Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Sets New 1-Year High After Earnings Beat

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $31.32 and last traded at $31.01, with a volume of 55725 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.88.

The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $184.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 12.31%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SASR. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sandy Spring Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SASR. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $98,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $122,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the bank’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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.