StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)

Analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a report released on Saturday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR opened at $30.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.10. 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 has a 1 year low of $19.52 and a 1 year high of $39.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.98.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 96.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 70,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,215,000 after acquiring an additional 34,735 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 615,591 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,654,000 after buying an additional 35,271 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 36.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,759,000 after buying an additional 32,223 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,707,000 after buying an additional 121,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

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.