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

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR opened at $37.51 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.29. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 1 year low of $19.52 and a 1 year high of $39.55.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 69.1% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 148,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 60,850 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 432.5% during the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 192,533 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,690,000 after buying an additional 156,377 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 473,241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,528,000 after buying an additional 25,546 shares during the period. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the second quarter worth $4,778,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1,199.7% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 694,867 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,927,000 after acquiring an additional 641,402 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.