Grace & White Inc. NY Cuts Stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Grace & White Inc. NY cut its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,145 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 23,700 shares during the quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY owned 0.13% of Sandy Spring Bancorp worth $1,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC raised its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 20,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. First National Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.2% in the third quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,050 shares of the bank’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,065 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,209 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sandy Spring Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ SASR opened at $33.52 on Thursday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.52 and a 1 year high of $39.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 74.49 and a beta of 0.97. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $34.15 and its 200 day moving average is $33.16.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 302.23%.

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.