Dark Forest Capital Management LP Reduces Holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP trimmed its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,756 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,270 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SASR. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1,199.7% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 694,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,927,000 after purchasing an additional 641,402 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $8,423,000. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,778,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 432.5% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 192,533 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,690,000 after acquiring an additional 156,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 775,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,885,000 after acquiring an additional 120,996 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR opened at $31.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.48. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $19.27 and a one year high of $34.19.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $184.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 12.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on SASR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

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.