Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $33.73, but opened at $32.50. Sandy Spring Bancorp shares last traded at $33.67, with a volume of 42,228 shares trading hands.

The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Monday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 96.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 70,599 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 34,735 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 10.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 807,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,345,000 after purchasing an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 473,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,528,000 after buying an additional 25,546 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,654,000 after buying an additional 35,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 368.2% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 64,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 50,659 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.87. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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.