Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

SASR has been the topic of several other reports. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

SASR stock opened at $29.47 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.82 and its 200 day moving average is $23.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.96. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 1-year low of $19.27 and a 1-year high of $31.83.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $184.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 6.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SASR. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $77,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the first quarter worth $98,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $117,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $122,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.