Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Shares Acquired by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 473,241 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,546 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $11,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 11,785 shares of the bank’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.9% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 9.8% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,176 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 8.2% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,344 shares of the bank’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 55,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SASR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, DA Davidson increased 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 note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR opened at $30.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 0.96. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.65. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.27 and a 12 month high of $34.19.

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

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.