Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.00.

SASR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens dropped their price objective on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ SASR opened at $19.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $21.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.90. The company has a market capitalization of $897.75 million, a PE ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 0.94. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12-month low of $19.27 and a 12-month high of $27.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.53 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 17.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.82%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SASR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $15,999,000. North Reef Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,319,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 408.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 405,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,697,000 after purchasing an additional 326,036 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,544,678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,131,000 after purchasing an additional 318,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 10.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,741,687 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $123,156,000 after buying an additional 261,172 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.