Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a note issued to investors on Saturday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ SASR opened at $30.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.98. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 473,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,528,000 after purchasing an additional 25,546 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 807,940 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,345,000 after buying an additional 75,596 shares during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,778,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 368.2% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 64,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 50,659 shares during the period. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.