American Century Companies Inc. Increases Position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 775,252 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 120,996 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.72% of Sandy Spring Bancorp worth $18,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.6% during the second quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 11,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2.9% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 9.8% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,176 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 8.2% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,344 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 50,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of SASR stock opened at $32.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 0.96. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.27 and a 52 week high of $34.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.06.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.08. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The business had revenue of $184.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp

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.