152,902 Shares in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Purchased by Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC

Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 152,902 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $4,797,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $117,000. CWM LLC raised its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Monday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR opened at $37.76 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.52 and a 12 month high of $39.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.42 and its 200 day moving average is $29.80.

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is 71.58%.

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.