SPC Financial Inc. Invests $1.98 Million in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

SPC Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 62,947 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,975,000. SPC Financial Inc. owned about 0.14% of Sandy Spring Bancorp as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 313,534 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,541,000 after buying an additional 43,987 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 50,876 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $220,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 19.0% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,450 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464 shares during the period. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 22.9% during the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 9,845 shares of the bank’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of SASR opened at $33.34 on Thursday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.27 and a 1 year high of $34.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $30.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.36.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $184.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.