Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Plans $0.34 Quarterly Dividend

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the bank on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th.

Sandy Spring Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% per year over the last three years. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a payout ratio of 48.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sandy Spring Bancorp to earn $2.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.4%.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR opened at $21.37 on Friday. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 1 year low of $19.27 and a 1 year high of $27.90. The company has a market cap of $961.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.62 and a 200-day moving average of $22.93.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The company had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SASR shares. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

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.