Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 35,271 Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 35,271 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $33,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1,199.7% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 694,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,927,000 after purchasing an additional 641,402 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2,164.4% in the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 468,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,709,000 after buying an additional 448,184 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,438,000. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,778,000. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $4,906,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $34.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.52 and a twelve month high of $39.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.18.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced 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). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The company had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 71.58%.

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.