Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $33.77, but opened at $32.98. Sandy Spring Bancorp shares last traded at $33.89, with a volume of 21,153 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sandy Spring Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.98 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.17.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 302.23%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,853,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,492,000 after acquiring an additional 582,309 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,654,000 after acquiring an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,227 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,161,000 after acquiring an additional 120,793 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 937,531 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,604,000 after acquiring an additional 129,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 893,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,121,000 after acquiring an additional 6,815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

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.