Grace & White Inc. NY Sells 23,700 Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Grace & White Inc. NY cut its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 58,145 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 23,700 shares during the period. Grace & White Inc. NY’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $1,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 93.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,271,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,235,000 after buying an additional 615,591 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,654,000 after acquiring an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,227 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,161,000 after acquiring an additional 120,793 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,707,000 after acquiring an additional 121,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 10.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 807,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,345,000 after purchasing an additional 75,596 shares during the period. 66.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sandy Spring Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $33.52 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.49 and a beta of 0.97. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. Analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 302.23%.

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.