Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $39.39 and last traded at $39.39, with a volume of 40845 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Sunday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 2.2 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 0.94.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 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 prior year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 71.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $117,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $144,000. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp

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.