Vestcor Inc Takes $37,000 Position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,102 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SASR. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 93.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,271,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,235,000 after purchasing an additional 615,591 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 2,164.4% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 468,891 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,709,000 after purchasing an additional 448,184 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $7,438,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 133.6% during the fourth quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 365,391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,317,000 after purchasing an additional 209,000 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $5,713,000. 66.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $29.40 on Wednesday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.52 and a 1-year high of $39.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.39 and a 200 day moving average of $33.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 65.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

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.