Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Shares Bought by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 2,164.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 468,891 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 448,184 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $14,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SASR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,470,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,182,000 after acquiring an additional 108,703 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 904,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,032,000 after purchasing an additional 97,262 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 807,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,345,000 after purchasing an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 15.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 799,835 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,091,000 after purchasing an additional 104,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 18.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 775,252 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,885,000 after purchasing an additional 120,996 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $37.68 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.56. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.52 and a 1-year high of $39.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 0.94.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Monday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sandy Spring Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

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.