Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SASR. StockNews.com raised shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Stephens dropped their target price on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $19.95 on Friday. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 1-year low of $19.27 and a 1-year high of $27.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $897.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.90.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.53 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 52.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 269,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,776,000 after purchasing an additional 92,175 shares in the last quarter. Teton Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% in the third quarter. Teton Advisors Inc. now owns 34,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,432,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,709,000 after buying an additional 65,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 540,254 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,578,000 after buying an additional 48,165 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.