Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Earns “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Stephens in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $25.00 price objective on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ target price points to a potential upside of 15.90% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on SASR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 1.6 %

SASR traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.57. 178,141 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 298,570. The firm has a market capitalization of $970.65 million, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.64 and a 200 day moving average of $22.94. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12-month low of $19.27 and a 12-month high of $27.90.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The business had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SASR. North Reef Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,319,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 408.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 405,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,697,000 after purchasing an additional 326,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,423,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 52.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 269,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,776,000 after purchasing an additional 92,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 62.9% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 226,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,861,000 after buying an additional 87,576 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.