Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Short Interest Update

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 896,200 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the December 15th total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 424,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:SASR traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $33.66. The company had a trading volume of 174,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 282,607. Sandy Spring Bancorp has a 1 year low of $19.52 and a 1 year high of $39.55. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.69 and a 200 day moving average of $32.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The firm had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Sandy Spring Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.58%.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.6% during 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 93.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,271,498 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,235,000 after purchasing an additional 615,591 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,654,000 after purchasing an additional 35,271 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,227 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,161,000 after buying an additional 120,793 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,707,000 after buying an additional 121,574 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. They issued a "sell" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.25.

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.

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