KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $303,000 Investment in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,000 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 893,547 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,121,000 after buying an additional 6,815 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $422,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,212,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "sell" rating on the stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 1.0 %

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,059,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 333,933. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $19.52 and a one year high of $39.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. On average, analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.88%. Sandy Spring Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 302.22%.

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.