Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Sets New 52-Week High Following Earnings Beat

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $31.32 and last traded at $31.01, with a volume of 55725 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.88.

The bank reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $184.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sandy Spring Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SASR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,628,937 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,338,000 after purchasing an additional 12,576 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 142,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after buying an additional 14,300 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.53 and a 200-day moving average of $23.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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.