Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 148,097 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 120,101 shares.The stock last traded at $33.29 and had previously closed at $32.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Friday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 1.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.98.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share 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 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SASR. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter worth $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $117,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $170,000. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,086 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.