Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

SASR has been the subject of several other research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sandy Spring Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $27.00.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ SASR opened at $27.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.13 and a 200-day moving average of $23.60. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 1-year low of $19.27 and a 1-year high of $31.83.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $184.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 12.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SASR. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 313,534 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,541,000 after buying an additional 43,987 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,240,530 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,033,000 after acquiring an additional 52,454 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 580,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,816,000 after acquiring an additional 40,374 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 349,036 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,091,000 after acquiring an additional 18,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $980,000. 66.90% of the stock is currently 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.