Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Increases Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) Price Target to $30.00

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) had its price objective raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $25.00 to $30.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com downgraded 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 objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $27.00.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $31.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 0.97. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.27 and a 52-week high of $31.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.30.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.08. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 6.44%. The business had revenue of $184.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandy Spring Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 384,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,372,000 after purchasing an additional 5,324 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth $144,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 107,195 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,611,000 after buying an additional 3,633 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,050 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 148,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,628,000 after acquiring an additional 60,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.