Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Reaches New 52-Week High at $32.42

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $32.42 and last traded at $32.42, with a volume of 38481 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SASR. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 2.0 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 0.96.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The company had revenue of $184.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,470,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,182,000 after purchasing an additional 108,703 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 12.0% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 904,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,032,000 after buying an additional 97,262 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 18.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 775,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,885,000 after buying an additional 120,996 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1,199.7% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 694,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,927,000 after buying an additional 641,402 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 580,628 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,816,000 after buying an additional 40,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Company Profile

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.