Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SASR shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC raised its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $94,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $115,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares during the period. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

SASR stock opened at $21.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.93. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.27 and a 52-week high of $27.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $961.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $97.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.36%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

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.