Analysts Set Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Target Price at $24.00

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $20.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $934.20 million, a PE ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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 has a 12 month low of $19.27 and a 12 month high of $27.90.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.53 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 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, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 290.4% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,054 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4,565.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,073 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 30.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $77,000. 66.90% of the stock is currently 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.