Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 104,968 Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 15.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 799,835 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 104,968 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $25,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $98,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $122,000. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR opened at $37.63 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.09 and its 200-day moving average is $28.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.52 and a 52 week high of $39.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.94.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly 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). The firm 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 last year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 71.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Saturday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research 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 target price 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.