Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $31.62 on Thursday. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.55. 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 company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.27 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.60 and its 200-day moving average is $33.36.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 302.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 16,987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 20,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,583 shares of the bank’s stock worth $895,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 27,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co increased its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.2% during the third quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,050 shares of the bank’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 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.