Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 615,591 Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 93.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,271,498 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 615,591 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $41,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SASR. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,654,000 after buying an additional 35,271 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 32,223 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,707,000 after acquiring an additional 121,574 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,227 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,161,000 after purchasing an additional 120,793 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.25.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SASR opened at $35.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.61 and its 200-day moving average is $30.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.52 and a 1-year high of $39.55.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.06). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.54%. The firm had revenue of $189.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.58%.

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.