Caxton Associates LP Cuts Position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Caxton Associates LP reduced its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 38.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,831 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,367 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the first quarter worth $98,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the second quarter worth $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth $117,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $122,000. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR opened at $31.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.96. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.27 and a 52-week high of $34.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.45.

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. 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.