Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Acquires New Position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 32,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,094,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Associated Banc Corp bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $249,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 66.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 3,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

SASR opened at $29.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.29 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.45 and a 200 day moving average of $33.49. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.52 and a fifty-two week high of $39.55.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is 302.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Sunday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

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.