Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.20.

Several equities analysts have commented on SASR shares. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on 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.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,432 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,584 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 25,941 shares of the bank’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teton Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teton Advisors Inc. now owns 34,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ SASR opened at $23.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12-month low of $19.27 and a 12-month high of $27.90.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $101.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 49.82%.

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.