Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Plans $0.34 Quarterly Dividend

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the bank on Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th.

Sandy Spring Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% annually over the last three years. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 53.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sandy Spring Bancorp to earn $2.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.5%.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 0.9 %

SASR traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.35. The company had a trading volume of 264,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,623. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $31.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52 week low of $19.52 and a 52 week high of $34.63.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SASR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Thursday. They set a "sell" rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.25.

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.