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

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR opened at $29.62 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.42. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 65.82 and a beta of 0.96. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12-month low of $19.52 and a 12-month high of $39.55.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 302.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SASR. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 826.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. Hedge funds and other 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.