Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,409 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,628 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Sandy Spring Bancorp worth $3,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,284 shares of the bank’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 25,404 shares of the bank’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 12,880 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.4% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 234,860 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,444,000 after buying an additional 5,574 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ SASR opened at $37.34 on Tuesday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 71.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SASR. DA Davidson raised their price target on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com started coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

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.