Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $39.39 and last traded at $39.39, with a volume of 40845 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Sunday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sandy Spring Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 2.2 %

The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. The business had revenue of $189.81 million for 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. Research analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,284 shares of the bank’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the first quarter worth $302,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp

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.