State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,688 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 13,861 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $1,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Associated Banc Corp bought a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $249,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 66.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 3,168 shares during the period. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust bought a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $254,000. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

SASR stock opened at $31.55 on Tuesday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $19.52 and a one year high of $39.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.11 and a beta of 0.97. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.42.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 302.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. They issued 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sandy Spring Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

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.