StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $37.86 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.80 and a 200-day moving average of $29.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 1 year low of $19.52 and a 1 year high of $39.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 0.94.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The business had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is 71.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter worth $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $117,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $122,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

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.