StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a report released on Wednesday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR opened at $27.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 61.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.85 and a 200-day moving average of $33.09. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a one year low of $19.52 and a one year high of $39.55.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 5.31%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SASR. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,985 shares of the bank’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter worth $217,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,707,000 after buying an additional 121,574 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 36.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after buying an additional 32,223 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,654,000 after acquiring an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Company Profile

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.