owns 170,549 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,961,000 after buying an additional 11,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 8.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 130,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shore Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SHBI stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 81,517. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.11 and a 200 day moving average of $11.49. The stock has a market cap of $423.56 million, a PE ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Shore Bancshares has a 12-month low of $9.66 and a 12-month high of $14.51.

Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The bank reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $47.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.88 million. Shore Bancshares had a net margin of 5.66% and a return on equity of 7.33%.

Shore Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Shore Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Shore Bancshares from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd.

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.