Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of SASR stock opened at $23.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.25. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a one year low of $19.27 and a one year high of $27.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $184.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.45 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 12.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.77%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,628,937 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,338,000 after acquiring an additional 12,576 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,240,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,033,000 after acquiring an additional 52,454 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,432,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,709,000 after purchasing an additional 65,841 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 854,774 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,284,000 after purchasing an additional 4,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 580,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,816,000 after buying an additional 40,374 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.