Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a research note published on Saturday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR opened at $37.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.49. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $19.52 and a fifty-two week high of $39.06.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. The company had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.58%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,654,000 after purchasing an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after buying an additional 32,223 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,707,000 after buying an additional 121,574 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,227 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,161,000 after acquiring an additional 120,793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Company Profile

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Sandy Spring Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, mortgage, private banking, and trust services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It offers financial products and services, including various loan and deposit products.