Teton Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Teton Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,800 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. Teton Advisors Inc. owned about 0.07% of Sandy Spring Bancorp worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SASR. North Reef Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $9,319,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 408.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 405,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,697,000 after purchasing an additional 326,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,423,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 52.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 269,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,776,000 after purchasing an additional 92,175 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 62.9% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 226,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,861,000 after purchasing an additional 87,576 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SASR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Sandy Spring Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Up 2.7 %

SASR traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $21.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 220,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,946. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.27 and a fifty-two week high of $27.90. The stock has a market cap of $977.40 million, a PE ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.48 and its 200-day moving average is $22.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 12.74%. The company had revenue of $184.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

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.