Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

SASR stock opened at $33.76 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.29. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12 month low of $19.52 and a 12 month high of $39.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is 71.58%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 432.5% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 192,533 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,690,000 after buying an additional 156,377 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 473,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,528,000 after purchasing an additional 25,546 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 10.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 807,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,345,000 after purchasing an additional 75,596 shares during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $4,778,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35,271 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.