Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Stephens

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $25.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price objective points to a potential upside of 16.99% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR stock opened at $21.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $961.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.62 and a 200 day moving average of $22.93. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52 week low of $19.27 and a 52 week high of $27.90.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.45 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SASR. North Reef Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,319,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 408.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 405,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,697,000 after acquiring an additional 326,036 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $8,423,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 269,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,776,000 after acquiring an additional 92,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 226,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,861,000 after acquiring an additional 87,576 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.