Sandy Spring Bancorp (SASR) Competitors

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) and Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, community ranking, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, SASR or HOPE?

Hope Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Sandy Spring Bancorp. Hope Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sandy Spring Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sandy Spring Bancorp	$704.60M	2.37	$122.84M	$1.90	19.43
Hope Bancorp	$1.09B	1.49	$133.67M	$0.84	16.06

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SASR or HOPE?

Sandy Spring Bancorp received 28 more outperform votes than Hope Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 56.86% of users gave Sandy Spring Bancorp an outperform vote while only 50.78% of users gave Hope Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Sandy Spring Bancorp	Outperform Votes 290 56.86%	Underperform Votes 220 43.14%
Hope Bancorp	Outperform Votes 262 50.78%	Underperform Votes 254 49.22%

Does the media favor SASR or HOPE?

In the previous week, Hope Bancorp had 1 more articles in the media than Sandy Spring Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Hope Bancorp and 4 mentions for Sandy Spring Bancorp. Sandy Spring Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat Hope Bancorp's score of 0.91 indicating that Sandy Spring Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sandy Spring Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hope Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is SASR or HOPE a better dividend stock?

Sandy Spring Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Hope Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Sandy Spring Bancorp pays out 71.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hope Bancorp pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hope Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility & risk, SASR or HOPE?

Sandy Spring Bancorp has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hope Bancorp has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in SASR or HOPE?

66.9% of Sandy Spring Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Hope Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Sandy Spring Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Hope Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is SASR or HOPE more profitable?

Sandy Spring Bancorp has a net margin of 11.54% compared to Hope Bancorp's net margin of 9.81%. Sandy Spring Bancorp's return on equity of 5.71% beat Hope Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sandy Spring Bancorp	11.54%	5.71%	0.65%
Hope Bancorp	9.81%	5.52%	0.65%

Do analysts prefer SASR or HOPE?

Sandy Spring Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $28.25, suggesting a potential downside of 23.48%. Hope Bancorp has a consensus price target of $12.50, suggesting a potential downside of 7.34%. Given Hope Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hope Bancorp is more favorable than Sandy Spring Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sandy Spring Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Hope Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Summary

Hope Bancorp beats Sandy Spring Bancorp on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.