Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 2,464 Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 19.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,450 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,464 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 263.8% in the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 4,524 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SASR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

SASR stock opened at $24.10 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.21. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.27 and a 1 year high of $27.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.45 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 12.74%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.64%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Sandy Spring Bancorp 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.