Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 471,000 shares, a decline of 22.3% from the November 15th total of 606,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 179,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 30th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $28.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.25.
Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance
Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp stock traded up $1.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $26.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 346,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 272,230. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a one year low of $19.27 and a one year high of $36.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.94.
Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $102.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $104.52 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 19.17% and a return on equity of 9.35%. As a group, analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 7th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.74%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,432 shares of the bank’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,584 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 25,941 shares of the bank’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 37.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% during the second quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 9,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 68.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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 Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Investment Management.