Short Interest in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Increases By 23.7%

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the August 31st total of 953,700 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 351,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.15. 222,598 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,520. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12-month low of $19.27 and a 12-month high of $34.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.45.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $184.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors 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 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SASR has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 313,534 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,541,000 after purchasing an additional 43,987 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 148,921 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 60,850 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 432.5% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 192,533 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,690,000 after acquiring an additional 156,377 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 349,036 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,091,000 after acquiring an additional 18,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,778,000. 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.