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

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR stock opened at $37.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.94. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.67 and its 200 day moving average is $29.07.

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). The firm had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,654,000 after buying an additional 35,271 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 36.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,759,000 after buying an additional 32,223 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,707,000 after buying an additional 121,574 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,227 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,161,000 after buying an additional 120,793 shares during the period. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.