Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.20.

SASR has been the topic of several research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 2.0 %

SASR opened at $23.18 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.81 and its 200 day moving average is $22.93. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $19.27 and a fifty-two week high of $27.90.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,432 shares of the bank’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,584 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 25,941 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,542 shares of the bank’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teton Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Teton Advisors Inc. now owns 34,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.