Congress Asset Management Co. Has $5.60 Million Stock Position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,590 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,777 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $5,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $98,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $105,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $117,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $122,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 59.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,561 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SASR. StockNews.com started coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sandy Spring Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of SASR opened at $33.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 0.95. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.52 and a 52 week high of $34.63. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.31.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $189.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 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.