Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Sunday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 71.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SASR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,470,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,182,000 after purchasing an additional 108,703 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,654,000 after purchasing an additional 35,271 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,707,000 after acquiring an additional 121,574 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 10.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 807,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,345,000 after acquiring an additional 75,596 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.