Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Increases Stock Position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR - Free Report) by 2,164.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 468,891 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 448,184 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 1.04% of Sandy Spring Bancorp worth $14,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SASR. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter worth $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth $117,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth $144,000. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 1.9 %

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $38.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 139,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,903. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.52 and a fifty-two week high of $39.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.60.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. The firm had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. On average, research analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Monday. They issued a "sell" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.25.

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.