Kenneth C. Cook Sells 746 Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Stock

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Director Kenneth C. Cook sold 746 shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,277,862.83. This represents a 0.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.95. The company had a trading volume of 58,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,654. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 64.33 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, Inc. has a one year low of $19.52 and a one year high of $39.55.

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 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 forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 302.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Sandy Spring Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First National Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.2% in the third quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,050 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 15.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 799,835 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,091,000 after purchasing an additional 104,968 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 112,409 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 5,628 shares during the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $4,906,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s 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.