Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Receives $27.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.00.

SASR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 641,402 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $8,423,000. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,778,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 432.5% during the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 192,533 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,690,000 after acquiring an additional 156,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 775,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,885,000 after acquiring an additional 120,996 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ SASR opened at $32.14 on Friday. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12-month low of $19.27 and a 12-month high of $32.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $184.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 12.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

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.