Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank's stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on SASR. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sandy Spring Bancorp has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $33.64. The stock had a trading volume of 259,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,019. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.17. 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 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (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 net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.6% during the second quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 11,785 shares of the bank's stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,065 shares of the bank's stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 43,713 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,065,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 9.8% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,176 shares of the bank's stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 8.2% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,344 shares of the bank's stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.