StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SASR. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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 four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $33.35 on Thursday. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 12 month low of $19.52 and a 12 month high of $34.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.91 and its 200-day moving average is $27.31.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 11.54%. The company had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter worth $29,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter worth $254,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 55.3% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 17,487 shares of the bank’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 6,224 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 231.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,748 shares of the bank’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,065 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.