Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $36.90 and last traded at $36.90, with a volume of 4878 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 31st. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 11.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 71.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SASR. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $98,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $117,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $122,000. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.