Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

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

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on SASR. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Sandy Spring Bancorp currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $23.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SASR opened at $24.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.24. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a one year low of $19.27 and a one year high of $27.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.97.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm had revenue of $184.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.58%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SASR. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $77,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $98,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $122,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 4,524 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.