Sandy Spring Bancorp's (SASR) "Equal Weight" Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $25.00 target price on the bank's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Sandy Spring Bancorp from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $21.50. The company had a trading volume of 470,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,645. The firm has a market cap of $967.50 million, a PE ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 0.94. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a one year low of $19.27 and a one year high of $27.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.45 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 17.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.33%. Sandy Spring Bancorp's payout ratio is 49.82%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $94,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $115,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the bank's stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.