Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Plans $0.34 Quarterly Dividend

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the bank on Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th.

Sandy Spring Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% per year over the last three years. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 53.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sandy Spring Bancorp to earn $2.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.5%.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $33.64 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71 and a beta of 0.95. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $34.63.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.74%. 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 company earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

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.