Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Director Sells $21,328.14 in Stock

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Director Kenneth C. Cook sold 746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.59, for a total transaction of $21,328.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 289,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,277,862.83. The trade was a 0.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 1.5 %

Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $29.12 on Friday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.52 and a 1-year high of $39.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.71 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.48.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 302.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,853,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,492,000 after purchasing an additional 582,309 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,116,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,622,000 after purchasing an additional 90,825 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,654,000 after purchasing an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 937,531 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,604,000 after purchasing an additional 129,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 893,547 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,121,000 after acquiring an additional 6,815 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. They set a “sell” rating for the company.

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.