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

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $33.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.78 and a beta of 0.97. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $19.52 and a fifty-two week high of $39.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.19.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 302.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 826.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 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.