Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.34 (NASDAQ:SASR)

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of 0.34 per share by the bank on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th.

Sandy Spring Bancorp has raised its dividend by an average of 4.3% annually over the last three years. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a payout ratio of 50.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sandy Spring Bancorp to earn $2.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.6%.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 2.4 %

SASR stock opened at $22.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.98. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12 month low of $19.27 and a 12 month high of $27.90. The company has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.94.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.45 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 12.74%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SASR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sandy Spring Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

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.