Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a report published on Wednesday. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $34.00 on Wednesday. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52 week low of $19.52 and a 52 week high of $39.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 0.96. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SASR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,470,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,182,000 after buying an additional 108,703 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 93.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,271,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,235,000 after acquiring an additional 615,591 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,654,000 after purchasing an additional 35,271 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,227 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,161,000 after purchasing an additional 120,793 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,707,000 after purchasing an additional 121,574 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.