Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SASR. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sandy Spring Bancorp presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $23.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of SASR stock opened at $21.49 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.96. The company has a market capitalization of $966.96 million, a PE ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 0.94. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a twelve month low of $19.27 and a twelve month high of $27.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The company had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SASR. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,542 shares of the bank’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Teton Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% in the third quarter. Teton Advisors Inc. now owns 34,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.3% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 163,831 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,511,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 30.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,297 shares of the bank’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

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.