Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,549 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,432 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.16% of Sandy Spring Bancorp worth $2,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,470,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,182,000 after acquiring an additional 108,703 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 904,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,032,000 after purchasing an additional 97,262 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 775,252 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,885,000 after buying an additional 120,996 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1,199.7% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 694,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,927,000 after buying an additional 641,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 473,241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,528,000 after acquiring an additional 25,546 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 0.1 %

SASR opened at $38.01 on Friday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.52 and a 12 month high of $39.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on 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 initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Friday, November 8th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Sandy Spring Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.