Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 176,800 shares, a decrease of 18.0% from the October 15th total of 215,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 81,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shore Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Shore Bancshares by 30.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 195,418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 45,692 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Shore Bancshares by 12.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 411,615 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,713,000 after purchasing an additional 45,300 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Shore Bancshares by 30.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 37,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 8,831 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in shares of Shore Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $899,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Shore Bancshares by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,619,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,625,000 after buying an additional 11,544 shares during the last quarter. 59.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Shore Bancshares Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Shore Bancshares stock traded down $0.05 on Friday, reaching $16.21. 76,264 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 85,041. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $14.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Shore Bancshares has a 1-year low of $10.06 and a 1-year high of $16.66. The company has a market cap of $540.28 million, a P/E ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 0.95.

Shore Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Shore Bancshares’s payout ratio is 38.40%.

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.