Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Stock Position Increased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,065 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.06% of Sandy Spring Bancorp worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $301,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,221 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,300,000 after buying an additional 7,492 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $122,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,344 shares of the bank’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 15.3 %

NASDAQ SASR opened at $38.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.59. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.52 and a 12 month high of $38.52. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27 and a beta of 0.94.

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 return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 11.54%. The business had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.