Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Shares Bought by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co grew its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,050 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.6% in 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 period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 12.0% in 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $18,885,000 after purchasing an additional 120,996 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 641,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 473,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,528,000 after purchasing an additional 25,546 shares during the period. 66.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson upped their target price on Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Friday, November 8th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of SASR opened at $38.32 on Thursday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $0.62 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.58%.

Sandy Spring Bancorp 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.