JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 96.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,599 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 34,735 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.16% of Sandy Spring Bancorp worth $2,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SASR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,470,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,182,000 after purchasing an additional 108,703 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 93.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,271,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,235,000 after purchasing an additional 615,591 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $33,654,000 after purchasing an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 120,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,707,000 after purchasing an additional 121,574 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $34.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 0.98. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.52 and a 12-month high of $39.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.58.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 71.58%.

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.