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

Investment analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a research note issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $31.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.27 and a beta of 0.97. 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 has a 12-month low of $19.52 and a 12-month high of $39.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.60 and its 200-day moving average is $33.32.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 5.31%. Equities research analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,212,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 267.6% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 665,583 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,437,000 after purchasing an additional 484,514 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2,164.4% during the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 468,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,709,000 after buying an additional 448,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Arbitrage LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $13,492,000. 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.