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

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a report released on Sunday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR opened at $29.12 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12-month low of $19.52 and a 12-month high of $39.55. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.71 and a beta of 0.96.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS 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%. Equities analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SASR. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 826.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $228,000. 66.90% of the stock is currently 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.