Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) announced today that it had received a non-objection letter from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond to allow the Board to authorize management to repurchase its common stock. Under the new repurchase program, management is authorized to repurchase up to $5.0 million, or approximately 1.4% of the 19.8 million outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock. The program may be limited or terminated at any time without prior notice. The program will expire on March 31, 2023.
Lloyd L. “Scott” Beatty, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer stated, “We general like to have an active stock buyback program in place at any given time. Our last stock buyback program proved to be very effective before it expired at the end of 2021. With the current volatility in the financial markets and the unknown with the current economy, we deem it prudent to have an active buyback in place in the event we can purchase our common stock at a discount. Our strong capital levels and solid operating results provide us the flexibility to repurchase shares, which is an efficient way to deploy capital, creating long-term shareholder value.”
Under the stock repurchase program, shares of common stock may be repurchased by the Company from time to time in open market transactions or in privately negotiated transactions as permitted under applicable rules and regulations. Repurchases may be conducted, suspended, or terminated at any time without notice. The extent to which the Company repurchases its shares and the timing of such repurchases will depend upon market conditions and other considerations as may be considered in the Company’s sole discretion. Repurchases may also be made pursuant to a trading plan under Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act, which would permit shares to be repurchased when the Company might otherwise be precluded from doing so because of self-imposed trading blackout periods or other regulatory restrictions.
