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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a report issued on Sunday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

SASR stock opened at $29.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick 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 company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.71 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.51 and a 200-day moving average of $33.51.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 302.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SASR. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 826.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $228,000. 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.