Associated Banc Corp Acquires Shares of 7,941 Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Associated Banc Corp bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,941 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter worth $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $117,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ SASR opened at $37.86 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.19. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 0.94.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.