Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, an increase of 58.0% from the May 31st total of 721,300 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 291,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SASR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sandy Spring Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $98,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 4,524 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SASR traded up $0.81 on Friday, reaching $24.36. 1,042,544 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 298,604. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.97. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52 week low of $19.27 and a 52 week high of $27.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The company had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.45 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.58%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

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.