Analysts Set Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Price Target at $24.00

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

SASR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of SASR stock opened at $21.91 on Friday. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.27 and a 52-week high of $27.90. The stock has a market cap of $985.95 million, a PE ratio of 8.03 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.94.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.82%.

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.