Stifel Financial Corp Buys Shares of 6,916 Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,916 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 432.5% during the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 192,533 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,690,000 after acquiring an additional 156,377 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 473,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,528,000 after buying an additional 25,546 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 valued at $25,345,000 after buying an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $4,778,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1,199.7% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 694,867 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,927,000 after acquiring an additional 641,402 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 2.4 %

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $33.76 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.96. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.52 and a 1-year 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.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. The company 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 business posted $0.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.