Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $31.97 on Friday. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a one year low of $19.52 and a one year high of $39.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.05 and a beta of 0.97.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SASR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.4% in 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. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 231.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,748 shares of the bank’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 55.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 17,487 shares of the bank’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 6,224 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter worth $254,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

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.