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

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SASR opened at $33.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.55.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. The company had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 71.58%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $29,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $170,000. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 27.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,086 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 66.2% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 3,168 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.