Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Invests $528,000 in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,676 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $528,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $217,000. Associated Banc Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $249,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 66.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $281,000. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp stock opened at $28.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 63.53 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 1 year low of $19.52 and a 1 year high of $39.55.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. Equities research analysts predict that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 302.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a report on Saturday. 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.