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

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $34.60 and last traded at $34.60, with a volume of 122 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SASR has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.00.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Up 0.6 %

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $31.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.12. The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 0.95. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. Sandy Spring Bancorp's payout ratio is 66.67%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $98,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $117,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $122,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the period. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.