StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $37.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 0.94. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a one year low of $19.52 and a one year high of $39.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.29.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its 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 5.71%. The business had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 71.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 93.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,271,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,235,000 after buying an additional 615,591 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,654,000 after acquiring an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 32,223 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter worth $217,000. 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.